Journal profile · HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY
Sound Studies
ISSN 2055-1940 · eISSN 2055-1959 · Taylor & Francis
Sound Studies: CAS Zone 2 · Arts (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 0.8 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 207 days to acceptance (21 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 24% (journal website); 30 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Sound Studies is published by Taylor & Francis and is in Zone 2 of Arts in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Music History and Culture, Diverse Musicological Studies and Music Technology and Sound Studies, together about 46.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Music. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Sound Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal is an international, peer reviewed and inter-disciplinary journal in sound studies, providing a unique forum for the development of the subject within a range of disciplines such as history, sociology, media, comparative literature, cultural studies, black studies, indigenous studies, ethnomusicology, historical musicology, film studies, anthropology, geography, philosophy, urban studies, architecture, arts and performance studies. The journal encourages the study and research of sound by publishing submissions that are interdisciplinary, theoretical, empirically rich and critical in nature. Situated at the cutting edge of sound studies, Sound Studies builds on more than three decades of pioneering work in the history, theory, ethnography and cultural analysis of sound.Peer Review Policy: All research articles published in this journal have undergone rigorous peer review, based on initial editor screening and anonymized refereeing by at least two anonymous referees.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 25%); most named United States 3, Mainland China 1 (4 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Music History and CultureArts and Humanities19.1%
- Diverse Musicological StudiesArts and Humanities18.4%
- Music Technology and Sound StudiesComputer Science8.7%
- Sound Studies and AuralityPsychology8%
- Musicology and Musical AnalysisArts and Humanities7.6%
- Cinema and Media StudiesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance4.6%
- Cybernetics and Technology in SocietyArts and Humanities3.4%
- Visual Culture and Art TheoryArts and Humanities2.8%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Arts Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Arts | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Humanities, Multidisciplinary | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Arts Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Arts | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Humanities, Multidisciplinary | 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
- CiteScore Q2 · 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
Web of SciencePublisher 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.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 0.8Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 0.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 1LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 1Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.27LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.27Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.56LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 0.56Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 20OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 42OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.43OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 25%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 10.2%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 16LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 50,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 337 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 17 | 4 | 0 |
| 2025 | 30 | 7 | 2 |
| 2024 | 35 | 11 | 33 |
| 2023 | 35 | 5 | 46 |
| 2022 | 30 | 5 | 21 |
| 2021 | 23 | 3 | 77 |
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
207 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 179 days – 458 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 26 days (21 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 227 days
- Sample
- 21 articles with submission and acceptance dates (58 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)
- 24%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 86 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Single-anonymous peer reviewPublisher website · model-extracted
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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access, Peer review
- Open access Open access
Sound Studies 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 readershi…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Peer review policy: initial editor screening and anonymized refereeing by at least two anonymous referees. Model summary
All research articles published in this journal have undergone rigorous peer review, based on initial editor screening and anonymized refereeing by at least two anonymous referees.
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
- 2055-1940
- Electronic ISSN
- 2055-1959
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 12, Issue 2 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Sound Studies
What CAS zone is Sound Studies in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Sound Studies is in Zone 2 of Arts, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Humanities, Multidisciplinary. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Arts. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Sound Studies?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 0.8 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 1, h-index 20.
How long does peer review take at Sound Studies?
Based on the dates recorded on 21 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 207 days (interquartile range 179–458 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 24%. 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Sound Studies based?
Of the 4 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 25%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (3) and Mainland China (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Sound Studies?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Sound Studies is indexed in ESCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists Web of Science; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Sound Studies open access, and what is the APC?
Sound Studies 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 2026-08-28). Last updated: .