Journal profile · CRIMINOLOGY & PENOLOGY
Police Quarterly
ISSN 1098-6111 · eISSN 1552-745X · SAGE
Police Quarterly: CAS Zone 2 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.64; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,650; review about 182 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); acceptance rate 8.8% (journal website); 20 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Police Quarterly is published by SAGE and is in Zone 2 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Policing Practices and Perceptions, Crime Patterns and Interventions and Gun Ownership and Violence Research, together about 64.8% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Police Quarterly (PQ), peer-reviewed and published quarterly, is a scholarly journal that publishes empirical studies on issues related to policing. The only such journal published in North America, PQ seeks to publish both qualitative and quantitative police-related research that emphasizes policy-oriented research of interest to both practitioners and … | View full journal description
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): CRIMINOLOGY & PENOLOGY
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 20, United Kingdom 1 (21 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Policing Practices and PerceptionsSocial Sciences29.8%
- Crime Patterns and InterventionsSocial Sciences25.2%
- Gun Ownership and Violence ResearchSocial Sciences9.9%
- Criminal Justice and Corrections AnalysisSocial Sciences6.3%
- Sexual Assault and Victimization StudiesSocial Sciences3%
- Regulation and Compliance StudiesBusiness, Management and Accounting2.8%
- Crime, Illicit Activities, and GovernanceSocial Sciences2.4%
- Social and Intergroup PsychologySocial Sciences2.4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Criminology & Penology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Criminology & Penology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Sociology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Criminology & Penology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
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
- 2.64LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2.7Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 3.7Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 7.3LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.32LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.88LetPub ·
- h-index
- 84OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 453OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.87OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 3.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 31.58%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 18LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 647 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 13 | 9 | 4 |
| 2025 | 20 | 10 | 31 |
| 2024 | 20 | 13 | 170 |
| 2023 | 19 | 8 | 165 |
| 2022 | 26 | 5 | 328 |
| 2021 | 26 | 6 | 817 |
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
Publisher-reported review time from the journal's website
182 dayssubmission to acceptance
The publisher's own definition applies; dates from this journal's articles in the last 24 months are not available yet, so the publisher's figure is used.
Figures by source
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 8.8%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 3 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 182 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 14 daysPublisher 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 3,650 / GBP 2,676 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 3,450 | — | — |
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)
What to prepare3 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- 150–200 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 3
- Reference style
- APA
Article types accepted3
- full articleOriginal Research Articles: Police Quarterly (PQ), peer-reviewed and published quarterly, is a scholarly journal that publishes primarily empirical studies on i…Length not stated
- original research articleOriginal Research Articles: Police Quarterly (PQ), peer-reviewed and published quarterly, is a scholarly journal that publishes primarily empirical studies on i…Length not stated
- original research articlesOriginal Research Articles: Police Quarterly (PQ), peer-reviewed and published quarterly, is a scholarly journal that publishes primarily empirical studies on i…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Data availability, Publication ethics, Open access, Peer review, Preprints, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- Authorship Authorship
Please view our authorship policies, which includes information on criteria for authorship, who should be the corresponding author and more. Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability
The Journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages. Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to: Share your research data in a relevant public data repository Include a data ava…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Ethical considerations
Please include your ethics approval statements under this heading, even if you have already included ethics approval information in your methods section. If ethical approval was not required, you need to explicitly state this. All papers reporting studies involving human participants, human data or human tissue must state that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board approved th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Publishing fees and open access
There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this journal. Figures submitted in color will be published in color in the online version of the journal at no cost. If you wish to have color figures in the printed version, fees may apply. Optional open access publishing is available for a fee via the Sage Choice program, and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either di…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Double anonymized peer review Model summary
Identity transparency: Double anonymized
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
The journal will consider submissions of manuscripts that have been posted on preprint servers. Please enter the preprint DOI in the designated field when submitting your manuscript. We advise that you inform the Journal Editorial office about your posted preprint at submission. Note that you should not post an updated version of your manuscript on a preprint server while it is being peer reviewed…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Trial registration / reporting guidelines Clinical trial registration
The journal endorses the ICMJE requirement that clinical trials are registered in a WHO-approved public trials registry at or before the time of first participant enrollment. However, consistent with the AllTrials campaign, retrospectively registered trials will be considered if the justification for late registration is acceptable. The trial registry name and URL, and registration number must be …
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
- SAGE
- ISSN
- 1098-6111
- Electronic ISSN
- 1552-745X
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Police Quarterly
What CAS zone is Police Quarterly in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Police Quarterly is in Zone 2 of Sociology, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Criminology & Penology. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Sociology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Police Quarterly?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.64; CiteScore 7.3, h-index 84.
How long does peer review take at Police Quarterly?
The publisher reports about 182 days (submission to acceptance); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 8.8%. 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.
What are the manuscript requirements of Police Quarterly?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 150–200 words; Keywords: ≥ 3; Reference style: APA. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Where are the editorial board members of Police Quarterly based?
Of the 21 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (20) and United Kingdom (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Police Quarterly?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Police Quarterly is indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Is Police Quarterly open access, and what is the APC?
Police Quarterly is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,650.
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: .