Publisher profile

Sage Publishing

Scholarly journals ranging from broad social and behavioural science to specialist disciplinary communities.

Overview

Social sciences, humanities and specialist research fields

Sage Open publishes original research and reviews across social and behavioural sciences and the humanities. Social Studies of Science serves a more focused Science and Technology Studies community, examining science, technology and medicine as social and material activities. The contrast illustrates why subject vocabulary alone is not enough to choose between journals.

Sage’s author guidance covers revision, production and licensing, but journal instructions remain decisive. Sage Open, for example, asks for an anonymised manuscript and separate title page. Prepare for the actual review workflow and use a response document that shows where each requested change has been made.

Publishing model: Subscription, optional OA and fully open-access titles
Subject coverage: Social sciences, humanities and specialist research fields
Journal directory: Browse publisher’s journals
Sources checked: 13 November 2026

The assessment

What the rating tells you.

Read our methodology

Safe & Trusted

The publisher is classified as Safe & Trusted in our directory. This is a positive publisher-level assessment. The next step is to confirm that the particular journal meets your research, funding and institutional requirements.

How the assessment is formed

Our evaluation framework considers peer review, editorial credibility, transparency, publishing ethics, indexing and researcher feedback. The overall rating and category are recorded here; a criterion-by-criterion score breakdown is not included in this record.

A rating is not a guarantee of a journal’s suitability or of a particular publication outcome. Check policies at the journal level and confirm claims at their source.

Submit evidence for re-evaluation

Publishing practices
to examine.

Read the sources for each assessment area. Checked 13 November 2026. These summaries describe published policies and verification steps; they do not recalculate the directory rating.

Assessment areaWhat to look forPublisher policies and sources

Editorial accountability

Named editors, relevant affiliations and a clear way to contact the editorial office.

Use the journal page to identify its editors and ownership. Sage’s licensing guidance notes that society-owned journals can require different agreements.Journal information Contributor licence

Peer review

A documented review model, reviewer selection and a process for editorial decisions.

Review preparation differs by journal. Sage Open requires anonymisation; Sage’s revision guidance asks for a comment-by-comment response and clearly identified manuscript changes.Sage Open review instructions Responding during peer review

Indexing and discoverability

The exact journal title and ISSN in the index itself; coverage dates and current status.

Check the exact journal title, ISSN and coverage dates in the database required by your institution. Inclusion of one title does not establish coverage for the publisher’s other journals.Publisher journal catalogue How to verify indexing

Fees and business model

A complete fee schedule, payment timing, waivers and any additional publication charges.

Check the journal’s current publishing charges and funding options. Fully open-access and optional open-access publication should not be treated as the same financial commitment.Sage Open charges and submission terms

Copyright and licensing

The publishing agreement, author rights and a licence that meets your funder’s requirements.

Sage normally uses an exclusive contributor licence for subscription articles while authors retain copyright, with society exceptions. Open-access publication requires a Creative Commons licence.Contributor licence and exceptions Production and licensing

Ethics and corrections

Policies on authorship, competing interests, misconduct, appeals, corrections and retractions.

Journal instructions set expectations for originality, permissions, authorship and ethical reporting. Raise concerns with the journal’s editorial office using the relevant published policy.Example: Sage Open publishing requirements

Digital preservation

A named preservation service and a clear long-term access policy.

Portico has a publisher record with linked journal holdings. Check the exact title and the content received or committed there; publisher participation alone does not establish complete coverage of every journal and year.Publisher record and holdings at Portico

Selected journals.
Different audiences.

These examples illustrate the publisher’s range; they are not its complete catalogue. Follow each journal’s page for current scope, editorial information and submission requirements.

Browse publisher’s journal directory

Sage Open

Gold open-access original research and reviews across social and behavioural sciences and humanities. Its instructions explain manuscript anonymisation and the journal’s publication conditions.

Explore journal

Social Studies of Science

Multidisciplinary Science and Technology Studies scholarship. A submission should engage with how science, technology or medicine operate as social and material practices.