Journal profile · EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
Pastoral Care in Education
ISSN 0264-3944 · eISSN 1468-0122 · Taylor & Francis
Pastoral Care in Education: CAS Zone 4 · Education (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.3 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 167 days to acceptance (81 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 57% (journal website); 74 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Pastoral Care in Education is published by Taylor & Francis and is in Zone 4 of Education in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Religious Education and Schools, Early Childhood Education and Development and Religion, Society, and Development, together about 29% of its articles. Its main subfields are Education. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Pastoral Care in Education: An International Journal of Personal, Social and Emotional Development is directed at teachers/educators, professionals, researchers and academics who are concerned with the pastoral care, emotional health and wellbeing of children and young people across all formal and informal educational settings. Contributions are encouraged on a wide range of pastoral care themes including (but not limited to) children’s emotional health and wellbeing, evaluations of school-based interventions, reviews of the curriculum, teacher education and professional development, and particular methodological approaches. Authors are encouraged to read recent issues of the journal to appreciate the full diversity of theme and approach taken. Pastoral Care in Education welcomes articles that draw on a range of research methodologies (qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods etc.) as well as systematic reviews, conceptual/theoretical studies and book reviews. The Editor also welcomes proposals for special issues. Membership of the National Association for Pastoral Care in Education includes a subscription to Pastoral Care in Education. To become a member complete the membership form at www.napce.org.uk/membership Book Reviews: Anyone who has a book they wish to review or who wishes their own publication to be reviewed should contact the Book Review Editor, Giles Barrow, via email at: giles.barrow@gmail.com. A date for submitting reviews will be negotiable with the Book Review Editor. Peer Review Policy: All articles published outside of a special issue in this journal have undergone rigorous double anonymous peer review based on initial Editor screening and refereeing by two anonymous referees from a panel of international scholars and researchers. The editorial board are used and other scholars who have expertise in the appropriate areas. Special issue articles follow a different review process. The special issue Guest Editors (of which there are two or more per special issue) can either complete the review process for submissions amongst themselves, without sending to external reviewers, or they can use existing peer review systems to facilitate external peer review. This arrangement takes into account the fact that special issues in this journal require a high level of specific subject expertise and knowledge that may not otherwise be available from the broader editorial board. If the special issue Guest Editor is the author of an original article subm
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United Kingdom 6, Hong Kong, China 1 (7 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Religious Education and SchoolsSocial Sciences12.1%
- Early Childhood Education and DevelopmentSocial Sciences9.3%
- Religion, Society, and DevelopmentSocial Sciences7.6%
- Theological Perspectives and PracticesSocial Sciences5.7%
- Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentPsychology5.2%
- Educational and Psychological AssessmentsPsychology4.6%
- Diverse Education Studies and ReformsSocial Sciences4.6%
- Family and Disability Support ResearchPsychology4.6%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Education Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Education | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Education & Educational Research | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Education Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Education | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Education & Educational Research | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- CiteScore Q2 · 2025
Publisher-reported: JCR figures are Clarivate's and CiteScore figures Scopus's to confirm; both are a different system from the CAS zones.Publisher website
Database indexing
ESCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
ERICPublisher website
Other: Australian Research Council (ARC) Ranked Journal List, British Education Index, Contents Pages in Education, Educational Research Abstracts online, Education Resources Information Center ( ERIC), ERIH and National Children's Bureau
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) 2025
- 1.3Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.2LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 3.2Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.51LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.51Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.19LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 1.19Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 40OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 336OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.95OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 15.4%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 30.43%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 56LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 193,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,776 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 58 | 32 | 16 |
| 2025 | 74 | 45 | 52 |
| 2024 | 37 | 27 | 92 |
| 2023 | 36 | 28 | 125 |
| 2022 | 37 | 20 | 266 |
| 2021 | 34 | 14 | 252 |
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
Review time from article dates manuscript dates registered with Crossref · to
167 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 112 days – 211 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 9 days (81 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 177 days
- Sample
- 81 articles with submission and acceptance dates (138 in the window); the latest was accepted on
Only articles that were accepted and published are counted, not the time spent on rejected manuscripts, so this usually runs longer than a publisher's "time to first decision".
Other sources
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 57%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 65 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 68 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 8 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Double anonymous peer reviewPublisher website
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
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
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 accepted1
- book reviewsBook Reviews: Anyone who has a book they wish to review or who wishes their own publication to be reviewed should contact the Book Review Editor, Giles Barrow, …Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access, Peer review
- Open access Open access
Pastoral Care in Education is a hybrid open access journal that is part of the Taylor & Francis Open Select publishing program, giving you the option to publish open access. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership, and impact of your research. Why choose open access? Increase the discoverability …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Double anonymous peer review based on initial Editor screening and refereeing by two anonymous referees from a panel of international scholars and researchers. Model summary
All articles published outside of a special issue in this journal have undergone rigorous double anonymous peer review based on initial Editor screening and refereeing by two anonymous referees from a panel of international scholars and researchers.
Source ↗Publisher website ·
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
- Taylor & Francis
- ISSN
- 0264-3944
- Electronic ISSN
- 1468-0122
- Society / sponsor
- National Association for Pastoral Care in Education
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 44, Issue 3 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Pastoral Care in Education
What CAS zone is Pastoral Care in Education in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Pastoral Care in Education is in Zone 4 of Education, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Education & Educational Research. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Education. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Pastoral Care in Education?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 1.3 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 3.2, h-index 40.
How long does peer review take at Pastoral Care in Education?
Based on the dates recorded on 81 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 167 days (interquartile range 112–211 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 57%. 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Pastoral Care in Education based?
Of the 7 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (6) and Hong Kong, China (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Pastoral Care in Education?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Pastoral Care in Education is indexed in ESCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists ERIC; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Pastoral Care in Education open access, and what is the APC?
Pastoral Care in Education is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex; 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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .