Journal profile · SOCIAL WORK
Research on Social Work Practice
ISSN 1049-7315 · eISSN 1552-7581 · SAGE
Research on Social Work Practice: CAS Zone 3 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.06; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,650; review about 73 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); acceptance rate 32.3% (journal website); 164 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Research on Social Work Practice 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 Social Work Education and Practice, Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development and Homelessness and Social Issues, together about 36.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are General Health Professions and Clinical Psychology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Research on Social Work Practice (RSWP), peer-reviewed and published eight times per year, is a disciplinary journal devoted to the publication of empirical research concerning the assessment methods and outcomes of social work practice. Intervention programs covered include behavior analysis and therapy; psychotherapy or counseling with … | 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 WORK
Editorial board by country: 4 in mainland China (about 12%); most named United States 19, Mainland China 4, Hong Kong, China 4, United Kingdom 1, Australia 1 (33 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Social Work Education and PracticeSocial Sciences18.8%
- Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentPsychology10.6%
- Homelessness and Social IssuesHealth Professions7.1%
- Child Abuse and TraumaPsychology6.6%
- Mental Health and Patient InvolvementHealth Professions5.6%
- Child Welfare and AdoptionSocial Sciences5.1%
- Family and Disability Support ResearchPsychology4.8%
- Interprofessional Education and CollaborationHealth Professions4.7%
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 Work | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Social Work | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Sociology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Social Work | Zone 4 |
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
- 2.06LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2.1Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 2.3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.2LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.68LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.28LetPub ·
- h-index
- 99OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,238OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.69OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 9.5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 20.08%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 118LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,847 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 98 | 44 | 16 |
| 2025 | 164 | 49 | 148 |
| 2024 | 100 | 39 | 446 |
| 2023 | 80 | 33 | 428 |
| 2022 | 125 | 26 | 868 |
| 2021 | 99 | 26 | 1,267 |
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
73 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)
- 32.3%Publisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 41 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 73 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 25 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 3,650 / GBP 2,676 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 800 | — | — |
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
- USD 800
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
Article types accepted7
- book reviewArticle Types: Research Articles Book Reviews Editorials Invited ArticlesLength not stated
- book reviewsArticle Types: Research Articles Book Reviews Editorials Invited ArticlesLength not stated
- editorialArticle Types: Research Articles Book Reviews Editorials Invited ArticlesLength not stated
- editorialsArticle Types: Research Articles Book Reviews Editorials Invited ArticlesLength not stated
- invited articlesArticle Types: Research Articles Book Reviews Editorials Invited ArticlesLength not stated
- research articleArticle Types: Research Articles Book Reviews Editorials Invited ArticlesLength not stated
- research articlesArticle Types: Research Articles Book Reviews Editorials Invited ArticlesLength 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
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, the following fees apply: $800 for the first printed color image, and $200 for each subsequent printed color image. Optional open access publishing is available for a fee via the Sage Choice program, and Open Access agreements, where autho…
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
- 1049-7315
- Electronic ISSN
- 1552-7581
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Research on Social Work Practice
What CAS zone is Research on Social Work Practice in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Research on Social Work Practice is in Zone 3 of Sociology, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Social Work. 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 Research on Social Work Practice?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.06; CiteScore 4.2, h-index 99.
How long does peer review take at Research on Social Work Practice?
The publisher reports about 73 days (submission to acceptance); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 32.3%. 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 Research on Social Work Practice based?
Of the 33 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 4 (about 12%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (19), Mainland China (4) and Hong Kong, China (4). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Research on Social Work Practice?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Research on Social Work Practice is indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Is Research on Social Work Practice open access, and what is the APC?
Research on Social Work Practice is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,650.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .