Journal profile · SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY
Qualitative Inquiry
ISSN 1077-8004 · eISSN 1552-7565 · SAGE
Qualitative Inquiry: CAS Zone 3 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.65; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,900; review about 75 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); acceptance rate 9.5% (journal website); 68 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Qualitative Inquiry is published by SAGE and is in Zone 3 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics, Participatory Visual Research Methods and Posthumanist Ethics and Activism, together about 44.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Qualitative Inquiry (QI) provides an interdisciplinary forum for qualitative methodology and related issues in the human sciences. The journal publishes open-peer reviewed research articles that experiment with manuscript form and content, and focus on … | View full journal description This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY
Editor-in-chief Norman KPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 33, Canada 5, United Kingdom 2, Australia 2, New Zealand 2 (45 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Qualitative Research Methods and EthicsSocial Sciences19.8%
- Participatory Visual Research MethodsSocial Sciences13.9%
- Posthumanist Ethics and ActivismSocial Sciences10.8%
- Critical Race Theory in EducationSocial Sciences5.5%
- Educator Training and Historical PedagogySocial Sciences4.2%
- Theatre and Performance StudiesArts and Humanities3.7%
- Qualitative Research Methods and ApplicationsSocial Sciences3.2%
- Art Education and DevelopmentArts and Humanities2.9%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary | Zone 2 |
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 | Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary | Zone 3 |
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
- 1.65LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2.5Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 2.3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.7LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.66LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.59LetPub ·
- h-index
- 143OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,297OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.47OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 4%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 46.64%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 65LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,858 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 64 | 42 | 50 |
| 2025 | 68 | 43 | 172 |
| 2024 | 110 | 71 | 376 |
| 2023 | 137 | 93 | 778 |
| 2022 | 158 | 67 | 1,178 |
| 2021 | 90 | 29 | 944 |
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
75 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)
- 9.5%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 3 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 75 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 39 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 3,900 / GBP 2,859 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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)
- Other fees
- No other fees
- Submission fee
- No submission fee
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 prepare9 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- 100–150 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 4
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 8,000 words
- Reference style
- APA
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Required
- Highlights
- Required
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted2
- editorialQualitative Inquiry provides an interdisciplinary forum for the latest world-leading research related to qualitative methodologies in the humanities and social …Length not stated
- reviewQualitative Inquiry provides an interdisciplinary forum for the latest world-leading research related to qualitative methodologies in the humanities and social …Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Data availability, Publication ethics, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Preprints
- 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, $800 for the first color image, $200 for any additional color images fees applies. Optional open access publishing is available for a fee via the Sage Choice program, and Open…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review policy
The following summary describes the peer review process for this journal: Identity transparency: Double-anonymized Reviewer interacts with: Editor Review information published: None Your manuscript will undergo an initial evaluation. If it does not conform to the requirements laid out in these guidelines, it will be returned to you for amendments prior to peer review. Manuscripts may be desk rejec…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism Plagiarism
The journal and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. Please read Sage's complete policy on plagiarism and the actions we may take.
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 ·
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
- 1077-8004
- Electronic ISSN
- 1552-7565
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Qualitative Inquiry
What CAS zone is Qualitative Inquiry in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Qualitative Inquiry is in Zone 3 of Sociology, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary. 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 Qualitative Inquiry?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.65; CiteScore 3.7, h-index 143.
How long does peer review take at Qualitative Inquiry?
The publisher reports about 75 days (submission to acceptance); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 9.5%. 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 Qualitative Inquiry?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 100–150 words; Keywords: ≥ 4; Manuscript length: ≤ 8,000 words; Reference style: APA; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Required; Highlights: Required; 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 Qualitative Inquiry based?
Of the 45 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (33), Canada (5) and United Kingdom (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Qualitative Inquiry?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Qualitative Inquiry is indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Is Qualitative Inquiry open access, and what is the APC?
Qualitative Inquiry is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,900.
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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .