Journal profile · SOCIOLOGY
Social Forces
ISSN 0037-7732 · eISSN 1534-7605 · Oxford University Press
Social Forces: CAS Zone 1 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 2.61; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,152; 243 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Social Forces is published by Oxford University Press 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 Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice, Race, History, and American Society and Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies, together about 28.4% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Research area (LetPub): SOCIOLOGY
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Contemporary Sociological Theory and PracticeSocial Sciences13.4%
- Race, History, and American SocietySocial Sciences8.1%
- Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation StudiesSocial Sciences6.8%
- Religion and Society InteractionsSocial Sciences5.5%
- Social and Cultural DynamicsSocial Sciences4.8%
- Gender, Labor, and Family DynamicsSocial Sciences4.8%
- American Constitutional Law and PoliticsSocial Sciences4.4%
- Labor Movements and UnionsSocial Sciences4.3%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Sociology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Sociology | Zone 2 |
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 | Sociology | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
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.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor
- 2.61LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 6.2LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.46LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.93LetPub ·
- h-index
- 348OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 6,814OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.2OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 3.8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 33.07%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 108LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 23,496 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 146 | 41 | 11 |
| 2025 | 243 | 70 | 256 |
| 2024 | 185 | 56 | 423 |
| 2023 | 166 | 37 | 677 |
| 2022 | 139 | 21 | 893 |
| 2021 | 178 | 36 | 1,604 |
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 PubMed · to
Too few articlesOnly 4 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".
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
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 4,152 | — | — |
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.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- ISSN
- 0037-7732
- Electronic ISSN
- 1534-7605
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Social Forces
What CAS zone is Social Forces in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Social Forces is in Zone 1 of Sociology, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Sociology; 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 Social Forces?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.61; CiteScore 6.2, h-index 348.
Which databases index Social Forces?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Social Forces is indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Is Social Forces open access, and what is the APC?
Social Forces is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,152.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex; 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 2026-08-24). Last updated: .