Journal profile · RELIGION
Theology
ISSN 0040-571X · eISSN 2044-2696 · SAGE
Theology: CAS Zone 4 · Philosophy (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 0.2 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,650; 157 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Theology is published by SAGE and is in Zone 4 of Philosophy in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Biblical Studies and Interpretation, Religion, Society, and Development and Christian Theology and Mission, together about 39.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are Religious studies and Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Theology is the ideal journal for all who want to broaden their knowledge of contemporary theological studies. It includes peer-reviewed contributions from scholars across the Christian tradition. Theology keeps readers abreast of the latest developments in all fields of enquiry impinging on contemporary Christian thought and practice. View full journal description This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): RELIGION
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United Kingdom 9, United States 2 (11 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Biblical Studies and InterpretationArts and Humanities16.8%
- Religion, Society, and DevelopmentSocial Sciences12.3%
- Christian Theology and MissionArts and Humanities10.4%
- Religion and Society InteractionsSocial Sciences7.5%
- American Constitutional Law and PoliticsSocial Sciences7%
- Reformation and Early Modern ChristianityArts and Humanities6.9%
- Theology and Philosophy of EvilArts and Humanities4.4%
- Pentecostalism and Christianity StudiesArts and Humanities4.3%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Philosophy Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Philosophy | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Religion | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Philosophy Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Philosophy | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Religion | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ESCIScopusLetPub
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
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 0.2Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 0.2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 0.2LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.13LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0LetPub ·
- h-index
- 37OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 190OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.05OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 17.35%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 28LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 22,681 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 98 | 20 | 1 |
| 2025 | 157 | 29 | 4 |
| 2024 | 171 | 26 | 15 |
| 2023 | 175 | 30 | 25 |
| 2022 | 183 | 11 | 23 |
| 2021 | 192 | 19 | 61 |
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
- Peer review
- Single 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 3,650 / GBP 2,676 | — | — | |
| 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.
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- Colour charges
- No colour charges
- Page charges
- No page charges
- Submission fee
- No submission fee
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 prepare7 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 150 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 5
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 3,500 words
- Reference style
- Chicago
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Required
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted2
- book reviewView our virtual special issues". Link: /page/tjx/collections/virtual-issues/index Theology is the ideal journal for all who want to broaden their knowledge of …Length not stated
- reviewView our virtual special issues". Link: /page/tjx/collections/virtual-issues/index Theology is the ideal journal for all who want to broaden their knowledge of …Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Data availability, Publication ethics, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Preprints
- Authorship Author contributions
You will be asked to list the contribution of each author as part of the submission process. Please include the Author Contributions heading within your submission after the Acknowledgements section. The information you give on submission will then show under the Author Contributions heading later at the proofing stage.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability
The Journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages. Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to: Share your research data in a relevant public data repository Include a data ava…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Ethical considerations
Please include your ethics approval statements under this heading, even if you have already included ethics approval information in your methods section. If ethical approval was not required, you need to explicitly state this. All papers reporting studies involving human participants, human data or human tissue must state that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board approved th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Publishing fees and open access
There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this journal. Figures submitted in color will be published in color in the online version of the journal at no cost. Optional open access publishing is available for a fee via the Sage Choice program, and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review policy
The following summary describes the peer review process for this journal: Identity transparency: Single-anonymized Reviewer interacts with: Editor Review information published: None Your manuscript will undergo an initial evaluation. If it does not conform to the requirements laid out in these guidelines, it will be returned to you for amendments prior to peer review. Manuscripts may be desk rejec…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism Plagiarism
The journal and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. Please read Sage's complete policy on plagiarism and the actions we may take.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
The journal will consider submissions of manuscripts that have been posted on preprint servers. Please enter the preprint DOI in the designated field when submitting your manuscript. We advise that you inform the Journal Editorial office about your posted preprint at submission. Note that you should not post an updated version of your manuscript on a preprint server while it is being peer reviewed…
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
- SAGE
- ISSN
- 0040-571X
- Electronic ISSN
- 2044-2696
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Theology
What CAS zone is Theology in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Theology is in Zone 4 of Philosophy, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Religion. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 4 of Philosophy. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Theology?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 0.2; this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 0.2, h-index 37.
What are the manuscript requirements of Theology?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 150 words; Keywords: ≥ 5; Manuscript length: ≤ 3,500 words; Reference style: Chicago; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: 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 Theology based?
Of the 11 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (9) and United States (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Theology?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Theology is indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Is Theology open access, and what is the APC?
Theology is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,650.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, 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: .