Journal profile · EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
Social Work Education
ISSN 0261-5479 · eISSN 1470-1227 · Taylor & Francis
Social Work Education: CAS Zone 4 · Education (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.3 (journal website); JCR Q2 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 241 days to acceptance (89 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 42% (journal website); 142 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Social Work Education is published by Taylor & Francis and is in Zone 4 of Education in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Social Work Education and Practice, Interprofessional Education and Collaboration and Mental Health and Patient Involvement, together about 58.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are General Health Professions and Education. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Social Work Education publishes articles of a critical and reflective nature concerned with the theory and practice of social care and social work education at all levels. It presents a forum for international debate on important issues and provides an opportunity for the expression of new ideas and proposals on the structure and content of social care and social work education, training and development. The journal hopes to contribute to fostering critical thinking skills within our student community and so particularly welcomes articles that are challenging, attempt to think through difficult ethical dilemmas, and foster viewpoint diversity and constructive debate. In this way, the journal makes a vital contribution to the development of educational theory and practice in relation to social work and social care, promoting a set of standards in relation to the written presentation of ideas and experience which reflects the needs and requirements of both practice and education. In addition to full journal papers which follow the broad conventions of academic journals, we provide the opportunity to submit a different type of paper which is shorter in length and may have a focus on an evolving idea or approach to social work education which may be useable or of great interest to to the social work education community. These papers are called "ideas and actions" and should be 2,500-3,000 words in length. Please see the instructions for authors page for more information about this article type. It is most important that all contributions reflect social work values. Promoting Equality and Anti-Oppressive Practice Editorial Board position statement The journal aims for the highest standards in its published material. All material submitted to the journal is subject to a process of assessment and evaluation through the Editors, board members, and a group of assessors drawn from a wide range of expertise. The composition of the Editorial Board encompasses diverse perspectives and vacancies are filled through open recruitment promoting equality of access. In addition, the assessors and reviewers are actively sought who bring a wide range of perspectives to their assessment of submitted material. The journal will publish material that reflects the wide constituency of social work education and training. All writings must be congruent with social work values and the journal will not knowingly publish material that is oppressive in content or style. The Editorial Boar
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
Editor-in-chief Richard IngramPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Social Work Education and PracticeSocial Sciences38.7%
- Interprofessional Education and CollaborationHealth Professions12%
- Mental Health and Patient InvolvementHealth Professions7.8%
- Homelessness and Social IssuesHealth Professions6.6%
- Research in Social SciencesSocial Sciences5%
- Healthcare innovation and challengesSocial Sciences4.2%
- Counseling, Therapy, and Family DynamicsPsychology2.3%
- Reflective Practices in EducationSocial Sciences2.3%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Education Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Education | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Education & Educational Research | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Education Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Education | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Education & Educational Research | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- JCR Q2 · 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
ESCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
SCIEPsycINFOPublisher website
Other: ProQuest, ASSIA, British Education Index, Criminal Justice Abstracts, Education Research Index, FRANCIS, Contents Pages in Education, Periodicals Index Online (PIO), ProQuest Education Journals, ProQuest Health and Medical Complete, ProQuest Research Library, Research into Higher Education Abstracts, Social Services Abstracts, Sociological 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.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.3Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.6Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.1LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 4.1Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.7LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.7Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.18LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 1.18Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 72OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,218OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.4OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 15.4%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 19.64%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 122LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 498,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 3,322 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 94 | 49 | 17 |
| 2025 | 142 | 52 | 139 |
| 2024 | 176 | 70 | 419 |
| 2023 | 153 | 56 | 727 |
| 2022 | 123 | 37 | 850 |
| 2021 | 132 | 31 | 1,274 |
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
241 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 169 days – 355 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 17 days (89 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 262 days
- Sample
- 89 articles with submission and acceptance dates (275 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)
- 42%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 93 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 112 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 14 daysPublisher 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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)
Article types accepted1
- ideas and actionsThese papers are called "ideas and actions" and should be 2,500-3,000 words in length.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access, Peer review
- Open access Open access
Open access policy Model summary
Social Work Education is a hybrid open access journal that is part of the Taylor & Francis Open Select publishing program, giving you the option to publish open access. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership, and impact of your research. Why choose open access? Increase the discoverability and r…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Peer review policy Model summary
All research articles in this journal, including those in special issues, special sections, or supplements, have undergone rigorous peer review; this generally involves initial editor screening and anonymized refereeing by at least two independent reviewers.
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
- Taylor & Francis
- ISSN
- 0261-5479
- Electronic ISSN
- 1470-1227
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 45, Issue 6 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Social Work Education
What CAS zone is Social Work Education in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Social Work Education is in Zone 4 of Education, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Education & Educational Research. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Education. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Social Work Education?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 1.3 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 4.1, h-index 72.
How long does peer review take at Social Work Education?
Based on the dates recorded on 89 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 241 days (interquartile range 169–355 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 42%. 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 JCR quartile is Social Work Education in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q2 (best quartile). JCR quartiles are Clarivate's to confirm and a different system from the CAS zones; in the CAS ranking the journal is in Zone 4 of Education.
Which databases index Social Work Education?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Social Work Education is indexed in ESCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists SCIE and PsycINFO; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Social Work Education open access, and what is the APC?
Social Work Education is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC charged, amount not published.
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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .