Journal profile · Social Sciences-Sociology and Political Science
Studies of Transition States and Societies
ISSN 1736-874X · eISSN 1736-8758 · Tallinn University · Estonia
Studies of Transition States and Societies: diamond open access (no APC); no APC; review about 5 weeks (community reports); 206 articles in 2025; indexed in Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Studies of Transition States and Societies is published by Tallinn University. By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Post-Communist Economic and Political Transition, Eastern European Communism and Reforms and Political Conflict and Governance, together about 34.3% of its articles. Its main subfields are Political Science and International Relations and Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The journal’s thematic focus lies on education, labour markets, and their intersections with other domains such as family, health, migration and mobility. STSS welcomes studies of regional and national contexts in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, as well as comparative work including the journal’s core region. Keywords: educational attainment, informality, labour market transitions, labour market segmentation, lifelong learning, migration, precarity, skill formation, vulnerable groups, income inequality STSS emphasises life course research with a specific focus on the intersection between the labour market and education studies. We prioritise research that dissects life course transitions, providing insights into the complex processes shaping individual trajectories in education, employment, and their interrelations with other domains such as family, health, migration and mobility. Our interest in the labour market extends to precarious work, the vulnerable conditions of individuals, informality theory and the informal practices and relations that encompass various aspects of labour markets and labour relations. The educational dimension emphasises inequalities in skill formation, education attainment and lifelong learning. We welcome different methodological perspectives. We especially value international comparative research and research on social changes and transformations. One of our aims is to examine how transitions in technology, demography and environmental policy influence educational and labour market outcomes, contributing to theoretical and methodological debates in sociology, anthropology, human geography, public policy, and related disciplines. We encourage unorthodox and unconventional interdisciplinary research, prioritising studies that integrate analytical theory with rigorous empirical analysis to foster a cumulative and generalisable understanding of the social world. We particularly welcome studies that explore regional and national contexts within the geographical area extending from Central and Eastern Europe to Central Asia (i.e., approximately overlapping with the former state socialist world), and that contribute to theoretical and empirical debates on this region. Studies focusing on other parts of the world may be considered if they offer relevant comparisons with our core region. In addition, we highly value research addressing comparative, transnational, and cross-border dynamics in education and employment.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Social Sciences-Sociology and Political Science
Editor-in-chief Abel PolesePublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named Brazil 2, Belgium 2, United Kingdom 1, India 1, Germany 1 (15 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Post-Communist Economic and Political TransitionSocial Sciences15.2%
- Eastern European Communism and ReformsSocial Sciences13.3%
- Political Conflict and GovernanceSocial Sciences5.7%
- Political Theory and DemocracySocial Sciences4.4%
- Sociopolitical Dynamics in RussiaSocial Sciences4.4%
- Youth Education and Societal DynamicsSocial Sciences4.1%
- Employment, Labor, and Gender StudiesSocial Sciences4.1%
- Soviet and Russian HistorySocial Sciences3.8%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CiteScore quartiles (Scopus, June 2026 release)
| Subject | Quartile | Rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sociology and Political Science | Q2 | 555/1530 | 63rd |
Scopus ranks journals by CiteScore within each subject: the 75th percentile and above is Q1, then a quartile every 25 points. A different system from the CAS zones.LetPub
Database indexing
ScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
EBSCO, ProQuest, CEEOL, IPSAPublisher 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
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 2.3LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.16LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.72LetPub ·
- h-index
- 16OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 33OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 5.11OpenAlex ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 0%LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 245 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 4 | 4 | 14 |
| 2025 | 206 | 206 | 95 |
| 2024 | 2 | 2 | 67 |
| 2023 | 1 | 1 | 104 |
| 2022 | 2 | 2 | 93 |
| 2021 | 5 | 5 | 102 |
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
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 5 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 24 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Double 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
Diamond open access (no APC)DOAJ
Every article is open access and authors pay no article processing charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | No APC | No | CC BY-NC-ND |
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 prepare10 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 200 words
- Keywords
- ≤ 5
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 8,000 words
- Reference style
- APA
- Templates
- Word
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Required
- Highlights
- Optional
- Graphical abstract
- Required
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted1, with length limits
- book reviewally quite a few of them out there now) Book Reviews should be between 1,000 and 1,500 words in length. In exceptional cases (longer book reviews includmain text ≤ 1,500 words
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- AI use USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) TOOLS
The STSS policy on AI use in manuscripts is based on three core principles:
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright Notice
Copyright retained by authors; first publication license is Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0. Model summary
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms: Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contr…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access Policy
This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. Published and funded by the School of Governance, Law and Society and Institute of International Social Studies at Tallinn University, STSS is fully open access, does not ask for article processing charges from authors, yet…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer Review Process
All submissions are evaluated by the editor in chief of either of the two major fields (sociology and political science) and a decision is made on whether the piece is thematically suitable and in accordance with academic expectations.Those selected articles are sent to two experts for blind reviewing. The reviewers are asked to assess the paper with regard to the review guidelines. When the edito…
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
- Tallinn University
- Country or region
- Estonia
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1736-874X
- Electronic ISSN
- 1736-8758
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 18 (June 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗DOAJ
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Studies of Transition States and Societies
How long does peer review take at Studies of Transition States and Societies?
Authors report an average review time of about 5 weeks. 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 Studies of Transition States and Societies?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 200 words; Keywords: ≤ 5; Manuscript length: ≤ 8,000 words; Reference style: APA; Templates: Word; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Required; Highlights: Optional; Graphical abstract: Required; Cover letter: Required. 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 Studies of Transition States and Societies based?
Of the 15 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Brazil (2), Belgium (2) and United Kingdom (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Studies of Transition States and Societies?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Studies of Transition States and Societies is indexed in Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Studies of Transition States and Societies open access, and what is the APC?
Studies of Transition States and Societies is a diamond open-access journal (no APC). It charges no article processing charge.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, DOAJ, 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: .