Critical Literary Studies aims to be the leading academic and professional journal of Iran in the area of English literature and contemporary cultural studies. This means playing a creative role in the academic discourse by disseminating research on a global scale, and an ability to combine quality and innovation. CLS aims at reporting high-quality theoretical and original research contributions for the benefit of academic researchers in the field of Literature, Literary Criticism, and Cultural Studies. The journal consists of both researchers in specific fields and multidisciplinary researchers of long-standing and emerging knowledge.

The scope includes theories and practices in Literary Criticism and Theory, Literary Movements, Schools, and Genres, Critical Approaches and Concepts, Comparative Literature, Cultural Studies, and Practical Reading of Literary and Cultural Texts. CLS focuses on comparative literature with an interdisciplinary nature. The journal welcomes research works concerning English literature on one hand and the literature in Persian, Kurdish, Turkish, and Arabic on the other hand. Additionally, interdisciplinarity is of central interest to the papers published by the CLS journal.

The journal is published in both print and online versions.