Journal profile · POLITICAL SCIENCE
Zeitschrift fur Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft
ISSN 1865-2646 · eISSN 1865-2654 · Springer Nature · 4 issues per year
Zeitschrift fur Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft: CAS Zone 4 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 0.9 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,290; median 397 days to acceptance (28 articles, last 24 months); 36 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Zeitschrift fur Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft is published by Springer Nature 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 Electoral Systems and Political Participation, Populism, Right-Wing Movements and Public Administration and Political Analysis, together about 31.4% 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)
German Journal of Comparative Politics – Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft (ZfVP) was founded in 2007. It is an internationally renowned journal that adheres to the highest standards of quality (double-blind peer review). The journal is published quarterly, and it is the first bilingual (German and English) journal that focuses on innovative research results in the area of comparative politics.The journal is a central academic forum for outstanding research achievements in the field of comparative politics, and covers the entire range of comparative research within the field. The journal publishes conceptual, methodological, and empirical studies from all the various research areas within the discipline of political science. CollectionsCollections replace ZfVP’s former Special Issues and provide an opportunity to present focal topics in comparative research. All submissions to Collections undergo the same double-blind peer review process as regular submissions. Articles belonging to a Collection are virtually aggregated under the particular focal topic but are published on a rolling basis in regular issues of ZfVP. All Collections can be found here. The editors of this journal welcome suggestions, initiatives, and proposals for Collections from the comparative studies community.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): POLITICAL SCIENCE
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named Germany 19, United States 2, United Kingdom 2, Italy 2, Austria 2 (39 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Electoral Systems and Political ParticipationSocial Sciences10.7%
- Populism, Right-Wing MovementsSocial Sciences10.4%
- Public Administration and Political AnalysisSocial Sciences10.3%
- Social Policy and Reform StudiesSocial Sciences9.9%
- Political Influence and Corporate StrategiesBusiness, Management and Accounting6.5%
- Political Conflict and GovernanceSocial Sciences5.9%
- European Union Policy and GovernanceSocial Sciences5.9%
- German legal, social, and political studiesSocial Sciences5%
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 | Political Science | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Political Science | 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
Indexing the journal's website claims
Google Scholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSSPublisher 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
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 0.9Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.7Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 2.1LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.35LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.66LetPub ·
- h-index
- 31OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 127OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.95OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 78.95%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 28LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 239,800Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 635 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 11 | 6 | 1 |
| 2025 | 36 | 34 | 64 |
| 2024 | 27 | 18 | 79 |
| 2023 | 42 | 32 | 120 |
| 2022 | 36 | 34 | 172 |
| 2021 | 35 | 27 | 445 |
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
397 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 319 days – 452 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 27 days (47 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 430 days
- Sample
- 28 articles with submission and acceptance dates (51 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
- Submission to first decision
- 24 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 3,290 / EUR 2,790 / GBP 2,390 | — | — |
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 prepare4 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- 150–250 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 4
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
Article types accepted6
- book reviewAufsätze are Original Papers on conceptual, methodological, and empirical studies that deal with innovative research on comparative perspectives may be submitte…Length not stated
- commentaryAufsätze are Original Papers on conceptual, methodological, and empirical studies that deal with innovative research on comparative perspectives may be submitte…Length not stated
- editorialAufsätze are Original Papers on conceptual, methodological, and empirical studies that deal with innovative research on comparative perspectives may be submitte…Length not stated
- original paperAufsätze are Original Papers on conceptual, methodological, and empirical studies that deal with innovative research on comparative perspectives may be submitte…Length not stated
- perspectiveAufsätze are Original Papers on conceptual, methodological, and empirical studies that deal with innovative research on comparative perspectives may be submitte…Length not stated
- reviewAufsätze are Original Papers on conceptual, methodological, and empirical studies that deal with innovative research on comparative perspectives may be submitte…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- AI use Generative AI Images
Please check Springer’s policy on generative AI images and make sure your work adheres to the principles described therein.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Authorship principles
These guidelines describe authorship principles and good authorship practices to which prospective authors should adhere to. Authorship clarified The Journal and Publisher assume all authors agreed with the content and that all gave explicit consent to submit and that they obtained consent from the responsible authorities at the institute/organization where the work has been carried out, before th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Competing Interests
Authors are requested to disclose interests that are directly or indirectly related to the work submitted for publication. Interests within the last 3 years of beginning the work (conducting the research and preparing the work for submission) should be reported. Interests outside the 3-year time frame must be disclosed if they could reasonably be perceived as influencing the submitted work. Disclo…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright Transfer
Mit der Annahme des Artikels wird der Autor um Übertragung des Copyrights (bzw. das ausschließliche, räumlich und zeitlich uneingeschränkte Recht zur Publikation und zum Vertrieb) an den Verlag gebeten. Die Zeitschrift sowie alle in ihr enthaltenen einzelnen Beiträge und Abbildungen sind urheberrechtlich geschützt. Für Open Choice Artikel ist keine Übertragung des Copyrights erforderlich, da das C…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publishing
To find out more about publishing your work Open Access in Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft, including information on fees, funding and licences, visit our Open access publishing page. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer Review
Um eine doppelblinde Begutachtung gewährleisten zu können, darf die anonymisierte Version des Manuskripts, die an die Gutachtenden versendet wird, keinerlei Hinweise auf die Verfasser/innen enthalten. Dies betrifft auch Verweise im Text auf eigene Veröffentlichungen, Danksagungen oder ähnliche Hinweise in den Fußnoten, den Angaben im Literaturverzeichnis oder in den Dateieigenschaften. Jedes Manus…
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
- Springer Nature
- Frequency
- 4 issues per year
- ISSN
- 1865-2646
- Electronic ISSN
- 1865-2654
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Zeitschrift fur Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft
What CAS zone is Zeitschrift fur Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Zeitschrift fur Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft is in Zone 4 of Sociology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Political Science. 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.
What is the impact factor of Zeitschrift fur Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 0.9 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 2.1, h-index 31.
How long does peer review take at Zeitschrift fur Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft?
Based on the dates recorded on 28 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 397 days (interquartile range 319–452 days). 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 Zeitschrift fur Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 150–250 words; Keywords: ≥ 4; Reference style: Author–date; Suggested reviewers: Optional. 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 Zeitschrift fur Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft based?
Of the 39 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Germany (19), United States (2) and United Kingdom (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Zeitschrift fur Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Zeitschrift fur Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft is indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Is Zeitschrift fur Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft open access, and what is the APC?
Zeitschrift fur Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,290.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .