Journal profile · SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY
Qualitative Research Journal
ISSN 1443-9883 · eISSN 1448-0980 · Emerald
Qualitative Research Journal: CAS Zone 4 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); hybrid open access; 97 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Qualitative Research Journal is published by Emerald 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 Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods, together about 52.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Research area (LetPub): SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Qualitative Research Methods and EthicsSocial Sciences25.4%
- Qualitative Research Methods and ApplicationsSocial Sciences19.7%
- Focus Groups and Qualitative MethodsSocial Sciences7.2%
- Participatory Visual Research MethodsSocial Sciences6.2%
- Educational Research and MethodsSocial Sciences5.3%
- Posthumanist Ethics and ActivismSocial Sciences5.3%
- Data Analysis and ArchivingSocial Sciences4.2%
- Teacher Education and Leadership StudiesSocial Sciences3.3%
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.
CiteScore quartiles (Scopus, June 2026 release)
| Subject | Quartile | Rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Social Sciences | Q1 | 63/286 | 78th |
| Education | Q2 | 428/1698 | 74th |
Scopus ranks journals by CiteScore within each subject: the 75th percentile and above is Q1, then a quartile every 25 points. A different system from the CAS zones.LetPub
Database indexing
ESCIScopusLetPub
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
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.1LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.57LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.2LetPub ·
- h-index
- 40OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 201OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.14OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 4.8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 14.8%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 93LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 911 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 86 | 22 | 4,303 |
| 2025 | 97 | 29 | 3,764 |
| 2024 | 84 | 24 | 3,289 |
| 2023 | 51 | 25 | 2,924 |
| 2022 | 38 | 8 | 2,471 |
| 2021 | 30 | 10 | 2,200 |
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.
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.
No source has fee information yet; check the journal's website.
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.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Emerald
- ISSN
- 1443-9883
- Electronic ISSN
- 1448-0980
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Qualitative Research Journal
What CAS zone is Qualitative Research Journal in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Qualitative Research Journal 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.
Which databases index Qualitative Research Journal?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Qualitative Research Journal is indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Is Qualitative Research Journal open access, and what is the APC?
Qualitative Research Journal is a hybrid journal. Fee information is not available yet; check the journal's website.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, 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: .