44 free-to-publish Scopus journals in Public Administration
44 peer-reviewed journals in the SCImago category Public Administration charge no APC and no other author fees, according to the DOAJ. The quartile shown is the journal’s quartile in this category (not its best one elsewhere): 0 are Q1 and 8 Q2 here. Data snapshot: October 2026.
Of the Scopus-ranked journals here, 41% are Q1 or Q2 (site-wide: 40%). Their median self-reported time from submission to publication is 16 weeks. Most are published in Spain (6), Poland (6) and Brazil (4). 93% accept manuscripts in English and 52% accept at least one other language.
All 44 free-to-publish journals in Public Administration
Sorted by best SCImago quartile, then SJR. Click a column header to sort by it; click a second column to add a tiebreak. The search box narrows the list. Time to publish is the journal’s own DOAJ figure (average weeks from submission to publication).
| # | Journal | Quartile | SJR | H-index | Publisher | Country | Time to publish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Education Inquiry 2000-4508 | Q2 | 0.602 | 33 | Taylor & Francis Group | United Kingdom | 30 wk |
| 2 | New England Journal of Entrepreneurship 1550-333X · 2574-8904 | Q2 | 0.448 | 22 | Emerald Publishing | United Kingdom | 12 wk |
| 3 | Nonprofit Policy Forum 2154-3348 | Q2 | 0.426 | 21 | De Gruyter | Germany | 7 wk |
| 4 | IAFOR Journal of Education 2187-0594 | Q2 | 0.425 | 18 | The International Academic Forum | Japan | 4 wk |
| 5 | Revista Española de la Transparencia 2444-2607 | Q2 | 0.422 | 7 | Asociación Española de Acreditación de la Transparencia | Spain | 16 wk |
| 6 | Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration 2001-7405 · 2001-7413 | Q2 | 0.407 | 10 | University of Gothenburg | Sweden | 26 wk |
| 7 | Revista Científica General José María Córdova 1900-6586 · 2500-7645 | Q2 | 0.4 | 10 | Escuela Militar de Cadetes “General José María Córdova” | Colombia | 14 wk |
| 8 | Public Administration and Policy 1727-2645 · 2517-679X | Q2 | 0.367 | 18 | Emerald Publishing | United Kingdom | 8 wk |
| 9 | Białostockie Studia Prawnicze 1689-7404 · 2719-9452 | Q3 | 0.337 | 5 | Sciendo | Poland | 36 wk |
| 10 | Society and Economy 1588-9726 · 1588-970X | Q3 | 0.33 | 21 | Corvinus University of Budapest | Hungary | 28 wk |
| 11 | Central European Public Administration Review 2591-2240 · 2591-2259 | Q3 | 0.325 | 10 | University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani) | Slovenia | 16 wk |
| 12 | Studia Iuridica Lublinensia 1731-6375 · 2449-8289 | Q3 | 0.316 | 12 | Maria Curie-Skłodowska University | Poland | 24 wk |
| 13 | Revista de Ciencias Sociales 1315-9518 · 2477-9431 | Q3 | 0.314 | 29 | Universidad del Zulia | Venezuela | 5 wk |
| 14 | Journal of Public and Nonprofit Affairs 2381-3717 | Q3 | 0.311 | 15 | Midwest Public Affairs Conference | United States | 16 wk |
| 15 | Journal of Higher Education Policy and Leadership Studies 2717-1426 | Q3 | 0.288 | 11 | Ali Khorsandi Taskoh | Iran | 10 wk |
| 16 | RAC: Revista de Administração Contemporânea 1415-6555 · 1982-7849 | Q3 | 0.266 | 13 | Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração (ANPAD) | Brazil | 20 wk |
| 17 | Journal of Information Policy 2158-3897 | Q3 | 0.264 | 18 | Penn State University Press | United States | 8 wk |
| 18 | Retos 1390-6291 · 1390-8618 | Q3 | 0.26 | 14 | Universidad Politécnica Salesiana | Ecuador | 12 wk |
| 19 | Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences 1842-2845 · 2247-8310 | Q3 | 0.253 | 25 | Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca | Romania | 25 wk |
| 20 | Eunomia 2253-6655 | Q3 | 0.246 | 9 | Universidad Carlos III de Madrid | Spain | 20 wk |
| 21 | Journal of Central Banking Law and Institutions 2827-7775 · 2809-9885 | Q3 | 0.239 | 6 | Bank Indonesia | Indonesia | 16 wk |
| 22 | International Journal of Human Capital in Urban Management 2476-4698 · 2476-4701 | Q3 | 0.233 | 10 | Municipality of Tehran | Iran | 8 wk |
| 23 | Public Governance, Administration and Finances Law Review 2498-6275 · 2786-0736 | Q3 | 0.221 | 4 | Ludovika University Press | Hungary | 25 wk |
| 24 | Revista Catalana de Dret Públic 1885-5709 · 1885-8252 | Q3 | 0.221 | 7 | Escola d'Administració Pública de Catalunya | Spain | 26 wk |
| 25 | Civil Szemle 1786-3341 · 3004-2119 | Q3 | 0.218 | 8 | Civil Szemle Foundation | Hungary | 16 wk |
| 26 | R-Economy 2412-0731 | Q3 | 0.213 | 9 | Ural Federal University | Russia | 14 wk |
| 27 | Central European Journal of Public Policy 1802-4866 | Q4 | 0.213 | 14 | UNIVERSITY OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN TRNAVA | Slovakia | 20 wk |
| 28 | Revista de Administração Pública 0034-7612 · 1982-3134 | Q4 | 0.207 | 29 | Fundação Getulio Vargas | Brazil | 12 wk |
| 29 | Moderna Arhivistika 2591-0884 | Q4 | 0.206 | 3 | Pokrajinski arhiv Maribor | Slovenia | 16 wk |
| 30 | European Journal of Government and Economics 2254-7088 | Q4 | 0.2 | 12 | University of A Coruna | Spain | 14 wk |
| 31 | RAE: Revista de Administração de Empresas 0034-7590 · 2178-938X | Q4 | 0.195 | 26 | Fundação Getulio Vargas, Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo | Brazil | 32 wk |
| 32 | Desde El Sur 2076-2674 · 2415-0959 | Q4 | 0.184 | 7 | Universidad Científica del Sur | Peru | 12 wk |
| 33 | Przegląd Prawa Rolnego 1897-7626 · 2719-7026 | Q4 | 0.171 | 4 | Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan | Poland | 24 wk |
| 34 | Krakowskie Studia z Historii Państwa i Prawa 2084-4115 · 2084-4131 | Q4 | 0.164 | 4 | Jagiellonian University | Poland | 30 wk |
| 35 | Eesti Majanduspoliitilised Väitlused 1736-5597 · 2228-1878 | Q4 | 0.152 | 3 | Mattimar OÜ and Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag GmbH | Estonia | 16 wk |
| 36 | Administration 2449-9471 | Q4 | 0.151 | 12 | Sciendo | Poland | 30 wk |
| 37 | Ceridap 2723-9195 | Q4 | 0.15 | 5 | Ceridap | Italy | 12 wk |
| 38 | Innovar: Revista de Ciencias Administrativas y Sociales 0121-5051 · 2248-6968 | Q4 | 0.15 | 20 | Universidad Nacional de Colombia | Colombia | 53 wk |
| 39 | RDBCI: Revista Digital de Biblioteconomia e Ciência da Informação 1678-765X | Q4 | 0.147 | 7 | Universidade Estadual de Campinas | Brazil | 24 wk |
| 40 | Estudios en Derecho a la Información 2683-2038 · 2594-0082 | Q4 | 0.146 | 3 | Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) | Mexico | 20 wk |
| 41 | Archeion 0066-6041 · 2658-1264 | Q4 | 0.126 | 3 | The State Archives Head Office, Poland | Poland | 16 wk |
| 42 | Homeland Security Affairs 1558-643X | Q4 | 0.124 | 9 | Naval Postgraduate School | United States | 38 wk |
| 43 | Cadernos de Dereito Actual 2340-860X · 2386-5229 | Q4 | 0.121 | 3 | Asociación Xuristas en Acción | Spain | 6 wk |
| 44 | Anuario de la Facultad de Derecho, Universidad de Extremadura 0213-988X · 2695-7728 | Q4 | 0.116 | 2 | Universidad de Extremadura | Spain | 4 wk |
Where these journals come from
Top countries of publication
Top publishers
- Emerald Publishing 2
- Sciendo 2
- Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan 1
- Ali Khorsandi Taskoh 1
- Asociación Española de Acreditación de la Transparencia 1
- Asociación Xuristas en Acción 1
About this list
Diamond open access (also called Platinum) means the journal is free to read and free to publish in: the DOAJ records it with “APC: no” and “other fees: no”. Quartiles come from the latest SCImago edition: Q1 is the top 25% of journals in a subject category, Q4 the bottom 25%; the lists show a journal’s best quartile. Read more in our open access guide.
Before submitting, always confirm the journal on its own website and in the DOAJ, verify Scopus indexing by ISSN with the Scopus check rather than trusting claims on the journal’s site, and watch out for look-alike titles (see the predatory journal checklist).