Scottish Geographical Journal

Scottish Geographical Journal is published by Taylor & Francis and is in Zone 4 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Geology and Paleoclimatology Research, Historical Geography and Geographical Thought and Rural development and sustainability, together about 30.8% of its articles. Its main subfields are Geography, Planning and Development. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)

The Scottish Geographical Journal is the learned publication of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society and is a continuation of the Scottish Geographical Magazine, first published in 1885. The journal was relaunched in its present format in 1999, its primary aim being to publish high-quality work on diverse geographical themes. The journal is international in outlook, but its Scottish origin and base continues to be extremely important. Indeed, the Editors seek contributions on, of or about Scotland, where Scotland – as a whole or in its particular regions, landscapes and locales – is the focus of inquiry. We also seek contributions from Scotland, meaning interventions from academic geographers (and others) based in Scotland but maybe working on places elsewhere. Overall we retain a sense of these contributions being gathered in Scotland or, more accurately, in the pages of our distinctive journal edited out of Scotland. The journal aims to be unusual in the flexibility of possible publishing formats that it will allow, particularly in allowing contributions that are both longer and shorter than what is normal for academic journals. For instance, as well as standard academic papers (c.6,000-8,000 words), the Editorial Team is prepared to consider – and to work with authors in the production of – ‘Position papers’ (1,000-2,000 words), ‘ExPosition papers’ (up to 20,000 words) and contributions from geographers outwith higher education, teachers, policy-makers, practitioners, artists, activists and more. We also encourage contributions to our twin Scottish Landscape Examples and Scottish Locales Examples series, details of which can be found in our first Editorial. Read the first Editorial from the new Editorial Team based at the University of Glasgow (Martin Hurst, Emma Laurie, Chris Philo, Rhian Thomas), for free: ‘In the critical department’: refreshing the Scottish Geographical Journal Peer Review Statement: All submitted manuscripts, including those which form part of special issue sets, are subject to initial appraisal by the Editors, and, if found suitable for further consideration, to double anonymized peer review by at least two independent, anonymous expert referees. Submission is online via ScholarOne Manuscripts. For a fuller statement about the principles of ethics of peer review to which the Editorial Team of the SGJ subscribes, see our first Editorial: ‘In the critical department’: refreshing the Scottish Geographical Journal

From the journal's Aims & Scope

Research area (LetPub): GEOGRAPHY

Editor-in-chief Chris PhiloPublisher website

Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United Kingdom 4 (4 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website · 2026-10-03

CAS Journal Ranking

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

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.

Impact

Impact factor

1.26LetPub · 2026-09-13

Impact factor (publisher) 2025

1.3Publisher website · 2026-10-03

5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025

1.2Publisher website · 2026-10-03

CiteScore 2026-06

2.6LetPub · 2026-09-13

CiteScore (publisher) 2025

2.6Publisher website · 2026-10-03

SJR 2026-06

0.34LetPub · 2026-09-13

SJR (publisher) 2025

0.34Publisher website · 2026-10-03

SNIP 2026-06

0.47LetPub · 2026-09-13

SNIP (publisher) 2025

0.47Publisher website · 2026-10-03

h-index

41OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

i10-index

231OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

2-year mean citedness

1.56OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

Self-citation rate

23.1%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Share of gold OA articles

38.1%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Volume

Articles per year

21LetPub · 2026-09-13

Downloads per year (publisher)

108,000Publisher website · 2026-10-03

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.

Figures by source

Acceptance rate (publisher)

36%Publisher website · 2026-10-03

Submission to first decision

56 daysPublisher website · 2026-10-03

First decision after review

61 daysPublisher website · 2026-10-03

Acceptance to publication

13 daysPublisher website · 2026-10-03

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.

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.

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.

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

ISSN

1470-2541

Electronic ISSN

1751-665X

Society / sponsor

Royal Scottish Geographical Society

Latest issue on the website

Volume 142, Issue 1-2 (2026)

Official links

• Journal homepage ↗LetPub
• Submission system ↗Publisher website
• Special issues ↗Publisher website