Journal profile · Computer Science, Software Engineering
SOFTWARE-PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE
ISSN 0038-0644 · eISSN 1097-024X · John Wiley and Sons Ltd · ENGLAND · Monthly · Founded 1971
SOFTWARE-PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE: CAS Zone 4 · Computer Science (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.75; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,650; median 181 days to acceptance (82 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: about 75%; 99 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
SOFTWARE-PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE is published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd 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 Parallel Computing and Optimization Techniques, Software Engineering Research and Distributed and Parallel Computing Systems, together about 27% of its articles. Its main subfields are Computer Networks and Communications and Artificial Intelligence. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Software: Practice and Experience is an internationally respected and rigorously refereed vehicle for the dissemination and discussion of practical experience with new and established techniques and tool for both software systems and applications. The key criterion for publication of a paper is that it makes a novel contribution from which other researchers and practitioners engaged in the design and/or implementation of software might benefit. Submissions must be original manuscripts that have not been previously published and not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Software and system design and implementation topics of strong interest to our readership span the exploration of established and rapidly emerging topics, which include but are not limited to: Distributed Computing Paradigms: Service, Cloud, Fog, Edge. Domain Specific Computing: Aerospace, Education, Finance, Healthcare, Transportation, Power. Model-driven Development: Model Transformations, Automated code generation. Networking: Mobile computing, IoT. Operating Systems, Run-time Support, and Virtualization. Programming Languages and Compilers. Re-use: Component-based, Patterns, Product Lines. Contributions regularly present: Novel, rigorously validated techniques/tools that aid in solving practical software design or programming problems. Detailed accounts of completed software projects that can serve as ‘how-to-do-it’ models for future work in the same field. Brief communications on emerging software design or programming technique that can be applied in a wide variety of domains. Unique comparative analyses of software design or programming techniques/tools. As the journal’s name suggests, the focus is on the practice and experience with software. The theoretical or mathematical content included in the articles serves to demonstrate the rigorous foundation of the contribution and its understanding, which ultimately leads to the development of better practical systems. The journal does not attempt to cover all aspects of software and systems engineering. Manuscripts with a focus on software processes, software development methodologies, project management, and engineering activities beyond design and implementation (e.g., topics in requirements engineering, validation and verification) are outside this journal’s scope. Please consider submitting manuscripts on these topics to alternative journals such as the Journal of Software: Evolution and Process, Journal of Software Process:
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Computer Science, Software Engineering
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named Australia 2, India 1, Italy 1, Canada 1 (5 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Parallel Computing and Optimization TechniquesComputer Science11.7%
- Software Engineering ResearchComputer Science8.5%
- Distributed and Parallel Computing SystemsComputer Science6.8%
- Logic, programming, and type systemsComputer Science6.8%
- Advanced Software Engineering MethodologiesComputer Science6%
- Distributed systems and fault toleranceComputer Science5.4%
- Software System Performance and ReliabilityComputer Science5.3%
- Software Testing and Debugging TechniquesComputer Science4.6%
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 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Computer Science | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Software Engineering | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Computer Science Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Computer Science | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Software Engineering | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
EI CompendexWeb of ScienceINSPECDBLPCurrent 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
- 2.75LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 3.5Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 8.4LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 8.4Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 8.4Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.69LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.18LetPub ·
- h-index
- 63LetPub ·
- h-index
- 121OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,658OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.88OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 8.6%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 36.98%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 74LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 5Publisher website ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 75Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 180,077Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 5,629 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 82 | 31 | 13 |
| 2025 | 99 | 55 | 274 |
| 2024 | 106 | 71 | 540 |
| 2023 | 137 | 84 | 1,084 |
| 2022 | 127 | 45 | 1,014 |
| 2021 | 131 | 52 | 2,097 |
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
181 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 116 days – 264 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 19 days (82 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 206 days
- Sample
- 82 articles with submission and acceptance dates (186 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
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 6 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- 75%LetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 8%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 8%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 14 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 14 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 191 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 4,650 / EUR 3,850 / GBP 3,120 | — | — |
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 prepare4 items from the author guidelines
- Keywords
- ≤ 7
- Reference style
- AMA
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Cover letter
- Optional
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, License & copyright, Open access, Preprints
- AI use Generative AI for Requirements Engineering: A Systematic Literature Review
Haowei Cheng, Jati H. Husen, Yijun Lu, Teeradaj Racharak, Nobukazu Yoshioka, Naoyasu Ubayashi, Hironori Washizaki,
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright COPYRIGHT AND PERMISSIONS
If your paper is accepted, the author identified as the formal corresponding author for the paper will receive an email prompting them to login into Author Services; where via the Wiley Author Licensing Service (WALS) they will be able to complete the license agreement on behalf of all authors on the paper. For authors signing the copyright transfer agreement If the Open Access option is not selec…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access For authors choosing Open Access
If the Open Access option is selected the corresponding author will have a choice of the following Creative Commons License Open Access Agreements (OAA):
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprint Policy
Preprint policy: considers preprints on non-commercial servers; authors may post submitted version. Model summary
Wiley believes that journals publishing for communities with established pre-print servers should allow authors to submit manuscripts which have already been made available on a non-commercial preprint server. Allowing submission does not, of course, guarantee that an article will be sent out for review. It simply reflects our belief that journals should not rule out reviewing a paper simply becau…
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
- John Wiley and Sons Ltd
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Founded
- 1971
- ISSN
- 0038-0644
- Electronic ISSN
- 1097-024X
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 56, Issue 10 (October 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about SOFTWARE-PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE
What CAS zone is SOFTWARE-PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, SOFTWARE-PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE 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 3 of Computer Science. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of SOFTWARE-PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.75; CiteScore 8.4, h-index 121.
How long does peer review take at SOFTWARE-PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE?
Based on the dates recorded on 82 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 181 days (interquartile range 116–264 days); authors report an average review time of about 6 months; the community-reported acceptance is “about 75%”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 8% (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 SOFTWARE-PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Keywords: ≤ 7; Reference style: AMA; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; 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 SOFTWARE-PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE based?
Of the 5 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Australia (2), India (1) and Italy (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index SOFTWARE-PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, SOFTWARE-PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE is indexed in SCIE and Scopus. The journal's website also lists EI Compendex, Web of Science, INSPEC, DBLP and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is SOFTWARE-PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE open access, and what is the APC?
SOFTWARE-PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,650.
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: .