Journal profile · PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Nonprofit Policy Forum
ISSN 2194-6035 · eISSN 2154-3348 · De Gruyter · Germany
Nonprofit Policy Forum: CAS Zone 3 · Management (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.6 (journal website); fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; review about 7 weeks (community reports); 49 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Nonprofit Policy Forum is published by De Gruyter and is in Zone 3 of Management in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering, Religion, Society, and Development and Public Policy and Administration Research, together about 54.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
About this journal Call for Papers ERNOP 2023 Conference Special Issue on Philanthropy and Crises: Roles and Functioning of Philanthropy in times of Societal Upheavals The impact of New Public Management on the Third Sector (ISTR 2024 theme track) 2024 ARNOVA-Asia Special Issue of Nonprofit Policy Forum Objective The mission of Nonprofit Policy Forum (NPF) is to serve as an international journal that publishes original research and analysis on public policy issues and the public policy process critical to the work of nonprofit organizations. NPF provides a forum and an authoritative and accessible source of information for scholars, leaders, and policy-makers worldwide. A primary goal of NPF is to provide nonprofit leaders and policy-makers with readily accessible and relevant scholarly research. In addition to being an accessible source of information, NPF creates a publishing venue for the expanding population of nonprofit-public policy scholars. Because the field of nonprofit studies is interdisciplinary in nature, the range of disciplines for both authors and readers spans a wide array of interests. Major topics addressed in the journal include: 1) various dimensions of the government/nonprofit relationship comprising but not limited to: government funding of nonprofit service delivery, government regulation of the nonprofit sector, and nonprofit advocacy activities aimed at influencing government policy; 2) issues related to blurring sector boundaries such as: hybrid organizational forms, social enterprises, and social investment; 3) transnational non-governmental organizations and cross-national NGO/nonprofit issues; and 4) developments in particular policy fields (e.g., health, human services, arts) and their effects on nonprofits. Article formatsEach issue of NPF offers five research-based articles and a special feature, alternating among research notes and policy briefs, book reviews, interviews, case studies, and commentaries. Research Articles (peer review, 5,000-8,000 words): Full, theoretical/conceptual and empirical research articles addressing: the effect of government policies and tools on nonprofits; nonprofit advocacy activities and their effect on policy; civil society and social movements seeking social change; other significant aspects of the government/nonprofit relationship; development and institutional contexts of social enterprise. Research Notes (peer review, 3,000-4,000 words): Research Notes are research-based, short articles p
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Editor-in-chief Dennis YoungPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Nonprofit Sector and VolunteeringSocial Sciences32.5%
- Religion, Society, and DevelopmentSocial Sciences13%
- Public Policy and Administration ResearchSocial Sciences8.8%
- Community Development and Social ImpactEconomics, Econometrics and Finance8.1%
- Social Capital and NetworksSocial Sciences5.2%
- Social Policy and Reform StudiesSocial Sciences3.4%
- Tourism, Volunteerism, and DevelopmentSocial Sciences3%
- Political Influence and Corporate StrategiesBusiness, Management and Accounting2.9%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Management Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Management | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Public Administration | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Management Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Management | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Public Administration | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
EBSCO, ProQuest, Baidu, OCLCPublisher website
As the journal's website lists them, not checked against each database; for Web of Science editions the records above apply.
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 1.6Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 1.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 2.6LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 2.6Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.43LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.74LetPub ·
- h-index
- 25OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 98OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.21OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 18.8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 41LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 483 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 21 | 21 | 4 |
| 2025 | 49 | 49 | 60 |
| 2024 | 48 | 48 | 79 |
| 2023 | 31 | 31 | 119 |
| 2022 | 28 | 28 | 140 |
| 2021 | 36 | 36 | 288 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 7 weeksLetPub ·
- Peer review
- Double anonymous peer reviewLetPub
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Fully open accessOpenAlex
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | EUR 0 | — | — | |
| LetPub | No APC | No | — | |
| Publisher website | No APC | — | — |
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
Article types accepted5, with length limits
- case studyfield, or proposals for policy reform. Case studies (peer review, 2,000-4,000 words): Teaching cases or analytical case studies. Interviews (edmain text ≤ 4,000 words
- commentaryt policy options with a recommendation. Commentaries (editorial review, 2,000-3,000 words): Research-informed, opinion-based discussion of contemporamain text ≤ 3,000 words
- editorialor analytical case studies. Interviews (editorial review, 2,000-4,000 words): Interviews with leaders in the field reflecting on importmain text ≤ 4,000 words
- research articlerviews, case studies, and commentaries. Research Articles (peer review, 5,000-8,000 words): Full, theoretical/conceptual and empirical research articmain text ≤ 8,000 words
- reviewsocial enterprise. Research Notes (peer review, 3,000-4,000 words): Research Notes are research-based, short articles presentmain text ≤ 4,000 words
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- De Gruyter
- Country or region
- Germany
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2194-6035
- Electronic ISSN
- 2154-3348
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Nonprofit Policy Forum
What CAS zone is Nonprofit Policy Forum in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Nonprofit Policy Forum is in Zone 3 of Management, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Public Administration. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Management. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Nonprofit Policy Forum?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 1.6; this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 2.6, h-index 25.
How long does peer review take at Nonprofit Policy Forum?
Authors report an average review time of about 7 weeks. Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
Which databases index Nonprofit Policy Forum?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Nonprofit Policy Forum is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Nonprofit Policy Forum open access, and what is the APC?
Nonprofit Policy Forum is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, Publisher website; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-26). Last updated: .