Social Sciences in China

Social Sciences in China 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 Chinese history and philosophy, China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance and Legal and Regulatory Analysis, together about 40.1% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)

Social Sciences in China (SSIC) is a peer-reviewed quarterly founded in 1980 by the Social Sciences in China Press (SSCP). It is the first social science journal in English published in the Chinese mainland, and is committed to China-related studies. Its articles are translated from the Journal of Zhongguo Shehui Kexue or solicited for special issues. SSIC is a platform projecting new realms, new trends and new achievements in Chinese academic studies. It introduces the latest developments in Chinese social sciences to foreign audience and bridges social sciences researchers and readers worldwide. It is a valuable resource for China studies and its international influence is ever-increasing. Many of SSIC ’s Chinese authors are famous in their own fields, and it also has increasing overseas contributors from the US, the UK, Germany, Singapore, Australia, Japan, South Korea, etc. SSIC is especially appealing to scholars of regional studies and many articles in SSIC cited by worldwide publications and authors. As one of the best-selling social science journals published in the Chinese mainland in English, it enjoys an ever-increasing international visibility: it has received around 90 core subscriptions and a total circulation of more than 10,000 from libraries, institutions and personals around the world, and it also gains access to dozens of key international conferences. Peer Review Integrity All submitted manuscripts are subject to initial appraisal by the Editor, and, if found suitable for further consideration, to peer review by independent, anonymous expert referees who are all world-famous scholars in their own fields. All peer review is double anonymized and submission is online via http://www.cssn.cn/qt/wytg/. Special Terms for Authors & Researchers (STAR) Routledge and Taylor & Francis are committed to the widest possible dissemination of its journals to non-profit institutions in developing countries. Our STAR initiative offers individual researchers in Africa, South Asia and many parts of South East Asia the opportunity to gain one month’s free online access to 1,300 Taylor & Francis journals. For more information, please visit the STAR website.

From the journal's Aims & Scope

Research area (LetPub): SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY

Editor-in-chief Lu YusongPublisher website

Editorial board by country: 7 in mainland China (about 88%); most named Mainland China 7, South Korea 1 (8 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website · 2026-09-30

CAS Journal Ranking

JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website

• JCR Q2 · best quartile · 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

ESCIScopusLetPub

International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub

Indexing the journal's website claims

International Bibliography of the Social SciencesPublisher 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.

Impact

Impact factor (publisher) 2025

1.1Publisher website · 2026-09-30

5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025

1.5Publisher website · 2026-09-30

CiteScore 2026-06

0.7LetPub · 2026-09-13

CiteScore (publisher) 2025

0.7Publisher website · 2026-09-30

SJR 2026-06

0.24LetPub · 2026-09-13

SJR (publisher) 2025

0.24Publisher website · 2026-09-30

SNIP 2026-06

0.78LetPub · 2026-09-13

SNIP (publisher) 2025

0.78Publisher website · 2026-09-30

h-index

28OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

i10-index

113OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

2-year mean citedness

0.6OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

Self-citation rate

0%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Share of gold OA articles

0%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Volume

Articles per year

31LetPub · 2026-09-13

Articles per year (publisher)

3Publisher website · 2026-09-30

Downloads per year (publisher)

27,000Publisher 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.

Acceptance to publication

30 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.

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

0252-9203

Electronic ISSN

1940-5952

Society / sponsor

Social Sciences in China Press

Latest issue on the website

Volume 47, Issue 2 (2026)

Official links

• Journal homepage ↗LetPub
• Special issues ↗Publisher website