Journal profile · COMPUTER SCIENCE, SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
Software Impacts
ISSN 2665-9638 · Elsevier
Software Impacts: CAS Zone 4 · Computer Science (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.5 (journal website); fully open access; APC about USD 960; review about 69 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); 67 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Software Impacts is published by Elsevier and is in Zone 4 of Computer Science in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Topic Modeling, Anomaly Detection Techniques and Applications and Computational Physics and Python Applications, together about 21.3% of its articles. Its main subfields are Artificial Intelligence. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Disseminating software of proven scientific relevanceSoftware Impacts - Code for researchSoftware Impacts is a multidisciplinary, open access, peer-reviewed journal which publishes short, articles that describe software which addresses a research challenge. The journal describes the application of impactful and re-usable software and provides a scholarly reference. Publications in Software Impacts consist of two parts:A short descriptive paper of approximately three pages, including an Impact Overview statement and references to scholarly publications where the software has been usedOpen source software with support materialSoftware Impacts promises to make research software:Accessible - immediately and freely available to download and read with open access, giving readers easy access to software and related research articlesDiscoverable - easy to share your software article and your software with other researchers, ensuring it is accessible outside your domainCitable - drive traffic to and from your software and related publications with linking and referencingComprehensible - a software article that is easy to digest and interpretReviewed - ensure quality publication with expert peer-reviewReproducible - easier for your peers to re-use your software, saving valuable time and resources. Software submitted to Software Impacts for consideration is verified and certified for computational reproducibility by the CodeOcean, a cloud based computational reproducibility platform that helps the community by enabling sharing of code and data as a resource for non-commercial use. Certified papers will be given additional exposure by receiving a Reproducibility Badge, and by being listed on the CodeOcean website.Software Impacts welcomes submissions from all areas of science, as well as submissions which cover interdisciplinary research. Software submitted for consideration must have contributed to scientific research, with the outputs published in at least one scholarly, peer-reviewed article.The Editorial Team assesses the originality and quality of submitted software via published results. Such results are considered reliable if they have been published in a peer-reviewed, scholarly publication. The Editors of Software Impacts review the Impact Statement with the assistance of subject matter experts using single blind peer-review process.Software discussed in Software Impacts must adhere to a recognized legal license, such as the OSI-approved licenses and submissions are only considered if the code/software has been made freely available.Your next step.If this journal is good fit for your research software, follow the Original Software Publication guidelines in the Guide for Authors and use the template to submit your article. For any questions contact us at: software.impacts@elsevier.com.Your software can fuel discovery. Submit your paper today.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): COMPUTER SCIENCE, SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
Editor-in-chief Pedram JohariPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 8 in mainland China (about 23%); most named United States 9, Mainland China 8, India 7, Hong Kong, China 3, United Kingdom 2 (35 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Topic ModelingComputer Science7.7%
- Anomaly Detection Techniques and ApplicationsComputer Science7.7%
- Computational Physics and Python ApplicationsComputer Science5.9%
- Neural Networks and ApplicationsComputer Science5.6%
- Natural Language Processing TechniquesComputer Science5.1%
- Software Engineering ResearchComputer Science4.3%
- Scientific Computing and Data ManagementDecision Sciences4.3%
- Machine Learning and Data ClassificationComputer Science4.3%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Computer Science Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Computer Science | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Software Engineering | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Computer Science Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Computer Science | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Software Engineering | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
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 (publisher)
- 1.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.8LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 3.8Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.37LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.7LetPub ·
- h-index
- 30OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 118OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.69OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 6.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 68LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 684 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 58 | 58 | 16 |
| 2025 | 67 | 67 | 121 |
| 2024 | 127 | 127 | 540 |
| 2023 | 150 | 150 | 869 |
| 2022 | 145 | 145 | 1,213 |
| 2021 | 93 | 93 | 981 |
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
Publisher-reported review time from the journal's website
69 dayssubmission to acceptance
The publisher's own definition applies; dates from this journal's articles in the last 24 months are not available yet, so the publisher's figure is used.
Figures by source
- Submission to first decision
- 20 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 81 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 69 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 10 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 13 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer reviewDOAJ
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
Fully open accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | USD 960 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 600 / EUR 560 / GBP 480 / JPY 74,420 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 960 | — | — |
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 prepare4 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Keywords
- 1–7
- Highlights
- Optional
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
Article types accepted1
- research articleThe format of a software article is very different to a traditional research article. To help you write yours, we have created this template. Software Impacts w…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- AI use Declaration of generative AI use
Authors must declare the use of generative AI tools in the manuscript preparation process upon submission of the paper.Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies (“AI tools”) have been rapidly adopted in research and scholarly publishing, offering significant benefits while requiring clear standards for responsible and transparent use.Authors preparing a manuscript for this journal may use AI tool…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Group authorship
Group authorship refers to the attribution of an article to a defined and named group of authors whose members have contributed to the work. Examples include research consortia, clinical trial groups, collaborative networks, task forces or working groups, expert panels or consensus groups, and participatory research groups. Group authorship must be declared on the title page at submission. When av…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Declaration of competing interests
All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence or bias their work. Examples of potential competing interests include:EmploymentConsultanciesStock ownershipHonorariaPaid expert testimonyPatent applications or registrationsGrants or any other fundingAffiliation with the journal as an Editor or Advisory Board …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright License options
Authors will be offered open access user license options which will determine how you, and third parties, can reuse your open access article. We advise that you review these options and any funding body license requirements before selecting a license option.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access
We refer you to our open access information page to learn about open access options for this journal.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review
Single anonymized review process. Model summary
This journal follows a single anonymized review process. Your submission will initially be assessed by our editors. If your submission is deemed suitable, it will typically be sent to be reviewed by a minimum of two reviewers for an independent expert assessment of the scientific quality. The decision as to whether your article is accepted or rejected for publication will be made by our editors.Re…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
Preprint sharingAuthors may share preprints in line with Elsevier's article sharing policy. Sharing preprints, such as on a preprint server, will not count as prior publication.We advise you to read our policy on multiple, redundant or concurrent publication.
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
- Elsevier
- ISSN
- 2665-9638
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗DOAJ
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗DOAJ
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Software Impacts
What CAS zone is Software Impacts in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Software Impacts is in Zone 4 of Computer Science, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Computer Science, Software Engineering. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 4 of Computer Science. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Software Impacts?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 1.5; this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 3.8, h-index 30.
How long does peer review take at Software Impacts?
The publisher reports about 69 days (submission to acceptance). 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 Software Impacts?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Keywords: 1–7; Highlights: Optional; Graphical abstract: 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 Software Impacts based?
Of the 35 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 8 (about 23%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (9), Mainland China (8) and India (7). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Software Impacts?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Software Impacts is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Software Impacts open access, and what is the APC?
Software Impacts is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 960.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, DOAJ; 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: .