Journal profile · Multiple
Sahara J-Journal of Social Aspects of HIV-AIDS
ISSN 1729-0376 · eISSN 1813-4424 · Taylor & Francis Group · United Kingdom
Sahara J-Journal of Social Aspects of HIV-AIDS: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 0.6; fully open access; APC about USD 1,680; review about 111 days (first decision after review, publisher); acceptance rate 13% (journal website); 2 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Sahara J-Journal of Social Aspects of HIV-AIDS is published by Taylor & Francis Group and is in Zone 4 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions, Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV/AIDS Impact and Responses, together about 57.3% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Journal of Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS (SAHARA-J) publishes open access research on social factors relating to HIV/AIDS from Sub-Saharan Africa and other developing countries. The journal is published by Taylor & Francis on behalf of SAHARA, the Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS Research Alliance, which is part of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). SAHARA is an alliance of partners established to conduct, support and use social sciences research to prevent the further spread of HIV and mitigate the impact of its devastation in sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS (SAHARA-J) publishes peer-reviewed research of the highest quality and has a unique reputation for editorial excellence and integrity. The journal’s readership includes academics, scholars, researchers, journalists, international organizations, policy makers, civil society, donors and PLWHA. The journal aims to: inform policy makers and influence policy and responses through evidence-based research provide a publication source for all aspects of HIV/AIDS in Africa disseminate free HIV/AIDS information in Africa minimize duplication and build a community of researchers on social aspects of HIV/AIDS The Journal of Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS (SAHARA-J) disseminates vital open access research on social factors relating to HIV/AIDS. Areas covered include, but are not limited to: Care and support Behaviour change and behavioural surveillance Counselling, impact and mitigation Stigma and discrimination Prevention, treatment and adherence Culture and faith-based approaches Evidence-based intervention Health communication Structural and environmental intervention Financing, policy and media The journal publishes original articles, reviews, research articles, opinions, correspondence, news and views, and commentary. Peer review: All research articles in this journal, including those in special issues, special sections or supplements, have undergone rigorous peer review, based on initial editor screening and anonymized refereeing by at least two independent referees.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Multiple
Editor-in-chief Nompumelelo ZunguPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named South Africa 2, United States 1 (3 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- HIV/AIDS Research and InterventionsMedicine24%
- Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive HealthHealth Professions21.3%
- HIV/AIDS Impact and ResponsesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance12%
- Poverty, Education, and Child WelfareSocial Sciences7.5%
- HIV, Drug Use, Sexual RiskMedicine7.4%
- Sex work and related issuesSocial Sciences5.6%
- Human auditory perception and evaluationEngineering2.8%
- Educational Robotics and EngineeringComputer Science2.8%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Health Policy & Services | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Public, Environmental & Occupational Health | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Health Policy & Services | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Public, Environmental & Occupational Health | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Health Policy & Services | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Public, Environmental & Occupational Health | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- CiteScore Q2 · 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
SSCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
SCIEPMCPsycINFOPublisher website
Other: African Journals Online (AJOL), International Bibliography for Social Sciences (IBSS), Sabinet/South African E-Journals
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
- 0.6LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 0.6Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 3Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.75LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.75Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.16LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 1.16Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 48OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 250OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 2LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 54,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 420 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| 2025 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 2024 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 2023 | 3 | 3 | 5 |
| 2022 | 3 | 3 | 45 |
| 2021 | 16 | 16 | 174 |
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
Too few articlesOnly 5 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".
Figures by source
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 40 weeksLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 13%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 109 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 111 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 40 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Double 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
Fully open accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | EUR 1,615 / GBP 1,344 / USD 1,680 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC | |
| OpenAlex | USD 1,270 | — | — | |
| LetPub | EUR 1,615 / GBP 1,344 / USD 1,680 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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 accepted1
- original articlesThe journal publishes original articles, reviews, research articles, opinions, correspondence, news and views, and commentary.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access, Peer review
- Open access Open access
SAHARA-J: Journal of Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS is an open access journal and only publishes open access articles. 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 and readership of your article Make an impact and reach new…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
All research articles undergo rigorous peer review based on initial editor screening and anonymized refereeing by at least two independent referees. Model summary
All research articles in this journal, including those in special issues, special sections or supplements, have undergone rigorous peer review, based on initial editor screening and anonymized refereeing by at least two independent 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 Group
- Country or region
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1729-0376
- Electronic ISSN
- 1813-4424
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 23, Issue 1 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗DOAJ
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗DOAJ
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Sahara J-Journal of Social Aspects of HIV-AIDS
What CAS zone is Sahara J-Journal of Social Aspects of HIV-AIDS in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Sahara J-Journal of Social Aspects of HIV-AIDS is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Health Policy & Services / Public, Environmental & Occupational Health. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 4 of Medicine. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Sahara J-Journal of Social Aspects of HIV-AIDS?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 0.6; CiteScore 3, h-index 48.
How long does peer review take at Sahara J-Journal of Social Aspects of HIV-AIDS?
The publisher reports about 111 days (first decision after review); authors report an average review time of about 40 weeks; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 13%. 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 Sahara J-Journal of Social Aspects of HIV-AIDS based?
Of the 3 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are South Africa (2) and United States (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Sahara J-Journal of Social Aspects of HIV-AIDS?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Sahara J-Journal of Social Aspects of HIV-AIDS is indexed in SSCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists SCIE, PMC and PsycINFO; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Sahara J-Journal of Social Aspects of HIV-AIDS open access, and what is the APC?
Sahara J-Journal of Social Aspects of HIV-AIDS is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 1,680.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, DOAJ; 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: .