Journal profile · Multiple
SOCIAL POLICY & ADMINISTRATION
ISSN 0144-5596 · eISSN 1467-9515 · Wiley-Blackwell
SOCIAL POLICY & ADMINISTRATION: CAS Zone 3 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.15; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,330; median 226 days to acceptance (100 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 14% (journal website); 111 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
SOCIAL POLICY & ADMINISTRATION is published by Wiley-Blackwell and is in Zone 3 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Social Policy and Reform Studies, Healthcare innovation and challenges and Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism, together about 45.4% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Social Policy & Administration, the longest established journal in its field, aims to advance high-quality, interdisciplinary scholarship on social policy and administration. The journal welcomes original contributions that advance understanding of social policy, welfare institutions, and governance arrangements through innovative theoretical insights, rigorous empirical analysis, and methodological and theoretical developments. The journal publishes research that examines how social policies are developed, delivered, and experienced at multiple levels from legislative design to frontline practice.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Multiple
Editor-in-chief Menno FengerPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United Kingdom 10, United States 4, Netherlands 3, South Korea 2, France 2 (32 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Social Policy and Reform StudiesSocial Sciences25.2%
- Healthcare innovation and challengesSocial Sciences10.5%
- Housing, Finance, and NeoliberalismEconomics, Econometrics and Finance9.7%
- Employment and Welfare StudiesHealth Professions9.4%
- Intergenerational Family Dynamics and CaregivingSocial Sciences3.7%
- Homelessness and Social IssuesHealth Professions3.6%
- Political and Economic history of UK and USSocial Sciences3.3%
- Gender, Labor, and Family DynamicsSocial Sciences3.1%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Social Work | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Development Studies | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Social Issues | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Public Administration | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Development Studies | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Public Administration | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Social Issues | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Social Work | Zone 1 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Sociology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Social Work | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Social Issues | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Development Studies | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Public Administration | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Current ContentsPublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest
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
- 2.15LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2.2Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.8LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 4.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 4.8Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.85LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.7LetPub ·
- h-index
- 102OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,154OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.27OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 9.1%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 75.19%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 80LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 95Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 346,729Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 3,322 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 78 | 48 | 8 |
| 2025 | 111 | 87 | 128 |
| 2024 | 131 | 102 | 590 |
| 2023 | 112 | 84 | 668 |
| 2022 | 107 | 55 | 847 |
| 2021 | 115 | 65 | 1,955 |
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
226 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 147 days – 295 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 16 days (100 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 245 days
- Sample
- 100 articles with submission and acceptance dates (205 in the window); the latest was accepted on
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".
Other sources
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 14%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 14%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 10 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 10 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 237 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 16 daysPublisher website ·
- 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.
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 4,330 / EUR 3,610 / GBP 2,940 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
What to prepare3 items from the author guidelines
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 8,000 words
- Reference style
- APA
- Cover letter
- Optional
Article types accepted1, with length limits
- original articleAuthors are invited to submit original articles (6,000-8,000 words) for publication on subjects within the field of social policy and administration.main text ≤ 8,000 words
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Publication ethics, Peer review
- Authorship Authorship
Please refer to the journal’s authorship policy the Editorial Policies and Ethical Considerations section for details on eligibility for author listing.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflict of Interest Statement
Authors will be asked to provide a conflict of interest statement during the submission process. For details on what to include in this section, see the section ‘Conflict of Interest’ in the Editorial Policies and Ethical Considerations section below. Submitting authors should ensure they liaise with all co-authors to confirm agreement with the final statement.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Publication Ethics
This journal follows the core practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and handles cases of research and publication misconduct accordingly (https://publicationethics.org/core-practices).
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer Review and Acceptance
Social Policy & Administration is participating in a pilot of the NISO Working Group on Peer Review Terminology. Standardising the terminology across journals and publishers used to describe peer review practices helps make the peer review process for articles and journals more transparent, and it will enable the community to better assess and compare peer review practices between different journa…
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
- Wiley-Blackwell
- ISSN
- 0144-5596
- Electronic ISSN
- 1467-9515
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 60, Issue 5 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about SOCIAL POLICY & ADMINISTRATION
What CAS zone is SOCIAL POLICY & ADMINISTRATION in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, SOCIAL POLICY & ADMINISTRATION is in Zone 3 of Sociology, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Social Work / Development Studies / Social Issues / Public Administration. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Sociology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of SOCIAL POLICY & ADMINISTRATION?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.15; CiteScore 4.8, h-index 102.
How long does peer review take at SOCIAL POLICY & ADMINISTRATION?
Based on the dates recorded on 100 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 226 days (interquartile range 147–295 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 14% (2025). 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 SOCIAL POLICY & ADMINISTRATION?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Manuscript length: ≤ 8,000 words; Reference style: APA; Cover letter: Optional. 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 SOCIAL POLICY & ADMINISTRATION based?
Of the 32 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (10), United States (4) and Netherlands (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index SOCIAL POLICY & ADMINISTRATION?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, SOCIAL POLICY & ADMINISTRATION is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is SOCIAL POLICY & ADMINISTRATION open access, and what is the APC?
SOCIAL POLICY & ADMINISTRATION is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,330.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, 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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .