Journal profile · SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY
Qualitative Report
ISSN 2160-3715 · Nova Southeastern University · United States
Qualitative Report: CAS Zone 4 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.28 (journal website); fully open access; APC about USD 500; review about 45 weeks (community reports); 112 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Qualitative Report is published by Nova Southeastern University 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 Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics, Qualitative Research Methods and Applications and Participatory Visual Research Methods, together about 36.7% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science and Education. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Manuscript Criteria Papers submitted for review to The Qualitative Report must be original works on the part of the authors, must not have been published previously, and must not be under review with another publication at any time during the review process. A wide variety of submissions are welcomed to The Qualitative Report. Given the richness and diversity of qualitative research and researchers from around the world, papers reflecting scientific, artistic, critical and clinical postures are all fitting contributions to the electronic pages of this journal. Methods depicted in these papers may be qualitative, comparative, mixed, collaborative, action-oriented, appreciative, and/or critical in nature. Papers may be qualitative research studies, commentaries about the conduct of qualitative research, prescriptive pieces on carrying out qualitative research, "back stage" essays in which authors give a perspective on how they created and crafted a particular project, presentations on technological innovations relevant to qualitative researchers and their inquiries, and any other issues which would be important for practitioners, teachers, and learners of qualitative research. The length of submitted works may vary greatly. Since The Qualitative Report is not restricted by the economics of paper, contributors can concentrate on the particularities of their paper at hand and let those considerations shape the length of their narrative rather than an arbitrary limit of words or pages. Having said that, it is important for authors to remember TQR publishes article-length manuscripts and not book-length manuscripts so authors should give careful consideration to manuscripts over 20,000 words. In such instances, the author should consider whether or not the manuscript reflects ideas for two separate papers and then edit the manuscript so the text is more focused before submitting it to TQR. In such cases, the author might consider submitting two papers after the revisions are done on the original opus. Given the ways in which a style guide can shape the writing choices made by an author, we want to assist you as you prepare your submissions by letting you know that we use The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA; 7th ed.) as a guide for contributors to The Qualitative Report. This means that we ask authors to look to APA recommendations regarding the title, abstract, and headings used in the paper, as well as the format of references
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY
Editor-in-chief Ronald ChenailPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 0%); most named United States 143, India 8, Indonesia 8, Canada 7, Australia 7 (208 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Qualitative Research Methods and EthicsSocial Sciences16.1%
- Qualitative Research Methods and ApplicationsSocial Sciences12.2%
- Participatory Visual Research MethodsSocial Sciences8.4%
- Teacher Education and Leadership StudiesSocial Sciences7.5%
- Focus Groups and Qualitative MethodsSocial Sciences5.6%
- Reflective Practices in EducationSocial Sciences4.3%
- Counseling, Therapy, and Family DynamicsPsychology4.1%
- EFL/ESL Teaching and LearningArts and Humanities3.7%
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 | Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
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)
- 2.28Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 3.6Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.62LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher)
- 3.6Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.22LetPub ·
- h-index
- 115OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,089OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.04OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 8.3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.38%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 108LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 900,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 3,377 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 86 | 86 | 3 |
| 2025 | 112 | 112 | 106 |
| 2024 | 178 | 178 | 659 |
| 2023 | 149 | 149 | 743 |
| 2022 | 260 | 260 | 2,940 |
| 2021 | 218 | 218 | 2,951 |
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 45 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 45 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Open 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 500 | Yes | CC BY-NC-SA | |
| OpenAlex | USD 500 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 500 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 500 | — | — |
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 prepare1 items from the author guidelines
- Reference style
- APA
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- AI use
AI use must be disclosed in the submission; Generative AI cannot be listed as an author; original sources must be cited rather than AI tools; AI must not be used to create or manipulate images and figures. Model summary
We at TQR recognize the value of artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential to help authors in the research and writing process.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship
APA 7th edition style guide required for submissions. Model summary
we use The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA; 7th ed.) as a guide for contributors to The Qualitative Report.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest
No simultaneous submission to other journals until the editorial decision process is complete. Model summary
In addition, by submitting material to The Qualitative Report, the author is stipulating that the material is not currently under review at another journal (electronic or print) and that he or she will not submit the material to another journal (electronic or print) until the completion of the editorial decision process at The Qualitative Report.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright
Articles are licensed under CC BY-NC-SA. Model summary
the authors agree to licensing their work under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA).
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access
All articles are open access and freely available online immediately upon publication. Model summary
All articles published in The Qualitative Report (TQR) are open access and freely available online, immediately upon publication.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Open peer review; identities of authors, reviewers, and editors are known to all parties. Model summary
we use an open peer review system to evaluate manuscripts and to nurture authors. Throughout the process the identities of the authors, peer reviewers and editors are known to all involved parties.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints
Original, unpublished work only; working-paper series publication does not count as prior publication. Model summary
Submitted articles cannot have been previously published, nor be forthcoming in an archival journal or book (print or electronic).
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
- Nova Southeastern University
- Country or region
- United States
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2160-3715
- Print ISSN
- 1052-0147
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 31, Issue 8 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- 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 Qualitative Report
What CAS zone is Qualitative Report in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Qualitative Report is in Zone 4 of Sociology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary. 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 Qualitative Report?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 2.28; this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 4, h-index 115.
How long does peer review take at Qualitative Report?
Authors report an average review time of about 45 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Qualitative Report based?
Of the 208 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 0%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (143), India (8) and Indonesia (8). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Qualitative Report?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Qualitative Report 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 Qualitative Report open access, and what is the APC?
Qualitative Report is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 500.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, DOAJ, 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: .