Journal profile · Social Sciences-Library and Information Sciences
Publications
ISSN 2304-6775 · Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) · Switzerland
Publications: CAS Zone 4 · Management (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.4 (journal website); JCR Q1 (journal website); fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; review about 11 weeks (community reports); 68 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Publications is published by Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) 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 scientometrics and bibliometrics research, Research Data Management Practices and Academic Publishing and Open Access, together about 49.5% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Examining innovations in scholarly communication, culture and evaluationAims and ScopePublications (ISSN 2304-6775) is an international, peer-reviewed, fully open access journal that provides a home for research related to all aspects of scholarly publication and culture. Scholarly publishing is the gateway to the academic record, and it should be studied and critically analysed in all its dimensions with the same rigour expected of other research. Publications aims to provide an interdisciplinary forum for scholars, publishing professionals, librarians, funders, innovative service providers and others to communicate original research on a range of topics that address current issues and inform best practice.The scope of Publications includes: Theory and practices of scholarly communication Public access to and engagement with scientific research Globalisation of research and the advent of open science The social, legal and ethical dimensions of publication Digitisation and other innovations in scholarly publishing technologies Metadata, standards, infrastructures and linking in the scholarly record Financial models and sustainability issues for scholarly publishing Copyright, licensing and other legal issues in publishing Issues related to peer review and academic governance practices Critical bibliometric and scientometric studies, including socio-technical perspectives Cultural orientations towards academic productivity and evaluation Reproducibility, research integrity and publication ethics Issues, opportunities and best practices in the publication of non-traditional research outputs Traditional and emerging methodologies in the assessment of research and its scientific and societal impact The role of research libraries, scholarly societies, funders and others in scholarly communication MDPI Publication Ethics Statement MDPI is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). MDPI takes the responsibility to enforce a rigorous peer-review together with strict ethical policies and standards to ensure to add high quality scientific works to the field of scholarly publication. Unfortunately, cases of plagiarism, data falsification, inappropriate authorship credit, and the like, do arise. MDPI takes such publishing ethics issues very seriously and our editors are trained to proceed in such cases with a zero tolerance policy. To verify the originality of content submitted to our journals, we use iThenticate to check submissions against previous publ
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Social Sciences-Library and Information Sciences
Editorial board by country: 7 in mainland China (about 24%); most named Mainland China 7, Spain 5, Italy 4, United Kingdom 3, United States 2 (29 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- scientometrics and bibliometrics researchDecision Sciences26.6%
- Research Data Management PracticesComputer Science11.5%
- Academic Publishing and Open AccessDecision Sciences11.5%
- Scientific Computing and Data ManagementDecision Sciences6.3%
- Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and EducationMedicine4.5%
- Meta-analysis and systematic reviewsDecision Sciences4.4%
- Academic integrity and plagiarismSocial Sciences3.8%
- Discourse Analysis in Language StudiesArts and Humanities3.1%
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 | Information Science & Library Science | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Management Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Management | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Information Science & Library Science | 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 · Information Science and Library Science
- CiteScore Q1 · Communication
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 ScienceDBLPPublisher website
Other: RePEc
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
- 3.4Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 5.4Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.7LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 5.7Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.78LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.37LetPub ·
- h-index
- 42OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 209OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.59OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 8.8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 65LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 616 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 62 | 62 | 167 |
| 2025 | 68 | 68 | 354 |
| 2024 | 49 | 49 | 301 |
| 2023 | 52 | 52 | 890 |
| 2022 | 52 | 52 | 622 |
| 2021 | 58 | 58 | 3,706 |
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
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 11 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 26.5 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 5.8 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 6 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Single 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 | CHF 1,400 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | CHF 1,400 | — | — | |
| LetPub | CHF 1,400 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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 prepare6 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 200 words
- Reference style
- Author–date
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Required, 3
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted20
- articleArticle: These are original research manuscripts. The work should report scientifically sound experiments and provide a substantial amount of new information. T…Length not stated
- book reviewAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- brief communicationAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- brief reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- case reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- commentaryAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- conference reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- editorialAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- hypothesisAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- letterAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- opinionAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- perspectiveAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- protocolAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- registered reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- reviewAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- scoping reviewA Scoping Review type can be submitted as a Review. The structure is similar to that of a review. Scoping reviews should strictly follow the PRISMA extension fo…Length not stated
- systematic reviewAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- technical noteAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- tutorialAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- viewpointAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- Authorship Authorship
MDPI follows the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines which state that, in order to qualify for authorship of a manuscript, the following criteria should be observed: Make substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; Draft the work or review it critically for important intel…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflicts of Interest
According to The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, “Authors should avoid entering into agreements with study sponsors, both for-profit and non-profit, that interfere with authors’ access to all of the study’s data or that interfere with their ability to analyze and interpret the data and to prepare and publish manuscripts independently when and where they choose.” All authors mus…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability statements
Data availability statements are required for all articles published with MDPI. During the peer review and editorial decision process, authors can be asked to share existing datasets or raw data that have been analyzed in the manuscript, and whether they will be made available to other researchers following publication. Authors will also be asked for the details of any existing datasets that have …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Publication Ethics Statement
Publications is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). We fully adhere to its Code of Conduct and to its Best Practice Guidelines. The editors of this journal enforce a rigorous peer review process together with strict ethical policies and standards to ensure to add high quality scientific works to the field of scholarly publication. Unfortunately, cases of plagiarism, data falsif…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright / Open Access
Articles published in Publications will be Open-Access articles distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The copyright is retained by the author(s). MDPI will insert the following note at the end of the published text: © 2026 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms a…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publication fees
If you transfer your manuscript to another open access (OA) journal, you will be charged an Article Processing Charge (APC) if your article is accepted for publication. The APC for each journal can be found on the individual journal’s website. For more information about APCs, please see here.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Editorial Process and Peer Review
All submissions are thoroughly peer-reviewed by experts within the field and undergo a structured editorial workflow designed to ensure quality, transparency, and scientific integrity. The full editorial procedure is available on the Editorial Process page and is also provided below. Pre-check Pre-check consists of a technical pre-check performed by the Editorial Office and an editorial pre-check …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints and Conference Papers
Publications accepts submissions that have previously been made available as preprints provided that they have not undergone peer review. A preprint is a draft version of a paper made available online before submission to a journal. MDPI operates Preprints, a preprint server to which submitted papers can be uploaded directly after completing journal submission. Note that Preprints operates indepen…
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
- Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
- Country or region
- Switzerland
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2304-6775
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 14 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- 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
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Publications
What CAS zone is Publications in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Publications is in Zone 4 of Management, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Information Science & Library Science. 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 Publications?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 3.4 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 5.7, h-index 42.
How long does peer review take at Publications?
Authors report an average review time of about 11 weeks. 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 Publications in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q1; by category, Information Science and Library Science Q1. 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.
What are the manuscript requirements of Publications?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 200 words; Reference style: Author–date; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Required, 3; 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 Publications based?
Of the 29 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 7 (about 24%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (7), Spain (5) and Italy (4). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Publications?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Publications is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science and DBLP; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Publications open access, and what is the APC?
Publications is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, DOAJ; 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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .