Journal profile · LITERATURE
SARE-Southeast Asian Review of English
ISSN 0127-046X · Universiti Malaya · Malaysia
SARE-Southeast Asian Review of English: CAS Zone 4 · Literature (2025 upgraded edition); diamond open access (no APC); no APC; review about 135 days (first decision after review, publisher); acceptance rate 12% (journal website); 23 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
SARE-Southeast Asian Review of English is published by Universiti Malaya and is in Zone 4 of Literature in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Asian Studies and History, South Asian Cinema and Culture and Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies, together about 26.7% of its articles. Its main subfields are Cultural Studies. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
SARE: Southeast Asian Review of English is an international peer-reviewed journal founded in 1980 that publishes scholarly articles and other materials. Launched initially by the Malaysian Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies (MACLALS), it is now produced by the Department of English at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of Universiti Malaya, the nation's oldest and premier university. Writing in the inaugural issue, its founding editor, Lloyd Fernando, Professor of English and Head then of the only university department of English in Malaysia, declared that though SARE was envisaged as "a specialist journal" covering "an already diverse and still expanding area of literary, cultural and social interest -- Malaysian and Singaporean literature in English through Commonwealth literature to Third World literature in English it won't be a journal of a jealously and zealously delimited specialism". Forty years later, SARE remains true to those inclusive founding principles. It continues to be committed to its mission to promote scholarship that transcends established canons while being attentive to texts and constituencies that occupy the margins of cultures, histories, and nations. A pioneer in the academic and literary scene of Malaysia and Singapore at the time of its launch in 1980, SARE now serves a global community of readers, writers, and scholars as an open access electronic journal that is freely and immediately available. SARE's aim is to draw attention to original scholarship in the North and the South on a variety of genres such as literary fiction and non-fiction (including essays, memoirs, reportage, and travel writing), popular fiction, theatre, drama, poetry, film and other visual arts as well as popular cultural texts and performances principally from Southeast, South, and East Asia. SARE also invites submissions that are concerned with diasporic sites of cultural and knowledge production. In this spirit, SARE welcomes: Scholarly articles on literary and cultural studies related to Southeast, South, and East Asia; Special issues with a thematic or regional focus; Interviews with writers, activists, artists, critics, or theorists of the region; Book, film, or performance reviews, including reviews of literary or cultural criticism on the region and of novels, short fiction, poetry, plays, essays, art/photography, and digital and new media works by writers of the region; Creative writing by established, emerging, or p
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): LITERATURE
Editor-in-chief Sharifah AishahPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United Kingdom 5, Australia 3, Malaysia 3, Hong Kong, China 1, Taiwan, China 1 (18 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Asian Studies and HistorySocial Sciences10.8%
- South Asian Cinema and CultureArts and Humanities9.3%
- Postcolonial and Cultural Literary StudiesArts and Humanities6.7%
- Socioeconomic Development in AsiaSocial Sciences6.7%
- South Asian Studies and DiasporaArts and Humanities5.4%
- Philippine History and CultureSocial Sciences4.6%
- Japanese History and CultureSocial Sciences4.4%
- Asian Culture and Media StudiesSocial Sciences4.4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Literature Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Literature | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Literature | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Literature Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Literature | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Literature | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Google ScholarPublisher website
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
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 0.5LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.15LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.73LetPub ·
- h-index
- 6OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 4OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.23OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 33.3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 21.43%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 9LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 361 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 14 | 14 | 0 |
| 2025 | 23 | 23 | 1 |
| 2024 | 33 | 33 | 15 |
| 2023 | 60 | 60 | 24 |
| 2022 | 28 | 28 | 22 |
| 2021 | 41 | 41 | 12 |
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
135 daysfirst decision after review · community reports about 20 weeks
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
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 20 weeksLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 12%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 90 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 135 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 180 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 20 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
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 | |
| LetPub | No APC | No | — | |
| 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)
What to prepare3 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- 150–200 words
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 8,000 words
- Reference style
- MLA
Article types accepted1, with length limits
- book reviewif accompanied by English translation. Book Reviews should be between 1000 and 1200 words in length. For any queries about book (and other) reviews,main text ≤ 1,200 words
Policy excerpts from the journal's websitePublication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- Publication ethics PUBLICATION ETHICS & MALPRACTICE STATEMENT
SARE's Editorial Board is committed to meeting and upholding standards of ethical behaviour at all stages of the journal's publication process to avoid publication malpractice. We subscribe to the guidelines set up by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) with regard to the expectations of editors, peer-reviewers, and authors (as outlined below). Fairness, objectivity, and confidentiality fro…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright Notice
Copyrights of all materials published in SARE are retained by the authors. Authors may republish their work or grant others permission to republish it. We would be grateful if republication is accompanied by an acknowledgment that the work was originally published in SARE.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access OPEN ACCESS POLICY
SARE provides free and open access to all of its content at all times from anywhere in the world. It has no embargo periods that delay the free availability of the full issue as soon as it is published. The Public Knowledge Project, which has designed our journal system to improve the quality and reach of scholarly publishing, is committed to supporting the open access publishing of scholarly reso…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review PEER-REVIEW POLICY
All manuscripts submitted to SARE are subject to initial appraisal by the Editors, and, if found suitable for further consideration, to blind peer review by at least two independent, anonymous experts in the field. The reviewers' recommendations are taken into consideration by the Editors in arriving at publication and revision decisions. Comments from the external reviewers are sent to the author…
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
- Universiti Malaya
- Country or region
- Malaysia
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 0127-046X
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 63, Issue 1 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗DOAJ
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about SARE-Southeast Asian Review of English
What CAS zone is SARE-Southeast Asian Review of English in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, SARE-Southeast Asian Review of English is in Zone 4 of Literature, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Literature. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 4 of Literature. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
How long does peer review take at SARE-Southeast Asian Review of English?
The publisher reports about 135 days (first decision after review); authors report an average review time of about 20 weeks; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 12%. 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 SARE-Southeast Asian Review of English?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 150–200 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 8,000 words; Reference style: MLA. 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 SARE-Southeast Asian Review of English based?
Of the 18 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (5), Australia (3) and Malaysia (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index SARE-Southeast Asian Review of English?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, SARE-Southeast Asian Review of English is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is SARE-Southeast Asian Review of English open access, and what is the APC?
SARE-Southeast Asian Review of English 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, 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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .