Policy Studies

Aims & Scope

The world of public policy has become an increasingly small one as a consequence of dramatic changes to global political and economic institutional structures and to nation states themselves.

These changes at the structural level of the global system have impacted upon the work of public organizations either directly or indirectly and have broadened the field of action in policy studies.

Policy Studies explores the implications of these changes for both the study and the practice of policy-making.

It has five main areas of intellectual interest: 1.To broaden the lens of policy analysis through the publication of research which locates policy-making within a theoretical, historical or comparative perspective. 2.To widen the field of enquiry in policy analysis through the publication of research that examines policy issues in a British, comparative, international or global context. 3.To promote constructive debate on theoretical, methodological and empirical issues in policy analysis. 4.To encourage greater interaction between the world of academia and the world of practice through the encouragement of articles from practitioners and academics with real practical significance. 5.To stay apace with developments in the international field of action through the publication of country reports on administrative developments.

We therefore encourage the submission of articles in these areas in order to provide a forum for the theoretical and practical discussion of public policy-making.

View Aims & Scope

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Metrics & Ranking

Impact Factor

Year	Value
2025	2.3
2024	2.20

SJR (SCImago Journal Rank)

Year	Value
2024	0.682

Quartile

Year	Value
2024	Q1

h-index

Year	Value
2024	50

Journal Rank

Year	Value
2024	8363

Journal Citation Indicator

Year	Value
2024	460

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Abstracting & Indexing

Journal is indexed in leading academic databases, ensuring global visibility and accessibility of our peer-reviewed research.

• Scopus
• Google Scholar
• Web of Science

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Subjects & Keywords

Journal’s research areas, covering key disciplines and specialized sub-topics in Social Sciences, designed to support cutting-edge academic discovery.

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Most Cited Articles

The Most Cited Articles section features the journal's most impactful research, based on citation counts. These articles have been referenced frequently by other researchers, indicating their significant contribution to their respective fields.

• Policy diffusion and policy transfer

  Citation: 442

  Authors: David, J.C.

• Transfer and translation of policy

  Citation: 359

  Authors: Diane

• Policy integration: mapping the different concepts

  Citation: 301

  Authors: Jale, Achim

• Policy transfer in critical perspective

  Citation: 243

  Authors: Mark

• A multi-disciplinary approach to policy transfer research: geographies, assemblages, mobilities and mutations

  Citation: 209

  Authors: Eugene, Kevin

• Creativity and urban governance

  Citation: 143

  Authors: Patsy

• Policy transfer as learning: capturing variation in what decision-makers learn from epistemic communities

  Citation: 128

  Authors: Claire A.

• SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING BORROWED …

  Citation: 125

  Authors: Vivien

• Beyond “linking knowledge and action”: towards a practice-based approach to transdisciplinary sustainability interventions

  Citation: 113

  Authors: Simon, Lorrae, Hendrik

• The problem <i>of</i> innovation in technoscientific capitalism: data <i>rentiership</i> and the policy implications of turning personal digital data into a private asset

  Citation: 92

  Authors: Kean, Margaret, Anna

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