Journal profile · SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY
Surveillance & Society
ISSN 1477-7487 · Surveillance Studies Network · Canada
Surveillance & Society: CAS Zone 4 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); diamond open access (no APC); no APC; review about 26 weeks (community reports); 55 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Surveillance & Society is published by Surveillance Studies Network and is in Zone 4 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Privacy, Security, and Data Protection, Global Security and Public Health and Geographies of human-animal interactions, together about 31.6% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Surveillance & Society exists to: publish innovative and transdisciplinary work on surveillance; encourage understanding of approaches to surveillance in different academic disciplines; promote understanding of surveillance in wider society; encourage policy and political debate about surveillance. Surveillance & Society is the premier journal of surveillance studies. Surveillance & Society publishes rigorously peer-reviewed academic work of the highest quality. Surveillance & Society is a true open access ('diamond' or 'platinum' standard) electronic journal - we charge no fees to authors or readers. Surveillance & Society encourages submissions that could not be published in conventional paper journals such as html, photographic, video and new media work. Surveillance & Society supports open access to scholarly work and encourages all authors to deposit the final published copy of their work in their university and / or other open access repository. We only ask that you make sure to include a link to the original version on the Surveillance & Society website.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 21, Canada 15, United Kingdom 10, Australia 3, Germany 2 (57 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Privacy, Security, and Data ProtectionSocial Sciences16.1%
- Global Security and Public HealthSocial Sciences10%
- Geographies of human-animal interactionsSocial Sciences5.6%
- Crime, Deviance, and Social ControlSocial Sciences5.2%
- Policing Practices and PerceptionsSocial Sciences4.8%
- Intelligence, Security, War StrategySocial Sciences4.7%
- Ethics and Social Impacts of AISocial Sciences4.3%
- Social Media and PoliticsSocial Sciences3.9%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary | Zone 3 |
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
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.5LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.57LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.87LetPub ·
- h-index
- 69OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 451OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.32OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 7.1%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 26.73%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 34LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,180 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 44 | 44 | 1 |
| 2025 | 55 | 55 | 65 |
| 2024 | 49 | 49 | 130 |
| 2023 | 57 | 57 | 265 |
| 2022 | 60 | 60 | 314 |
| 2021 | 73 | 73 | 586 |
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 26 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 26 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 | |
| LetPub | No APC | No | — | |
| Publisher website | No APC | — | — |
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 prepare3 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 8,000 words
- Reference style
- Chicago
Article types accepted8, with length limits
- art reviewIn general, art review submissions should: be no more than 2500 words in length (not including references); otherwise follow the general author guidelines.Length not stated
- articlesArticles should be: between 4,000 and 8,000 words (not including references); otherwise follow the general guidelines.Length not stated
- artistic presentationsWe therefore welcome creative engagements with surveillance in the form of photography, video, multimedia, hypertext prose/poetry, codework, etc.Length not stated
- book reviews(Please note that reviews should not exceed 1500 words in length.)Length not stated
- opinion pieces / research notesThey should: be 1000-3000 words in length (not including references); have a minimal number of references; be provocative; otherwise follow the general guidelin…Length not stated
- responsesThey should: be between 1000 and 3000 words in length (not including references); address a particular published piece; otherwise follow the general guidelines.Length not stated
- reviewok Review Guidelines. (Please note that reviews should not exceed 1500 words in length.) Artistic Presentations Surveillance & Society emain text ≤ 1,500 words
- review articlesThey should: be between 2000 and 5000 words in length (not including references); aim to summarise and critique developments in a particular area; not be overly…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Conflicts of interest, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Self-archiving
- AI use AI Policy
Generative AI use is prohibited for research, analysis, authorship, or writing assistance; false claims about AI use are considered academic dishonesty. Model summary
Surveillance & Society prohibits the use of artificial intelligence tools for authorship, data fabrication, data analysis, or imagery production. We take this stance to protect the integrity of the research enterprise writ large and to ensure accountability for claims made in publications appearing in the journal. Furthermore, this stance is intended to protect the confidentiality of informants an…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest
Submissions must not be previously published or under consideration by another journal. Model summary
The submission has not been previously published in any form, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright Notice
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. Model summary
Surveillance & Society uses a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. The author. The author licenses the article to the Surveillance Studies Network (SSN) for inclusion in Surveillance & Society (S&S), right of first publication. The copyright to the article remains with the author and any subsequent commercial reuse must be agreed by both parties. Non-commerci…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access Policy
Surveillance & Society 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. However please also see our copyright statement. Surveillance & Society actively encourages authors to deposit a copy of their paper in their institution's Open Access Repository and / or in any other open access …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer-Review Process
Anonymized files are required for review. Model summary
The reviewing process is double-blind: all submissions and referees' reports are fully anonymous, and known only to the Editors. The final decision on any submission rests with the Editors. All submissions to Surveillance & Society will be subject to the rigorous quality standards: Articles are reviewed by two reviewers who will be either full-time academic faculty with a specialism in surveillanc…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Self-archiving
Authors are encouraged to self-archive in open access archives. Model summary
Authors are encouraged to place copies of the final published version of their article in their university and / or other open access archives.
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
- Surveillance Studies Network
- Country or region
- Canada
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1477-7487
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 24, Issue 4 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Surveillance & Society
What CAS zone is Surveillance & Society in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Surveillance & Society is in Zone 4 of Sociology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Sociology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
How long does peer review take at Surveillance & Society?
Authors report an average review time of about 26 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 Surveillance & Society?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 8,000 words; Reference style: Chicago. 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 Surveillance & Society based?
Of the 57 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (21), Canada (15) and United Kingdom (10). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Surveillance & Society?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Surveillance & Society is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Surveillance & Society open access, and what is the APC?
Surveillance & Society 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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .