Journal profile · EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
Quality in Higher Education
ISSN 1353-8322 · eISSN 1470-1081 · Taylor & Francis
Quality in Higher Education: CAS Zone 4 · Education (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2 (journal website); JCR Q2 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC charged, amount not published; 23 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Quality in Higher Education is published by Taylor & Francis and is in Zone 4 of Education in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Higher Education Governance and Development, Evaluation of Teaching Practices and Higher Education Learning Practices, together about 54.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Education. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Quality in Higher Education is aimed at those interested in the theory, practice and policies relating to the control, management and improvement of quality in higher education. The journal is receptive to critical, phenomenological as well as positivistic studies. The journal would like to publish more studies that use hermeneutic, semiotic, ethnographic or dialectical research as well as the more traditional studies based on quantitative surveys and in-depth interviews and focus groups. Papers that have empirical research content are particularly welcome. The editor especially wishes to encourage papers on: reported research results, especially where these assess the impact of quality assurance systems, procedures and methodologies; theoretical analyses of quality and quality initiatives in higher education; comparative evaluation and international aspects of practice and policy with a view to identifying transportable methods, systems and good practice; quality assurance and standards monitoring of transnational higher education; the nature and impact and student feedback; improvements in learning and teaching that impact on quality and standards; links between quality assurance and employability; evaluations of the impact of quality procedures at national level, backed up by research evidence. Note that Quality in Higher Education publishes system-wide analyses and comparative studies between institutions or countries but rarely publishes single institution studies (unless it is an illustrative case study as part of a much broader analysis). Nor do we publish articles about quality in other contexts (such as quality control in manufacturing) or articles about higher education in general. It is important for contributors to refer to the ‘ Instructions for authors’ before submitting papers. Peer Review Policy: All research articles in this journal have undergone rigorous peer review, based on initial editor screening and anonymized refereeing by at least two anonymous referees.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Higher Education Governance and DevelopmentSocial Sciences29%
- Evaluation of Teaching PracticesSocial Sciences13.1%
- Higher Education Learning PracticesSocial Sciences12.1%
- Evaluation and Performance AssessmentDecision Sciences5.6%
- Higher Education and EmployabilitySocial Sciences4.9%
- Higher Education Practises and EngagementSocial Sciences4.4%
- Management and Organizational StudiesBusiness, Management and Accounting3.8%
- Student Assessment and FeedbackSocial Sciences3.4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Education Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Education | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Education & Educational Research | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Education Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Education | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Education & Educational Research | 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 Q2 · best quartile · 2025
- CiteScore Q1 · 2025
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
ESCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
ERICPublisher website
Other: Australian Research Council (ARC) Ranked Journal List, British Education Index, Educational Administration Abstracts, Educational Research Abstracts online (ERA), FRANCIS, Higher Education Abstracts, Claremont Graduate School, VOCEDplus
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
- 2Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.4LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 4.4Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.49LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.49Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.01LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 1.01Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 72OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 480OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.09OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 15%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 15.56%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 19LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 95,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 892 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 15 | 6 | 0 |
| 2025 | 23 | 8 | 47 |
| 2024 | 15 | 8 | 117 |
| 2023 | 21 | 9 | 110 |
| 2022 | 37 | 20 | 304 |
| 2021 | 29 | 7 | 417 |
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 PubMed · to
Too few articlesOnly 2 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".
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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.
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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access, Peer review
- Open access Open access
Quality in Higher Education is a hybrid open access journal that is part of the Taylor & Francis Open Select publishing program, giving you the option to publish open access. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership, and impact of your research. Why choose open access? Increase the discoverability…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Peer review policy: rigorous peer review based on initial editor screening and anonymized refereeing by at least two anonymous referees. Model summary
All research articles in this journal have undergone rigorous peer review, based on initial editor screening and anonymized refereeing by at least two anonymous referees.
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
- Taylor & Francis
- ISSN
- 1353-8322
- Electronic ISSN
- 1470-1081
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 32, Issue 2 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Quality in Higher Education
What CAS zone is Quality in Higher Education in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Quality in Higher Education is in Zone 4 of Education, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Education & Educational Research. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Education. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Quality in Higher Education?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 2 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 4.4, h-index 72.
What JCR quartile is Quality in Higher Education in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q2 (best quartile). 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 Education.
Which databases index Quality in Higher Education?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Quality in Higher Education is indexed in ESCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists ERIC; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Quality in Higher Education open access, and what is the APC?
Quality in Higher Education is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC charged, amount not published.
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: .