Perspectives on Politics: Journal Metrics

Perspectives on Politics is an official quarterly peer-reviewed political science journal of the American Political Science Association (APSA; ISSN 1537-5927, E-ISSN 1541-0986) published by Cambridge University Press. In Clarivate Journal Citation Reports, it holds a Journal Impact Factor of 3.5 and a 5-year impact factor of 5.6.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board

· Last updated 8 Nov 2026

What Is Perspectives on Politics?

Perspectives on Politics is an official flagship scholarly journal of the American Political Science Association, established in 2003. Unlike specialized subfield outlets, the journal’s editorial remit centers on integrative political science scholarship. It publishes broad synthesis essays, rigorous empirical research across traditional subfield divides, thematic symposia, and comprehensive book review essays that evaluate contemporary literature across political science and public policy.

Manuscript submissions are processed via Editorial Manager under a strict double-anonymous peer review model. Authors are required to redact all institutional and personal identifiers from manuscripts, supplementary materials, and digital file properties prior to editorial evaluation.

Journal Impact Factor and Citation Metrics

The journal’s publication metrics are tracked across multiple bibliographic citation databases:

Clarivate Journal Impact Factor (JIF): 3.5 (Social Sciences Citation Index, JCR data year).
Clarivate 5-Year Impact Factor: 5.6, reflecting citation persistence in social science discourse.
Scopus CiteScore: 9.4, measuring citations per document over a four-year window.
SCImago Journal Rank (SJR): 2.923, placing the journal in Quartile 1 (Q1) for Political Science and International Relations.
Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP): 3.472, normalizing for subject-field citation velocity.

Calculation Method and Indexing Context

The Journal Impact Factor is calculated by dividing total citations received in the target JCR year to citable items (original research articles and reviews) published during the previous two calendar years by the total number of citable items published in those same two years. Because Perspectives on Politics is indexed in the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), citations from all Web of Science Core Collection indexed journals contribute to this tally.

Open access dissemination is supported through institutional transformative agreements and hybrid open access publishing models compliant with the Cambridge University Press open access policy.

Responsible Metric Use and Evaluation Cautions

Consistent with research assessment principles such as the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), journal-level metrics such as the Impact Factor or CiteScore must not be used as a proxy for the scientific quality or impact of individual articles or researchers. In political science and public policy, citation accumulation follows longer latency periods than in laboratory sciences, and substantial scholarly influence frequently manifests through book monographs, policy reports, and legal analyses rather than immediate two-year journal citations.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the impact factor of Perspectives on Politics?

The journal’s Clarivate Journal Impact Factor is 3.5, with a 5-year Impact Factor of 5.6 in the Social Sciences Citation Index.

Who publishes Perspectives on Politics?

The journal is published quarterly by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Political Science Association (APSA).

Does Perspectives on Politics use double-anonymous peer review?

Yes. All research submissions undergo double-anonymous peer review managed through Editorial Manager, requiring complete removal of identifying author metadata.

Sources

Cambridge University Press. Perspectives on Politics Journal Overview and Metrics. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics (2026-11-07).
American Political Science Association. Perspectives on Politics Editorial Scope and Guidelines. https://www.apsanet.org/perspectives (2026-11-07).
Clarivate. Journal Citation Reports: Social Sciences Citation Index. https://jcr.clarivate.com (2026-11-07).

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