Journal profile · SOCIOLOGY
Symbolic Interaction
ISSN 0195-6086 · eISSN 1533-8665 · Wiley-Blackwell
Symbolic Interaction: CAS Zone 3 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.43; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,450; median 162 days to acceptance (82 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 29% (journal website); 71 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Symbolic Interaction is published by Wiley-Blackwell and is in Zone 3 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Social and Cultural Dynamics, Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice and Diverse Scientific and Economic Studies, together about 30.8% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
A premier journal, Symbolic Interaction presents work inspired by the interactionist perspective on society, social organization, and social life. It is the major publication of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction. The journal welcomes contributions from all scholars working, empirically or theoretically, within the broad tradition of social science inspired by American pragmatism and its European counterparts, as well as those wishing to engage in debates with that tradition. The journal publishes research that develops interactionist theories, generates new methodological directions and ideas, and studies substantive topics from the interactionist perspective. It recognizes the increasing global interest in interactionist approaches, and actively encourages submissions from scholars working from a variety of affiliations. Abstracting and Indexing Information Academic Search Alumni Edition (EBSCO Publishing) Academic Search Complete (EBSCO Publishing) Academic Search Elite (EBSCO Publishing) Academic Search Premier (EBSCO Publishing) ArticleFirst (OCLC) Communication Abstracts (EBSCO Publishing) Electronic Collections Online (OCLC) Health Research Premium Collection (ProQuest) Hospital Premium Collection (ProQuest) Proquest Business Collection (ProQuest) ProQuest Central (ProQuest) ProQuest Central K-525 ProQuest Politics Collection (ProQuest) ProQuest Sociology Collection (ProQuest) Psychology Database (ProQuest) PsycINFO/Psychological Abstracts (APA) Public Health Database (ProQuest) Research Library (ProQuest) Research Library Prep (ProQuest) SCOPUS (Elsevier) Social Science Premium Collection (ProQuest) Social Sciences Citation Index (Clarivate Analytics) SocINDEX (EBSCO Publishing) SocINDEX with Full Text (EBSCO Publishing) Sociology Database (ProQuest) TOC Premier (EBSCO Publishing) Web of Science (Clarivate Analytics)
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): SOCIOLOGY
Editor-in-chief Lisa-Jo K. van denPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Social and Cultural DynamicsSocial Sciences12.8%
- Contemporary Sociological Theory and PracticeSocial Sciences9.9%
- Diverse Scientific and Economic StudiesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance8.1%
- Language, Discourse, Communication StrategiesArts and Humanities7.6%
- Management and Organizational StudiesBusiness, Management and Accounting6.7%
- Ferroelectric and Negative Capacitance DevicesEngineering4.2%
- Big Data and Digital EconomyComputer Science4.2%
- Qualitative Research Methods and EthicsSocial Sciences3.8%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Sociology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Sociology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Sociology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of SciencePsycINFOPublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest, OCLC
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
- 1.43LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 3Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.52LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.3LetPub ·
- h-index
- 84OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 761OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.95OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 13.3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 60.19%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 41LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 63Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 166,159Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,443 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 46 | 22 | 2 |
| 2025 | 71 | 45 | 30 |
| 2024 | 74 | 50 | 149 |
| 2023 | 56 | 28 | 137 |
| 2022 | 49 | 11 | 133 |
| 2021 | 52 | 8 | 251 |
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
162 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 34 days – 264 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 70 days (82 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 240 days
- Sample
- 82 articles with submission and acceptance dates (128 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) 2025
- 29%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 19 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 103 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 25 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Double anonymous peer reviewPublisher 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 3,450 / EUR 2,880 / GBP 2,270 | — | — |
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 prepare9 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 100 words
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 10,000 words
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Templates
- Word
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Required
- Highlights
- Required
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Required
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, License & copyright, Peer review, Preprints
- AI use Disclosing the use of artificial intelligence (AI)
If you or your co-authors have used Artificial Intelligence Generated Content (AIGC) tools such as ChatGPT and others based on large language models (LLMs) to develop any portion of a manuscript, their use must be described transparently and in detail in the Methods section. Find more details on Wiley's AI guidelines for researchers and Wiley's AI policy in full in the Best Practices Guidelines on…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship
Flexible format submission Model summary
Symbolic Interaction now offers flexible format submission for a simplified and streamlined submission process.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright Transfer Agreement
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 agreementIf the open access option is not select…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Double-blind peer review policy Model summary
Important: the journal operates a double-blind peer review policy. Please anonymise your manuscript and prepare a separate title page containing author details.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprint Policy
Preprint policy - accepts preprints Model summary
Please find the Wiley Preprint Policy here. This journal accepts articles previously published on preprint servers. Social Policy & Administration will consider for review articles previously available as preprints. Authors may also post the submitted version of a manuscript to a preprint server at any time. Authors are requested to update any pre-publication versions with a link to the final publ…
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
- Wiley-Blackwell
- ISSN
- 0195-6086
- Electronic ISSN
- 1533-8665
- Society / sponsor
- Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Symbolic Interaction
What CAS zone is Symbolic Interaction in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Symbolic Interaction is in Zone 3 of Sociology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Sociology. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Sociology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Symbolic Interaction?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.43; CiteScore 3, h-index 84.
How long does peer review take at Symbolic Interaction?
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 162 days (interquartile range 34–264 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 29% (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 Symbolic Interaction?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 100 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 10,000 words; Reference style: Author–date; Templates: Word; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Required; Highlights: Required; Graphical abstract: Optional; 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.
Which databases index Symbolic Interaction?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Symbolic Interaction is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists Web of Science and PsycINFO; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Symbolic Interaction open access, and what is the APC?
Symbolic Interaction is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,450.
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: .