Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education: Scopus, Scope, Metrics & Submission Guide

Quick Answer: What Is Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education?

Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education is an international educational journal published by Elsevier for scholarship on teaching, learning, curriculum, assessment, employability, educational practice and innovation across hospitality, leisure, sport, tourism and events. It publishes both conceptual and empirical work and is particularly relevant when the central contribution is educational rather than simply sectoral.

The source record supplied with this task identifies Scopus Source ID 11700154505. The official Elsevier journal page lists online ISSN 1473-8376, displays a current CiteScore of 10.6 and Impact Factor of 4.1, and offers both subscription and open-access publishing routes. Because reporting cycles change, authors should verify the year-specific metric values directly in Scopus and Journal Citation Reports when those metrics affect university, promotion or PhD requirements.

Researchers should consider the journal when their study makes a clear contribution to higher education in one or more of its constituent fields and when the manuscript fits an accepted contribution type. A paper about hotel operations, destination marketing or sport performance without a genuine educational research question may be outside the journal’s core remit even if the industry context appears relevant.

Key Takeaways

• Publisher: Elsevier; early volumes 1–10 were published by the Higher Education Academy’s Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Network.
• Scope: higher education, teaching, learning, curriculum, assessment, employability, careers, resources, quality, practice and innovation in hospitality, leisure, sport, tourism and events.
• Scopus: supplied Source ID 11700154505; verify the live source profile before using the status for institutional compliance.
• Peer review: double anonymized, with editorial screening followed typically by at least two independent reviewers for suitable manuscripts.
• Publishing model: hybrid; Elsevier currently lists a USD 3,620 open-access APC excluding taxes, while the subscription route has no publication fee charged to authors.
• Author preparation: separate title page and anonymized manuscript, abstract up to 100 words, 1–7 keywords and a required graphical abstract; highlights are encouraged.
• Fit matters most: the study should foreground education in the journal’s subject grouping, not merely use hospitality, tourism, leisure or sport as a setting.

Journal Information at a Glance

Where a metric is not clearly displayed by an official source, this guide does not substitute a third-party estimate. Researchers should use the live database record required by their institution.

What This Page Covers

• journal aims, scope and subject coverage;
• Scopus indexing and the difference between indexing status and manuscript fit;
• current publisher-displayed metrics and publication indicators;
• article types and recent 2026 research themes;
• manuscript preparation, anonymization and submission requirements;
• peer review, open access, fees and ethics policies;
• a practical journal-fit and pre-submission checklist;
• ethical Contentxprtz support for publication readiness.

Methodology and Source Note

This article was prepared from the supplied Scopus source record and Contentxprtz template, then checked against the journal’s official ScienceDirect homepage, Elsevier’s Guide for Authors, Elsevier’s journal shop information, the official editorial-board page, Clarivate’s journal-title listing, and recent 2026 ScienceDirect content. Journal metrics, publication fees, editorial roles, submission systems and policies can change, so authors should reconfirm current information immediately before submission.

Journal Aims and Scope

The journal’s central aim is educational: it seeks to promote, improve and disseminate research, practice and innovation in higher education across hospitality, leisure, sport, tourism and events, while encouraging links among those related fields. Its intended audience includes educators, researchers, employers and policy makers.

For academic papers, the official scope explicitly includes knowledge, policy, curriculum, learning and teaching, assessment, resources, employability, careers and quality. Conceptual and empirical approaches are welcome, including research papers, case studies, literature reviews, critical evaluations, methodological contributions and action research. The journal states that purely descriptive accounts are not suitable.

Representative areas that may fit

• hospitality and tourism curriculum design;
• experiential and work-integrated learning;
• assessment design and authentic assessment;
• student employability and career adaptability;
• AI literacy, responsible AI use and digital pedagogy;
• sport and exercise science education;
• leisure education and educational resources;
• event-management education;
• inclusive teaching and learner participation;
• professional identity development;
• educational quality and programme evaluation;
• industry–university collaboration;
• microcredentials and continuing professional education;
• qualitative, reflective and action-research methods in education;
• educational policy and practice affecting the journal’s subject fields.

These topics are practical illustrations derived from the verified scope and recent publication patterns, not an official exhaustive topic list. A manuscript should still be compared with the latest aims-and-scope wording and recent issues.

Recent Research Patterns in 2026

Volume 38 (June 2026) shows the journal actively publishing educational research across its constituent fields. Recent examples include experiential-learning competencies in hospitality education, evaluative judgement and responsible AI use in hospitality and tourism education, AI in sport and physical education, design-based learning for higher-order thinking, microcredentials in tourism, doctoral learning in the AI age, and critical qualitative inquiry.

For researchers, this pattern suggests that the journal values educational questions that connect theory, pedagogy, professional preparation and methodological reflection. It does not mean every technology, tourism or sport study is in scope: the educational contribution remains essential.

Scopus Indexing, Other Visibility and Metrics

The supplied source record identifies the journal in Scopus under Source ID 11700154505. The official publisher also describes reference linking to Scopus and other abstracting services, and Clarivate’s journal-title listing includes ISSN 1473-8376. Researchers needing proof for a PhD, promotion, funding or institutional policy should use the live Scopus and Clarivate records rather than screenshots from secondary ranking sites.

Elsevier currently displays 10.6 CiteScore and 4.1 Impact Factor on the journal page. The publisher page available during this review does not clearly label the reporting year beside those values, so this guide deliberately avoids assigning an unverified year. Current SJR, SNIP and quartile values were not confirmed from an authoritative page in this review and should be checked in the live Scopus source profile.

Metrics can be useful for context, but they do not replace scope fit, readership relevance, publication ethics or institutional requirements. A high metric does not make an unsuitable manuscript more publishable.

Publisher and Editorial Leadership

The journal is published by Elsevier. The official editorial-board page lists Brendan Paddison of York St John University York Business School as Editor-in-Chief. It also identifies subject editors for Hospitality, Leisure and Events, Tourism, and Sport, reflecting the journal’s multidisciplinary educational structure. John Tribe is listed as Founding Editor.

Earlier volumes 1–10 were published by the Higher Education Academy’s Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Network, and the journal’s archive history is acknowledged on the current ScienceDirect page. This background helps explain its long-standing emphasis on teaching and learning in the subject grouping.

Types of Articles Published

Authors should choose the contribution type that matches both the purpose and evidence base of the manuscript. Do not stretch a descriptive teaching account into an academic paper if it lacks a clear research or critical contribution.

Who Should Consider Submitting?

The journal may suit PhD researchers, faculty, higher-education teachers, educational developers, industry educators and interdisciplinary research teams when the manuscript makes a defensible contribution to education within hospitality, leisure, sport, tourism or events. Academic status alone is not a selection criterion; the study’s question, evidence and audience fit matter more.

A tourism marketing paper about consumer behaviour, for example, may be better placed in a tourism-management journal unless its central research question concerns how tourism is taught, learned, assessed or professionally developed. Conversely, a study of how tourism students build career adaptability through internships could align well if its educational contribution is clear.

How to Decide Whether Your Manuscript Fits

1. Start with the educational question. Can you state in one sentence what the study contributes to higher education, teaching, learning, curriculum, assessment, employability or educational practice?
2. Check the field connection. Is hospitality, leisure, sport, tourism or events central to the educational context rather than incidental?
3. Match the article type. Academic paper, practice paper, perspective, research note or resource review should reflect the manuscript’s actual purpose.
4. Compare recent issues. Review several recent papers for topic framing, methods, contribution level and terminology.
5. Identify the audience. Explain why educators, researchers, employers or policy makers in the journal’s community should care.
6. Check novelty and analysis. The journal explicitly discourages purely descriptive accounts, so interpretation and contribution must go beyond reporting what happened.

Journal-Fit Checklist

• My manuscript addresses higher education or educational practice.
• The hospitality, leisure, sport, tourism or events context is academically meaningful.
• The journal publishes the contribution type I intend to submit.
• I have compared my work with recent papers in the journal.
• The manuscript goes beyond description and offers analysis, evidence or critical reflection.
• The likely readership can see a clear educational contribution.
• My institution accepts the journal’s current indexing status for my purpose.
• I understand the hybrid publication model and any possible APC.
• I can meet the latest author-guide requirements.

Manuscript and Submission Requirements

The official Guide for Authors requires editable source files for the submission. Word files should use a single-column layout, while LaTeX may use double-column formatting. A PDF alone is not accepted as the source file.

Because the journal uses double-anonymized review, authors should submit the title page separately from the anonymized manuscript. The title page should include the article title, author names, affiliations, acknowledgements, declaration of interest, and corresponding-author contact details. The anonymized manuscript should contain the main text, references, figures and tables without author-identifying information.

The guide also specifies a concise factual abstract of no more than 100 words and 1–7 English keywords. Highlights are encouraged as a separate editable file with 3–5 bullets, each no more than 85 characters including spaces. A graphical abstract is required at submission.

Authors should number sections and subsections, prepare CRediT author-contribution information, check funding and competing-interest declarations, and follow any applicable research-data requirements. The journal’s data policy corresponds to Elsevier Option B: authors are encouraged to deposit, cite and link research data or explain why data cannot be shared.

Citation and Reference Style

The journal does not impose a strict reference style at initial submission. References may use any consistent style provided the bibliographic information is complete. Elsevier recommends including DOIs where available, and the journal’s production style is applied after acceptance. This flexibility reduces unnecessary reformatting before editorial assessment, but it does not excuse incomplete or inaccurate references.

Peer-Review Process

The journal uses a double-anonymized review process. Editors first assess whether a submission is suitable for the journal. If suitable, the manuscript is typically sent to at least two independent reviewers for expert evaluation, while the final accept/reject decision remains with the editors.

As a practical workflow, authors can expect submission and technical checks, editorial assessment, external review where appropriate, revision if requested, final editorial decision, proofing and online publication. Elsevier currently displays journal-level indicators of 8 days to first decision, 83 days to decision after review, 157 days to acceptance, and 8 days from acceptance to online publication. These indicators describe recent journal performance and should not be interpreted as guaranteed timelines for an individual paper.

Open Access and Publication Fees

The journal supports open access within a hybrid model. Elsevier currently lists an open-access APC of USD 3,620 excluding taxes; the amount may be reduced during submission depending on institutional agreements or author circumstances. Under the subscription route, Elsevier states that no publication fee is charged to authors, and access is provided to subscribers.

Authors should verify the final APC, eligibility for agreements or waivers, licensing options and funder requirements immediately before making a publishing choice. The existence of a subscription route means open-access payment is not automatically required for every accepted article.

Publication Ethics and Generative AI

Authors are subject to Elsevier’s publishing-ethics policies, including requirements concerning originality, duplicate or concurrent submission, authorship, competing interests, funding and integrity screening. All authors should approve the submission and take responsibility for the work.

Elsevier’s current author guide requires authors to declare the use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies in manuscript preparation when such tools are used beyond basic grammar, spelling and reference checking. The declaration should explain the tool and purpose, and authors remain responsible for reviewing and editing the content. The journal also states that reviewers and editors should not use generative AI tools such as ChatGPT in peer review because of confidentiality and author-rights concerns.

Researchers should additionally follow institutional rules for human-participant ethics, informed consent, data protection and other study-specific requirements where applicable.

Common Reasons a Manuscript May Be Unsuitable

The following are practical publication-readiness risks rather than official rejection statistics:

• the paper studies a hospitality, tourism, sport or leisure topic but has no substantive educational question;
• the contribution is mostly descriptive despite the journal’s stated preference for analytical or critical work;
• the educational significance is not connected to the journal’s likely readership;
• the manuscript type does not match an accepted journal section;
• the abstract and title do not make the educational contribution clear;
• author-identifying information remains in a file intended for anonymized review;
• research methods, data interpretation or conclusions are insufficiently supported;
• ethical, funding, competing-interest or authorship declarations are incomplete;
• the paper is not prepared in line with the latest author guide.

Practical Journal-Fit Examples

Example 1 — Strong scope match

A PhD researcher evaluates how industry placements influence career adaptability among hospitality students using a robust mixed-method design. The topic connects employability, learning and professional preparation in hospitality education, so the researcher should compare recent papers, choose the appropriate article category and sharpen the educational contribution.

Example 2 — Weak scope match

A study models hotel guests’ willingness to pay for sustainable rooms but does not examine education or training. Even if methodologically strong, it is likely better suited to a hospitality-management or consumer-behaviour journal because the educational link is absent.

Example 3 — Practice-focused manuscript

A lecturer critically evaluates a redesigned tourism assessment and provides evidence of what worked, what failed and why. A Practice Paper may be more suitable than forcing the work into a full academic-paper structure, subject to the current author guide.

Example 4 — AI and pedagogy

A research team studies how hospitality students evaluate AI-generated recommendations and whether structured assessment improves responsible judgement. Recent 2026 content shows active interest in AI-mediated education, but the manuscript still needs a clear theoretical and methodological contribution rather than topical novelty alone.

Example 5 — Revision after peer review

An author receives major revisions. The strongest response is point-by-point: reproduce each reviewer comment, state the change made, identify where it appears in the revised manuscript, and provide evidence-based reasons for any recommendation not followed.

Pre-Submission Checklist

How Contentxprtz Can Support Publication Readiness

Contentxprtz can help researchers prepare a clearer, more polished and journal-aligned manuscript while all editorial and publication decisions remain solely with the journal. For Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education, ethical support may include journal-scope alignment review, manuscript assessment, academic editing, ESL language polishing, abstract refinement, double-anonymization checks, journal formatting, reference consistency, figure and table language review, cover-letter editing, submission-document review, and reviewer-response editing.

Professional editing cannot convert an out-of-scope paper into a suitable submission, compensate for weak research design, fabricate evidence or influence editors. The goal is to help authors present their own research accurately, transparently and in line with the latest journal requirements.

Summary: Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education

Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education is an active Elsevier journal focused on higher education across hospitality, leisure, sport, tourism and events. The supplied Scopus Source ID is 11700154505 and the official journal page lists online ISSN 1473-8376. Elsevier currently displays a CiteScore of 10.6, Impact Factor of 4.1, a hybrid publishing model and an open-access APC of USD 3,620 excluding taxes.

The journal’s defining feature is its educational focus. It accepts multiple contribution types, uses double-anonymized peer review and expects authors to prepare separate identifying and anonymized files, a short abstract, keywords and a graphical abstract. Researchers should verify current metrics, indexing, fees and author instructions directly on official sources before submission.

Conclusion

Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education is most relevant to authors whose manuscript advances understanding of higher education, teaching, learning or educational practice within hospitality, leisure, sport, tourism or events. Scopus visibility and journal metrics may matter for institutional decisions, but they should be evaluated alongside scope fit, peer-review policies, audience, publishing model and current author requirements.

Before submitting, review the official journal page, the Guide for Authors, the live Scopus profile, and any institutional publication rules that apply to your degree, promotion or funding context.