Journal profile · MUSIC
Research Studies in Music Education
ISSN 1321-103X · eISSN 1745-526X · SAGE
Research Studies in Music Education: CAS Zone 1 · Arts (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 7.2 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,650; review about 107 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); acceptance rate 10.9% (journal website); 31 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Research Studies in Music Education is published by SAGE and is in Zone 1 of Arts in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Diverse Music Education Insights, Neuroscience and Music Perception and Music Therapy and Health, together about 64.1% of its articles. Its main subfields are Education. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The RELC Journal, established in 1970, is a triannual peer-reviewed international publication of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (SEAMEO) Regional Language Centre (RELC), located in Singapore. It publishes original research and review articles on topics pertinent to language teaching and learning. 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): MUSIC
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named Singapore 8, Hong Kong, China 6, United States 5, Iran 4, New Zealand 4 (36 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Diverse Music Education InsightsArts and Humanities37.6%
- Neuroscience and Music PerceptionNeuroscience19.3%
- Music Therapy and HealthPsychology7.2%
- Art Education and DevelopmentArts and Humanities4.1%
- Teacher Education and Leadership StudiesSocial Sciences3.6%
- Music Education and AnalysisSocial Sciences3.3%
- Music Technology and Sound StudiesComputer Science2.7%
- Musicians’ Health and PerformanceMedicine2.3%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Arts Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Arts | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Music | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Arts Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Arts | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Music | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
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)
- 7.2Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 5.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.9LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.17LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 2.08LetPub ·
- h-index
- 59OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 322OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.85OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 10.5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 48.15%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 28LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 659 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 42 | 18 | 20 |
| 2025 | 31 | 19 | 53 |
| 2024 | 25 | 22 | 108 |
| 2023 | 30 | 21 | 199 |
| 2022 | 40 | 20 | 416 |
| 2021 | 33 | 10 | 463 |
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
107 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)
- 10.9%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 3 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 56 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 107 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 32 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 | 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)
What to prepare9 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 300 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 5
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 6,000 words
- Reference style
- Harvard
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
- Highlights
- Optional
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted9, with length limits
- book reviewRELC Journal publishes a range of article types on the topic of language education: Research Articles (6000 words) Research articles present an empirical projec…main text ≤ 1,000 words
- book reviewsBook Reviews "by invitation only" (1000 words) This article type provides reviews on current books related to the journal's aims and scope.Length not stated
- ict reviewsICT Reviews (1000 words) This article type provides reviews of apps, webLength not stated
- innovations in practiceInnovations in Practice (3000 words) RELC invites contributions focussing on innovations in classroom practice.Length not stated
- research articleRELC Journal publishes a range of article types on the topic of language education: Research Articles (6000 words) Research articles present an empirical projec…main text ≤ 6,000 words
- research articlesResearch Articles (6000 words) Research articles present an empirical project on language education or related areas that consists of original data the author h…Length not stated
- reviewRELC Journal publishes a range of article types on the topic of language education: Research Articles (6000 words) Research articles present an empirical projec…main text ≤ 1,000 words
- review articleRELC Journal publishes a range of article types on the topic of language education: Research Articles (6000 words) Research articles present an empirical projec…main text ≤ 3,000 words
- review articlesReview Articles "by invitation only" (3000 words) Review articles present a review of recent research in the Applied Linguistics and/or TESOL disciplines. These…Length 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. As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review and publicati…
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
There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this journal. 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, you will receive information regarding the costs from Sage after receipt of your accepted article. Optional open access publishing is available for a fee via the Sage Choice p…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review policy
Double anonymized peer review Model summary
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 does not accept submissions of manuscripts that have been posted on preprint servers.
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
- 1321-103X
- Print ISSN
- 0033-6882
- Electronic ISSN
- 1745-526X
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Research Studies in Music Education
What CAS zone is Research Studies in Music Education in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Research Studies in Music Education is in Zone 1 of Arts, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Music; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Arts. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Research Studies in Music Education?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 7.2; this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 4.9, h-index 59.
How long does peer review take at Research Studies in Music Education?
The publisher reports about 107 days (submission to acceptance); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 10.9%. 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 are the manuscript requirements of Research Studies in Music Education?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 300 words; Keywords: ≥ 5; Manuscript length: ≤ 6,000 words; Reference style: Harvard; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Optional; Highlights: Optional; Graphical abstract: Optional; Cover letter: Required. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Where are the editorial board members of Research Studies in Music Education based?
Of the 36 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Singapore (8), Hong Kong, China (6) and United States (5). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Research Studies in Music Education?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Research Studies in Music Education is indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Is Research Studies in Music Education open access, and what is the APC?
Research Studies in Music Education 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: .