Journal profile · PHILOSOPHY
Philosophical Explorations
ISSN 1386-9795 · eISSN 1741-5918 · Taylor & Francis
Philosophical Explorations: CAS Zone 2 · Philosophy (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.2 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 347 days to acceptance (33 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 13% (journal website); 18 articles in 2025; indexed in AHCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Philosophical Explorations is published by Taylor & Francis and is in Zone 2 of Philosophy in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics, Free Will and Agency and Philosophical Ethics and Theory, together about 37.6% of its articles. Its main subfields are Philosophy and Cognitive Neuroscience. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Philosophical Explorations aims to publish outstanding articles in the philosophy of mind and action, with an emphasis on issues concerning the interrelations between cognition and agency. Contributions are welcomed in the area of the philosophy of mind and action and related disciplines such as moral psychology, ethics, philosophical anthropology, social philosophy, political philosophy and philosophy of the social sciences. The journal also welcomes contributions of an interdisciplinary kind, establishing bridges between philosophy and, for example, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, psychology, and political science. Peer Review Policy: All research articles published in this journal have undergone rigorous double anonymized peer review, based on initial editor screening and anonymized refereeing by at least two referees.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): PHILOSOPHY
Editor-in-chief Léon de BruinPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United Kingdom 1, France 1, Ireland 1 (3 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Epistemology, Ethics, and MetaphysicsArts and Humanities12.7%
- Free Will and AgencyNeuroscience12.5%
- Philosophical Ethics and TheoryArts and Humanities12.4%
- Philosophy and Theoretical SciencePsychology11.1%
- Psychology of Moral and Emotional JudgmentNeuroscience9.2%
- Embodied and Extended CognitionNeuroscience5.3%
- Philosophy and History of ScienceArts and Humanities4.8%
- Political Philosophy and EthicsSocial Sciences4.2%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Philosophy Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Philosophy | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Philosophy | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Philosophy Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Philosophy | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Philosophy | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Philosophy Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Philosophy | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Philosophy | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- CiteScore Q1 · 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
AHCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
OCLC, British Humanities Index, Current Abstracts, Philosopher's Index, Philosophy Research IndexPublisher 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) 2025
- 1.2Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 2.6LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 2.6Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.81LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.81Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.41LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 1.41Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 58OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 268OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.25OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 25.42%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 18LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 77,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 709 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 13 | 4 | 5 |
| 2025 | 18 | 7 | 14 |
| 2024 | 24 | 17 | 50 |
| 2023 | 20 | 7 | 63 |
| 2022 | 34 | 14 | 247 |
| 2021 | 36 | 13 | 231 |
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
347 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 241 days – 471 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 34 days (33 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 367 days
- Sample
- 33 articles with submission and acceptance dates (35 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)
- 13%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 35 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 112 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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access, Peer review
- Open access Open access
Philosophical Explorations 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 anonymized peer review with at least two referees, based on initial editor screening. Model summary
All research articles published in this journal have undergone rigorous double anonymized peer review, based on initial editor screening and anonymized refereeing by at least two referees.
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
- 1386-9795
- Electronic ISSN
- 1741-5918
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 29, Issue 1 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Philosophical Explorations
What CAS zone is Philosophical Explorations in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Philosophical Explorations is in Zone 2 of Philosophy, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Philosophy. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Philosophy. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Philosophical Explorations?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 1.2 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 2.6, h-index 58.
How long does peer review take at Philosophical Explorations?
Based on the dates recorded on 33 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 347 days (interquartile range 241–471 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 13%. 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 Philosophical Explorations based?
Of the 3 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (1), France (1) and Ireland (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Philosophical Explorations?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Philosophical Explorations is indexed in AHCI and Scopus.
Is Philosophical Explorations open access, and what is the APC?
Philosophical Explorations 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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .