Journal profile · POLITICAL SCIENCE
Political Behavior
ISSN 0190-9320 · eISSN 1573-6687 · Springer Nature · 4 issues per year
Political Behavior: CAS Zone 1 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 3.35; hybrid open access; APC about USD 2,990; review about 14 days (submission to first decision, publisher); 115 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Political Behavior is published by Springer Nature and is in Zone 1 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Electoral Systems and Political Participation, Social Media and Politics and Social and Intergroup Psychology, together about 52.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science and Political Science and International Relations. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Political Behavior publishes original research in the general fields of political behavior, institutions, processes, and policies. Approaches include economic (preference structuring, bargaining), psychological (attitude formation and change, motivations, perceptions), sociological (roles, group, class), or political (decision making, coalitions, influence). Articles focus on the political behavior (conventional or unconventional) of the individual person or small group (microanalysis), or of large organizations that participate in the political process such as parties, interest groups, political action committees, governmental agencies, and mass media (macroanalysis). As an interdisciplinary journal, Political Behavior integrates various approaches across different levels of theoretical abstraction and empirical domain (contextual analysis).Officially cited as: Polit Behav
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): POLITICAL SCIENCE
Editor-in-chief Christopher KarpowitzPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 75, United Kingdom 5, Canada 3, Japan 2, Sweden 2 (98 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Electoral Systems and Political ParticipationSocial Sciences31%
- Social Media and PoliticsSocial Sciences12.5%
- Social and Intergroup PsychologySocial Sciences9.1%
- Gender Politics and RepresentationSocial Sciences7.4%
- Media Influence and PoliticsSocial Sciences5.5%
- Social and Cultural DynamicsSocial Sciences4.5%
- Political Influence and Corporate StrategiesBusiness, Management and Accounting3.5%
- Social Capital and NetworksSocial Sciences3%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Political Science | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Political Science | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Sociology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Political Science | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
SCIEPsycINFOCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS
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
- 3.35LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.5Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 5.4Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 9LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 2.96LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 2.46LetPub ·
- h-index
- 139OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,108OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.61OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 8.6%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 56.63%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 107LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 834,600Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,730 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 84 | 55 | 30 |
| 2025 | 115 | 80 | 289 |
| 2024 | 86 | 55 | 710 |
| 2023 | 62 | 31 | 685 |
| 2022 | 84 | 45 | 1,543 |
| 2021 | 102 | 48 | 2,778 |
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
Too few articlesOnly 8 articles from the last 24 months carry both submission and acceptance dates, too few for a median
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".
Figures by source
- Submission to first decision
- 14 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 2,990 / EUR 2,390 / GBP 2,090 | — | — |
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 prepare5 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- 150–250 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 4
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 9,000 words
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
Article types accepted1
- editorialDouble-blind peer review This journal follows a double-blind reviewing procedure. This means that the author will remain anonymous to the reviewers throughout p…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- AI use Generative AI Images
Please check Springer’s policy on generative AI images and make sure your work adheres to the principles described therein. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Disclosures
Authors are required to disclose any competing interests, financial or non-financial, that are directly or indirectly related to the work submitted for publication on the title page of the manuscript.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability and replication policy
Authors of accepted manuscripts will be required to deposit all of the data and script files needed to replicate the published results in a trusted data repository such as ICPSR or Dataverse. Manuscripts will not be published, even online, until those data are made available. There may be occasions where the author may not be able to comply due to data embargoes or privacy concerns. These cases wi…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Compliance with Ethical Standards and IRB (or similar) Approval
When reporting a study that involved human participants, their data, or biological material, authors should include a statement on the title page that confirms that the study was approved (or granted exemption) by the appropriate institutional and/or national research ethics committee (including the name of the ethics committee) and certify that the study was performed in accordance with the ethic…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright
Open Choice articles do not require transfer of copyright as the copyright remains with the author. In opting for open access, the author(s) agree to publish the article under a Creative Commons license. Details of the OA licences offered to authors can be found on the individual journal website, in the journal's How to publish with us guide. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publishing
To find out more about publishing your work Open Access in Political Behavior, including information on fees, funding and licences, visit our Open access publishing page. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Double-blind peer review
This journal follows a double-blind reviewing procedure. This means that the author will remain anonymous to the reviewers throughout peer review. It is the responsibility of the author to anonymize the manuscript and any associated materials. Author names, affiliations and any other potentially identifying information should be removed from the manuscript text and any accompanying files (such as …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Trial registration / reporting guidelines Clinical Trial Registration
The World Health Organization (WHO) definition of a clinical trial is "any research study that prospectively assigns human participants or groups of humans to one or more health-related interventions to evaluate the effects on health outcomes". The WHO defines health interventions as “A health intervention is an act performed for, with or on behalf of a person or population whose purpose is to ass…
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
- Springer Nature
- Frequency
- 4 issues per year
- ISSN
- 0190-9320
- Electronic ISSN
- 1573-6687
- Society / sponsor
- Elections
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 48, Issue 2 (June 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Political Behavior
What CAS zone is Political Behavior in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Political Behavior is in Zone 1 of Sociology, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Political Science; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Sociology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Political Behavior?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.35; CiteScore 9, h-index 139.
How long does peer review take at Political Behavior?
The publisher reports about 14 days (submission to first decision); first decisions include desk rejections. 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 Political Behavior?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 150–250 words; Keywords: ≥ 4; Manuscript length: ≤ 9,000 words; Reference style: Author–date; Suggested reviewers: Optional. 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 Political Behavior based?
Of the 98 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (75), United Kingdom (5) and Canada (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Political Behavior?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Political Behavior is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists SCIE, PsycINFO and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Political Behavior open access, and what is the APC?
Political Behavior is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 2,990.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, Publisher website; 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: .