Journal profile · COMMUNICATION
Written Communication
ISSN 0741-0883 · eISSN 1552-8472 · SAGE
Written Communication: CAS Zone 1 · Literature (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 2.36; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,650; acceptance rate 14.1% (journal website); 33 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Written Communication is published by SAGE and is in Zone 1 of Literature in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Discourse Analysis in Language Studies, Writing and Handwriting Education and EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning, together about 45.9% of its articles. Its main subfields are Developmental and Educational Psychology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Since 1984, Written Communication has been a leading journal for empirical research on writing as both systems of inscriptions and activities of meaning-making across multiple modes and contexts. Written Communication sponsors a broad and interdisciplinary view of what writing is, how writing gets done, and what writing does in the world. Each issue of the journal encompasses a wide range of topics and its pages consistently provide readers with new research findings, new theoretical concepts, and new ways of understanding how writing is practiced. Written Communication welcomes studies of writing practices in and across pursuits, international borders, and cultures, and at all levels of scope.Submit your manuscript today at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wc.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): COMMUNICATION
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 43, United Kingdom 2, Taiwan, China 1, Germany 1, Canada 1 (55 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Discourse Analysis in Language StudiesArts and Humanities25.2%
- Writing and Handwriting EducationSocial Sciences13%
- EFL/ESL Teaching and LearningArts and Humanities7.7%
- Language, Metaphor, and CognitionPsychology6.1%
- Reading and Literacy DevelopmentPsychology5%
- Literacy, Media, and EducationArts and Humanities4.7%
- Innovative Teaching and Learning MethodsPsychology4.5%
- Multilingual Education and PolicySocial Sciences3.4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Literature Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Literature | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Communication | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Literature Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Literature | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Communication | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Literature Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Literature | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Communication | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
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
- 2.36LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2.5Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 2.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.6LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.95LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.85LetPub ·
- h-index
- 96OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 548OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.24OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 30.68%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 32LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 923 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 33 | 14 | 6 |
| 2025 | 33 | 16 | 93 |
| 2024 | 25 | 13 | 105 |
| 2023 | 36 | 20 | 244 |
| 2022 | 28 | 11 | 384 |
| 2021 | 19 | 5 | 246 |
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
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 14.1%Publisher 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 3,650 / GBP 2,676 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 3,450 | — | — |
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 prepare5 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- 100–150 words
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 10,000 words
- Reference style
- APA
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Not considered
- preprints
Article types accepted6
- editorialOriginal Research Articles: Written Communication is an international multidisciplinary journal that publishes original research and theory in writing. Authors …Length not stated
- letterOriginal Research Articles: Written Communication is an international multidisciplinary journal that publishes original research and theory in writing. Authors …Length not stated
- original researchOriginal Research Articles: Written Communication is an international multidisciplinary journal that publishes original research and theory in writing. Authors …Length not stated
- original research articleOriginal Research Articles: Written Communication is an international multidisciplinary journal that publishes original research and theory in writing. Authors …Length not stated
- original research articlesOriginal Research Articles: Written Communication is an international multidisciplinary journal that publishes original research and theory in writing.Length not stated
- reviewOriginal Research Articles: Written Communication is an international multidisciplinary journal that publishes original research and theory in writing. Authors …Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Data availability, Publication ethics, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Preprints, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- Authorship Authorship
Please view our authorship policies, which includes information on criteria for authorship, who should be the corresponding author and more. Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.
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. If you wish to have color figures in the printed version, additional fees may apply. Optional open access publishing is available for a fee via the Sage Choice program, and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open acces…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review policy
Double anonymized peer review Model summary
The following summary describes the peer review process for this journal: Identity transparency: Double anonymized Reviewer interacts with: Co-editors 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 r…
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
No preprints accepted Model summary
The journal does not accept submissions of manuscripts that have been posted on preprint servers.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Trial registration / reporting guidelines Clinical trial registration
The journal endorses the ICMJE requirement that clinical trials are registered in a WHO-approved public trials registry at or before the time of first participant enrollment. However, consistent with the AllTrials campaign, retrospectively registered trials will be considered if the justification for late registration is acceptable. The trial registry name and URL, and registration number must be …
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
- 0741-0883
- Electronic ISSN
- 1552-8472
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Written Communication
What CAS zone is Written Communication in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Written Communication is in Zone 1 of Literature, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Communication; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Literature. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Written Communication?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.36; CiteScore 4.6, h-index 96.
What are the manuscript requirements of Written Communication?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 100–150 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 10,000 words; Reference style: APA; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not 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 Written Communication based?
Of the 55 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (43), United Kingdom (2) and Taiwan, China (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Written Communication?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Written Communication is indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Is Written Communication open access, and what is the APC?
Written Communication is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,650.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .