Journal profile · POLITICAL SCIENCE
Regional and Federal Studies
ISSN 1359-7566 · eISSN 1743-9434 · Taylor & Francis
Regional and Federal Studies: CAS Zone 2 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.8 (journal website); JCR Q2 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 284 days to acceptance (66 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 28% (journal website); 41 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Regional and Federal Studies is published by Taylor & Francis and is in Zone 2 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Political Systems and Governance, European Union Policy and Governance and Social Policy and Reform Studies, together about 45.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Political Science and International Relations. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
From European integration to processes of decentralisation in the Global South, from post-conflict federal power-sharing arrangements to minority nationalist movements and the spatial rescaling of public policy,the study of federalism and territorial politics now covers a wide variety of topics dealing with divided political authority and levels of government. From Argentina to China to Greenland, issues of (de)centralisation and multi-level territorial politics are of great importance. Regional and Federal Studies is a refereed social science journal which provides an academic forum for the publication of leading international research on these issues. The journal carefully reviews, selects and publishes high-quality articles dealing with various aspects of comparative territorial politics, regionalism, federalism, subnational research, and multi-level governance crossing substantive, thematic, geographical, theoretical, and methodological boundaries. The journal is also open to publishing material on supra-national or inter-governmental cooperation where this is substantially informed by, or seeks to contribute to, literature on federalism and territorial politics. When the journal was first created in 1991, as Regional Politics and Policy: An International Journal, its primary focus was on regionalism in Western Europe. Today, Regional and Federal Studies is a journal of global reference. The thirtieth anniversary issue of Regional and Federal Studies provides an overview of the development of the journal’s aims and scopes within the context of the wider field. Peer Review 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. Election articles are sent out for double anonymized peer review to at least two reviewers. Election reports are reviewed by the annual review editors.Special Issue Introductions are reviewed by members of the editorial board.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): POLITICAL SCIENCE
Editor-in-chief Davide VampaPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 17%); most named United Kingdom 3, Mainland China 1, United States 1, Germany 1 (6 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Political Systems and GovernanceSocial Sciences22.7%
- European Union Policy and GovernanceSocial Sciences14.1%
- Social Policy and Reform StudiesSocial Sciences8.4%
- Electoral Systems and Political ParticipationSocial Sciences7.9%
- Local Government Finance and DecentralizationSocial Sciences5.9%
- Regional Development and PolicySocial Sciences4.4%
- Human auditory perception and evaluationEngineering4.2%
- Cross-Border Cooperation and IntegrationSocial Sciences3.1%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Political Science | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Political 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 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
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
- 1.8Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.7Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.8LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 3.8Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.64LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.64Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.22LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 1.22Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 61OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 557OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.27OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 11.1%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 32%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 37LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 128,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,385 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 26 | 6 | 3 |
| 2025 | 41 | 28 | 56 |
| 2024 | 26 | 16 | 59 |
| 2023 | 49 | 29 | 315 |
| 2022 | 38 | 14 | 413 |
| 2021 | 45 | 20 | 430 |
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 Crossref · to
284 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 224 days – 357 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 12 days (66 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 299 days
- Sample
- 66 articles with submission and acceptance dates (68 in the window); the latest was accepted on
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".
Other sources
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 28%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 34 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 56 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 12 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication
- 34 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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)
Article types accepted4
- election articlesElection articles are sent out for double anonymized peer review to at least two reviewers.Length not stated
- election reportsElection reports are reviewed by the annual review editors.Length not stated
- research articlesAll research articles in this journal have undergone rigorous peer review, based on initial editor screening and anonymized refereeing by at least two anonymous…Length not stated
- special issue introductionsSpecial Issue Introductions are reviewed by members of the editorial board.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access, Peer review
- Open access Open access
Regional & Federal Studies 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
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
- 1359-7566
- Electronic ISSN
- 1743-9434
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 36, Issue 4 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Regional and Federal Studies
What CAS zone is Regional and Federal Studies in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Regional and Federal Studies is in Zone 2 of Sociology, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Political Science. 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 Regional and Federal Studies?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 1.8 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 3.8, h-index 61.
How long does peer review take at Regional and Federal Studies?
Based on the dates recorded on 66 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 284 days (interquartile range 224–357 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 28%. 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 Regional and Federal Studies 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 2 of Sociology.
Where are the editorial board members of Regional and Federal Studies based?
Of the 6 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 17%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (3), Mainland China (1) and United States (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Regional and Federal Studies?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Regional and Federal Studies is indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Is Regional and Federal Studies open access, and what is the APC?
Regional and Federal Studies is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC charged, amount not published.
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: .