Journal profile · SOCIAL WORK
Social Work
ISSN 0037-8046 · eISSN 1545-6846 · Oxford University Press
Social Work: CAS Zone 3 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.02; subscription journal; median 106 days to acceptance (66 articles, last 24 months); 53 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Social Work is published by Oxford University Press 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 Work Education and Practice, Homelessness and Social Issues and Child Welfare and Adoption, together about 53.9% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Social Work is the premier journal of the social work profession. Widely read by practitioners, faculty, and students, it is the official journal of NASW and is provided to all members as a membership benefit. Social Work publishes rigorous research that impacts social work practice and policy. While NASW is a U.S.-based national organization, the journal has wide international readership. Social Work is dedicated to improving practice and advancing knowledge in social work and social welfare. Its articles yield new insights into established practices, evaluate new techniques and research, examine current social problems, and bring serious critical analysis to bear on problems in the profession. Major emphasis is placed on social policy and the solutions to serious human problems. Journal metrics Citation metrics Clarivate 2025 Impact Factor 2.5 2025 5 Year Impact Factor 3.5 Social Work (Rank by Impact Factor) 6/99 2025 Journal Citation Indicator (JCI) 0.94 2025 Cited Half-Life 13.4 years 2025 Immediacy Index 0.3 2025 Eigenfactor Score 0.00111 2025 Article Influence Score 0.858 Scopus 2025 CiteScore 3.6 Sociology And Political Science (Rank by CiteScore) 344/1530 2025 Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP) 0.868 Readership 2025 Full Text Usage 214,998 About metrics Disclaimer Statements of fact and opinion in the articles in Social Work are those of the respective authors and contributors and not of the Journal, National Association of Social Workers, or Oxford University Press, unless otherwise expressly indicated. Neither Oxford University Press, National Association of Social Workers, nor the Journal make any representation, express or implied, in respect of the accuracy of the material in the Journal and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made. Readers should make their own evaluation as to the appropriateness or otherwise of the information included.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): SOCIAL WORK
Editor-in-chief Lisa de Saxe ZerdenPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Social Work Education and PracticeSocial Sciences38.8%
- Homelessness and Social IssuesHealth Professions10%
- Child Welfare and AdoptionSocial Sciences5.1%
- Social Policy and Reform StudiesSocial Sciences4.9%
- Gender, Labor, and Family DynamicsSocial Sciences3.8%
- Mental Health and Patient InvolvementHealth Professions3.5%
- Contemporary Sociological Theory and PracticeSocial Sciences3.3%
- Counseling, Therapy, and Family DynamicsPsychology2.5%
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 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Social Work | Zone 2 |
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 2 |
Top journal: noReview 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
- 2.02LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 6Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.6LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 3.6Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.58LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.87LetPub ·
- h-index
- 126OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 2,182OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.33OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 4%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 0%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 32LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 214,998Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 9,054 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 47 | 1 | 6 |
| 2025 | 53 | 1 | 48 |
| 2024 | 54 | 7 | 151 |
| 2023 | 51 | 4 | 301 |
| 2022 | 51 | 2 | 521 |
| 2021 | 54 | 6 | 551 |
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
106 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 59 days – 170 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 338 days (7 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 459 days
- Sample
- 66 articles with submission and acceptance dates (89 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".
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
Subscription journalLetPub
A subscription journal: articles are read by subscription or purchase, and authors usually pay no publication charge.
No source has fee information yet; check the journal's website.
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
- 0037-8046
- Electronic ISSN
- 1545-6846
- Society / sponsor
- NASW
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 71, Issue 3 (July 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Social Work
What CAS zone is Social Work in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Social Work is in Zone 3 of Sociology, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Social Work. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Sociology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Social Work?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.02; CiteScore 3.6, h-index 126.
How long does peer review take at Social Work?
Based on the dates recorded on 66 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 106 days (interquartile range 59–170 days). 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.
Which databases index Social Work?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Social Work is indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Is Social Work open access, and what is the APC?
Social Work is a subscription journal. Fee information is not available yet; check the journal's website.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, Publisher website; 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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .