Journal profile · SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY
RSF-The Russell Sage Journal of the Social Sciences
ISSN 2377-8253 · eISSN 2377-8261 · Russell Sage Foundation · United States
RSF-The Russell Sage Journal of the Social Sciences: CAS Zone 2 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 3.65; diamond open access (no APC); no APC; review about 53 weeks (community reports); 34 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
RSF-The Russell Sage Journal of the Social Sciences is published by Russell Sage Foundation and is in Zone 2 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies, Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics and Employment and Welfare Studies, together about 24.8% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal of original empirical research articles by both established and emerging scholars. It is designed to promote cross-disciplinary collaborations on timely issues of interest to academics, policymakers, and the public at large. Each issue is thematic in nature and focuses on a specific research question or area of interest. The introduction to each issue will include an accessible, broad, and synthetic overview of the research question under consideration and the current thinking from the various social sciences.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation StudiesSocial Sciences10.3%
- Gender, Labor, and Family DynamicsSocial Sciences7.5%
- Employment and Welfare StudiesHealth Professions7%
- Criminal Justice and Corrections AnalysisSocial Sciences6.3%
- Homelessness and Social IssuesHealth Professions5.8%
- School Choice and PerformanceSocial Sciences5.3%
- Migration and Labor DynamicsSocial Sciences4.5%
- Crime Patterns and InterventionsSocial Sciences4.2%
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 | Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Sociology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary | Zone 1 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusDOAJLetPub
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
- 3.65LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 10.4LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.53LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.9LetPub ·
- h-index
- 53OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 327OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.65OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 2.8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 96.72%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 37LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 566 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 36 | 36 | 3 |
| 2025 | 34 | 34 | 149 |
| 2024 | 43 | 43 | 260 |
| 2023 | 43 | 43 | 797 |
| 2022 | 72 | 72 | 1,340 |
| 2021 | 34 | 34 | 634 |
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
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 53 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 53 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer reviewDOAJ
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
Diamond open access (no APC)DOAJ
Every article is open access and authors pay no article processing charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | No APC | No | CC BY-NC-ND | |
| LetPub | No APC | No | — |
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 prepare10 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 150 words
- Keywords
- 6–9
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Templates
- Word
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
- Highlights
- Required
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Required
- Not considered
- AI-generated text
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, License & copyright
- AI use AI Policy
The Russell Sage Foundation does not consider the use of artificial intelligence (AI) generated text to meet the standard of authorship. Fair use of AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, large language models, machine learning, or similar technologies) includes the checking of spelling, grammar, and citations. Authors are considered the sole creators of their work. As such, authors are responsible for the cont…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright
All work must be original, and the copyright will be held by the Russell Sage Foundation. Every contributor must submit a signed “RSF Contributor Agreement Form” along with their article. Terms of usage are outlined on the form. Permission to republish will need to be made through the Copyright Clearance Center, which administers the permissions requests for Russell Sage. Please note that RSF only…
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
- Russell Sage Foundation
- Country or region
- United States
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2377-8253
- Electronic ISSN
- 2377-8261
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 12, Issue 4 (July 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about RSF-The Russell Sage Journal of the Social Sciences
What CAS zone is RSF-The Russell Sage Journal of the Social Sciences in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, RSF-The Russell Sage Journal of the Social Sciences is in Zone 2 of Sociology, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Sociology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of RSF-The Russell Sage Journal of the Social Sciences?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.65; CiteScore 10.4, h-index 53.
How long does peer review take at RSF-The Russell Sage Journal of the Social Sciences?
Authors report an average review time of about 53 weeks. 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 RSF-The Russell Sage Journal of the Social Sciences?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 150 words; Keywords: 6–9; Reference style: Author–date; Templates: Word; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Optional; Highlights: Required; 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.
Which databases index RSF-The Russell Sage Journal of the Social Sciences?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, RSF-The Russell Sage Journal of the Social Sciences is indexed in SSCI, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is RSF-The Russell Sage Journal of the Social Sciences open access, and what is the APC?
RSF-The Russell Sage Journal of the Social Sciences is a diamond open-access journal (no APC). It charges no article processing charge.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, DOAJ, 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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .