Impact factor for open access journal Research & Politics (RAP)
Research & Politics (RAP) is a peer-reviewed open access journal which focusses on research in political science and related fields through open access publication of the very best cutting-edge research and policy analysis. The journal achieved a high score for the impact factor, which puts it in 49th place within the field of political science. A great accomplishment. Our congratulations to those who are involved with the journal!
Bernard Steunenberg: ‘Having a great impact factor is the reward for years of extensive work on this journal. Open-access publishing is the future, but it still requires a new journal to obtain a visible position in the discipline.‘
R&P was launched at the beginning of 2014 after extensive preparations in 2013. The journal, which is only available online, publishes around 40 papers per year. Having a policy of making swift decisions, the average time for a first decision was about 30 days in 2020 and 53 days for a final decision on a manuscript. The benefit of being open access is reflected in the number of paper downloads: this number is impressive.
An important reason to start this journal is to have a venue in which a broad readership can take advantage of research in political science and public administration. Articles are short and to the point, focusing on what is new. Furthermore, open-access and online publishing makes contributions based on recent research available to the whole community, including government officials and other practitioners. Finally, having a policy of swift publication, insights are available shortly after a submission, based on an efficient way of reviewing by peers.
Impact factors reflect the yearly average number of citations of articles published in a certain journal. These impact factors were released in early July, and Research & Politics came in with a whopping 3.141 for its first impact factor, placing it 49/182 in Political Science. For a starting journal this is a huge accomplishment! Especially considering that many of the contending journals are well-established and subscription based.
Bernard Steunenberg: ‘Having a great impact factor is the reward for years of extensive work on this journal. Open-access publishing is the future, but it still requires a new journal to obtain a visible position in the discipline. The editorial teams consisting of several scholars at different universities has managed to make this journal, together with Sage, as it is. That is something I am very proud of.’
‘With our current position among well-established journals, I would like to invite scholars from Leiden and in the Netherlands, but also in Europe, to consider R&P for their next publication. A publication that is concise, to the point and presenting novel findings. We will review your paper and make sure, when accepted, that it will be published at short notice making it available for a large audience.’
Editors R&P
Bernard Steunenberg, Kevin Esterling, Jae-Jae Spoon, Hanna Baeck, Christian Grose and Kristian Skrede Gleditisch.
Research & Politics
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