Journal profile · PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Policy Design and Practice
ISSN 2574-1292 · Taylor & Francis Group · United Kingdom
Policy Design and Practice: CAS Zone 4 · Management (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 4.3 (journal website); JCR Q1 (journal website); fully open access; APC about USD 1,250; median 138 days to acceptance (80 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 34% (journal website); 44 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Policy Design and Practice is published by Taylor & Francis Group and is in Zone 4 of Management in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Innovative Approaches in Technology and Social Development, Public Policy and Administration Research and Policy Transfer and Learning, together about 34.7% of its articles. Its main subfields are Political Science and International Relations. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Policy Design and Practice (PDP) is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal serving as a key source of fresh ideas for improving public policy throughout the world. The journal bridges academic research and practical policymaking, publishing work that is both theoretically grounded and directly relevant to contemporary governance challenges. PDP articles examine critical policy problems by analyzing their scope, significance, and current efforts to address them, and practical suggestions for policy practitioners. Authors synthesize existing research while contributing original interpretations of problems and solutions in key contemporary policy areas. The journal prioritizes practical relevance: manuscripts must engage both general readers and policy experts by illuminating the complexity of policy problems and identifying feasible solutions and implementation challenges. Extensive discussion of data collection procedures, analytical techniques, or methodological considerations is discouraged in favor of substantive policy analysis. The journal publishes both thematic issues and regular submissions across five article types. Research Articles - Original research and analysis of contemporary social, economic, and political policy issues with design implications. Articles advance knowledge by evaluating existing theories or presenting new work on public policy design issues and practices. Approximate length: 6,000 words including bibliography, references, etc. Experience - Practice-oriented manuscripts by practitioners from governments, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector. These provide prescriptive advice for policymakers and implementers, including case studies and surveys that challenge existing thinking on policy design. Approximate length: 3,000–4,000 words. Research Notes - Concise contributions presenting preliminary empirical findings, novel methodological approaches, or focused analyses of specific policy design questions. Research notes may include pilot studies, replication studies, policy experiments, or rapid assessments of emerging policy issues requiring timely dissemination. While different than full research articles, these contributions maintain rigorous analytical standards and offer clear implications for policy design and practice. Approximate length: 5,000 words. Commentaries - Discussion of ongoing topics or responses to previously published articles. Approximately 2,500 words. Communications - Letters to the editor an
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 33%); most named Mainland China 1, Hong Kong, China 1, Australia 1 (3 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Innovative Approaches in Technology and Social DevelopmentBusiness, Management and Accounting13%
- Public Policy and Administration ResearchSocial Sciences12.3%
- Policy Transfer and LearningSocial Sciences9.3%
- Sustainability and Climate Change GovernanceEnvironmental Science6.4%
- Evaluation and Performance AssessmentDecision Sciences5.7%
- Social Policy and Reform StudiesSocial Sciences4.9%
- E-Government and Public ServicesSocial Sciences4.4%
- Smart Cities and TechnologiesEngineering3.7%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Management Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Management | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Public Administration | Zone 4 |
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.
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- JCR Q1 · best quartile · 2025
- 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
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of SciencePublisher 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
- 4.3Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 4.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 6.5LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 6.5Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.87LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.87Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.37LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 1.37Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 38OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 137OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.88OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 9.3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 40LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 341,000Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 341,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 288 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 36 | 36 | 8 |
| 2025 | 44 | 44 | 145 |
| 2024 | 24 | 24 | 251 |
| 2023 | 29 | 29 | 420 |
| 2022 | 28 | 28 | 319 |
| 2021 | 38 | 38 | 815 |
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
138 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 93 days – 214 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 19 days (81 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 169 days
- Sample
- 80 articles with submission and acceptance dates (79 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
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 13 weeksLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 34%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 34%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 2 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 2 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 50 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review 2025
- 50 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 20 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 20 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 13 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Double anonymous peer reviewDOAJ
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 accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | USD 1,250 / GBP 1,000 / EUR 1,200 / AUD 1,740 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC | |
| LetPub | USD 1,060 / GBP 835 / EUR 965 / AUD 1,445 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- 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)
Article types accepted4
- commentariesDiscussion of ongoing topics or responses to previously published articles. Approximately 2,500 words.Length not stated
- communicationsLetters to the editor and similar items.Length not stated
- experiencePractice-oriented manuscripts by practitioners from governments, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector. These provide prescriptive advice for p…Length not stated
- research articlesOriginal research and analysis of contemporary social, economic, and political policy issues with design implications. Articles advance knowledge by evaluating …Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access, Peer review
- Open access Open access
Policy Design and Practice is an open access journal and only publishes open access articles. 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 and readership of your article Make an impact and reach new readers, not just th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review The journal operates a double anonymized peer review policy.
Double anonymized peer review policy. Model summary
A limited number of full APC Waivers are also available at the discretion of the journal editors for articles deemed to be potentially impactful whose authors do not have access to APC funding. If you would like to request a waiver, please contact M Ramesh via mramesh@nus.edu.sg before you submit your article. Waiver codes must be presented at quotation and cannot be applied retrospectively.
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 Group
- Country or region
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2574-1292
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 9, Issue 3 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Policy Design and Practice
What CAS zone is Policy Design and Practice in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Policy Design and Practice is in Zone 4 of Management, and in Zone 4 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 Policy Design and Practice?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 4.3 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 6.5, h-index 38.
How long does peer review take at Policy Design and Practice?
Based on the dates recorded on 80 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 138 days (interquartile range 93–214 days); authors report an average review time of about 13 weeks; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 34% (2025). 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 JCR quartile is Policy Design and Practice in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q1 (best quartile). JCR quartiles are Clarivate's to confirm and a different system from the CAS zones; in the CAS ranking the journal is in Zone 4 of Management.
Where are the editorial board members of Policy Design and Practice based?
Of the 3 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 33%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (1), Hong Kong, China (1) and Australia (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Policy Design and Practice?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Policy Design and Practice is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Policy Design and Practice open access, and what is the APC?
Policy Design and Practice is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 1,250.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, DOAJ, 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: .