Security Studies

Security Studies is published by Taylor & Francis and is in Zone 1 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are International Relations and Foreign Policy, Global Peace and Security Dynamics and Political Conflict and Governance, together about 35.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Political Science and International Relations and Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)

Security Studies publishes leading scholarship in the field of international security, broadly construed. The journal is wedded to no particular theoretical paradigm, epistemological stance, or methodological approach. Security Studies embraces the field in all its intellectual diversity, welcoming contributions to scholarly knowledge from the plural communities and research traditions that constitute the field. Its articles provide an answer to an explanatory puzzle, present original empirical research (using a range of methods), critically engage core theoretical concepts, or otherwise intervene in disciplinary debates. Security Studies articles' analysis is rigorous in terms appropriate to their methodological approach. Security Studies welcomes scholars from all disciplines, and its articles do not conform to narrow disciplinary norms. However, authors might find it helpful to understand what Security Studies is not . Although Security Studies articles are often motivated by policy questions and often have policy implications - and Security Studies encourages authors to spell those out - Security Studies is not a policy journal; its articles are directed primarily toward generating scholarly knowledge, rather than arguing for a particular policy. Similarly, although Security Studies has traditionally been, and remains, sympathetic to careful and deep historical research, it is not a history journal; Security Studies articlesengage with historical materials to answer analytical questions and address analytically-framed debates. Articles that are purely descriptive - for instance, of a particular region's contemporary or past security challenges, of a government's decision-making process, of a historical case - will not pass muster. Articles published in Security Studies will be explicit about their central analytical pivot and be framed around those analytical questions and contributions. A successful submission to Security Studies will generally: Establish the significance of its central analytical question(s). Successful submissions will effectively articulate the article's stakes - theoretical, empirical, political, and/or normative; Clearly specify the theoretical framework used for analysis, referencing the necessary literature(s); Adhere to rigorous methodical standards, as understood by the intellectual tradition within which the article is situated, in setting forth the evidentiary bases of its argument; Engage with work outside of its immediate

From the journal's Aims & Scope

Research area (LetPub): INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Editor-in-chief Ron HassnerPublisher website

CAS Journal Ranking

JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website

• JCR Q1 · best quartile · 2025
• CiteScore Q1 · 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

Indexing the journal's website claims

SCIECurrent ContentsPublisher website

Other: ProQuest, OCLC, Air University Library Index to Military Periodicals, CSA, De Gruyter Saur, EBSCOhost Online Research Databases, IBR International Bibliography of Book Reviews, IBZ International Bibliography of Periodical Literature, International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS), International Political Science Abstracts, Ovid, PAIS International, Periodical Abstracts (PerAbs), Research in Higher Education Abstracts

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.

Impact

Impact factor

3.31LetPub · 2026-09-13

Impact factor (publisher) 2025

3.6Publisher website · 2026-09-30

5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025

3.4Publisher website · 2026-09-30

CiteScore 2026-06

4LetPub · 2026-09-13

CiteScore (publisher) 2025

4Publisher website · 2026-09-30

SJR 2026-06

1.55LetPub · 2026-09-13

SJR (publisher) 2025

1.55Publisher website · 2026-09-30

SNIP 2026-06

1.58LetPub · 2026-09-13

SNIP (publisher) 2025

1.58Publisher website · 2026-09-30

h-index

94OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

i10-index

596OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

2-year mean citedness

1.28OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

Self-citation rate

0%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Share of gold OA articles

25.32%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Volume

Articles per year

30LetPub · 2026-09-13

Downloads per year (publisher)

306,000Publisher website · 2026-09-30

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)

8%Publisher website · 2026-09-30

Submission to first decision

7 daysPublisher website · 2026-09-30

First decision after review

98 daysPublisher website · 2026-09-30

Acceptance to publication

245 daysPublisher website · 2026-09-30

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

0963-6412

Electronic ISSN

1556-1852

Latest issue on the website

Volume 35, Issue 2 (2026)

Official links

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