Journal profile · CRIMINOLOGY & PENOLOGY
Policing-A Journal of Policy and Practice
ISSN 1752-4512 · eISSN 1752-4520 · Oxford University Press
Policing-A Journal of Policy and Practice: CAS Zone 4 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.74; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,533; 61 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Policing-A Journal of Policy and Practice is published by Oxford University Press and is in Zone 4 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 Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis, together about 61.9% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Policing: a Journal of Policy and Practice is a leading policy and practice publication aimed at connecting law enforcement leaders, police researchers, analysts and policy makers, this peer-reviewed journal contains critical analysis and commentary on a wide range of topics including current law enforcement policies, police reform, political and legal developments, training and education, patrol and investigative operations, accountability, comparative police practices, and human and civil rights. The journal has an international readership and author base. It draws on examples of good practice from around the world and examines current academic research, assessing how that research can be applied both strategically and at ground level. The journal is covered by the following abstracting and indexing services: Clarivate Analytics Current Contents Emerging Sources Citation Index Web of Science EBSCOhost Academic Search Complete Academic Search Elite Associates Program Source Plus Military Transition Support Center TOC Premier (Table of Contents) Vocational Studies Complete Elsevier BV Scopus ProQuest Criminal Justice Abstracts Criminal Justice Database Criminology Collection Professional ProQuest Central ProQuest Central Social Science Premium Collection Journal metrics Citation metrics Clarivate 2025 Impact Factor 1.8 2025 5 Year Impact Factor 1.8 Criminology & Penology (Rank by Impact Factor) 42/113 2025 Cited Half-Life 4.9 years 2025 Immediacy Index 0.4 2025 Eigenfactor Score 0.002 2025 Article Influence Score 0.492 Scopus 2025 CiteScore 2.7 Law (Rank by CiteScore) 264/1162 2025 Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP) 0.908 Readership 2025 Full Text Usage 295,123 Peer Review and Production 2025 Median days from acceptance to publication 41.5 days About metrics Disclaimer Statements of fact and opinion in the articles in Policing are those of the respective authors and contributors and not of the Journal or Oxford University Press. Neither Oxford University Press nor the Journal make any representation, express or implied, in respect of the accuracy of the material in the Journal and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made. Readers should make their own evaluation as to the appropriateness or otherwise of the information included.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): CRIMINOLOGY & PENOLOGY
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United Kingdom 17, United States 16, India 2, Australia 2, France 1 (39 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Policing Practices and PerceptionsSocial Sciences30%
- Crime Patterns and InterventionsSocial Sciences23.1%
- Criminal Justice and Corrections AnalysisSocial Sciences8.8%
- Crime, Illicit Activities, and GovernanceSocial Sciences5.9%
- Gun Ownership and Violence ResearchSocial Sciences3.8%
- Sexual Assault and Victimization StudiesSocial Sciences2.8%
- Cybercrime and Law Enforcement StudiesComputer Science2.4%
- Wildlife Conservation and Criminology AnalysesEnvironmental Science2.3%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Criminology & Penology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Criminology & Penology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Criminology & Penology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
ESCIWeb of ScienceCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: ProQuest
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
- 1.74LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.7Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 2.7LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 2.7Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.64LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.91LetPub ·
- h-index
- 55OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 529OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.85OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5.6%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 40.45%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 48LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 295,123Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,545 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 47 | 26 | 8 |
| 2025 | 61 | 28 | 101 |
| 2024 | 153 | 59 | 635 |
| 2023 | 116 | 56 | 536 |
| 2022 | 86 | 38 | 558 |
| 2021 | 88 | 27 | 879 |
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
- Acceptance to publication
- 41.5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 4,533 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | No APC | — | — |
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- Colour charges
- No colour charges
- Page charges
- No page charges
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 prepare7 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 150 words
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 6,000 words
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Templates
- Word
- Highlights
- Optional
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted1, with length limits
- full articlee than 150 words. Manuscript As a rule, full articles should not exceed 6,000 words (endnotes and references will not be counted as part of thimain text ≤ 6,000 words
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, Open access, Peer review, Preprints, Self-archiving
- Authorship Authorship
Authorship is limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the design and execution of the work described. Any contributors whose participation does not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged but not listed as an author. For a detailed definition of authorship, please see the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) definitions of authors and cont…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest
Authors The Journal requires all authors to disclose any potential conflict of interest at the point of submission. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to ensure that conflicts of interest of all authors are declared to the Journal. A conflict of interest exists when the position, activities, or relationships of an individual, whether direct or indirect, financial or non-financial…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Availability of data and materials
Where ethically feasible, the Journal strongly encourages authors to make all data and software code on which the conclusions of the paper rely available to readers. Whenever possible, data should be presented in the main manuscript or additional supporting files or deposited in a public repository. Visit our Research data page for information on general repositories for all data types, and resour…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Screening for misconduct
Manuscripts may be screened using iThenticate to help detect publication misconduct including plagiarism and redundant publication. Manuscripts may also be screened, including with services provided by third parties, to help detect integrity issues such as inappropriate image alteration and papermill activity.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access charges
Please see the details of open access licences and charges. If you select an open access licence, you must pay the open access charge or request to use an institutional agreement to pay the open access charge through our licencing and payment portal, SciPris. Please note that prices are subject to change. All stated charges are exclusive of any applicable value added tax, goods and services tax an…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review process
The Journal uses the ANSI/NISO Standard Terminology for Peer Review. If you would like further description of the peer review terms used here, please refer to the most recent standard definitions. If further clarification is needed, please contact the editorial office at police.editorialoffice@paeditorial.co.uk. Peer review summary: Identity transparency: double anonymized Reviewer interacts with:…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
As an author, you retain the right to make an Author’s Original Version (preprint) available through various channels and this does not prevent submission to the Journal. If accepted, you are required to update the status of any preprint, including adding your published paper’s DOI. For full details on allowed channels and updating your preprint, please see our Author self-archiving policy.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Self-archiving Self-archiving
Self-archiving refers to posting a copy of your work on a publicly accessible website or repository. Under certain circumstances, you may self-archive versions of your work on your own webpages, on institutional webpages, and in other repositories. For information about the Journal's policy, and to learn which version(s) of your paper are acceptable for self-archiving, please see our Author self-a…
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
- Oxford University Press
- ISSN
- 1752-4512
- Electronic ISSN
- 1752-4520
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Policing-A Journal of Policy and Practice
What CAS zone is Policing-A Journal of Policy and Practice in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Policing-A Journal of Policy and Practice is in Zone 4 of Sociology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Criminology & Penology. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Sociology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Policing-A Journal of Policy and Practice?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.74; CiteScore 2.7, h-index 55.
What are the manuscript requirements of Policing-A Journal of Policy and Practice?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 150 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 6,000 words; Reference style: Author–date; Templates: Word; Highlights: Optional; Graphical abstract: Optional; Cover letter: Required. 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 Policing-A Journal of Policy and Practice based?
Of the 39 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (17), United States (16) and India (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Policing-A Journal of Policy and Practice?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Policing-A Journal of Policy and Practice is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists ESCI, Web of Science and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Policing-A Journal of Policy and Practice open access, and what is the APC?
Policing-A Journal of Policy and Practice is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,533.
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: .