Journal profile · WATER RESOURCES
Applied Water Science
ISSN 2190-5487 · eISSN 2190-5495 · SPRINGER HEIDELBERG · GERMANY
Applied Water Science: CAS Zone 3 · Environmental Science & Ecology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 5.69; fully open access; APC about USD 2,590; median 269 days to acceptance (100 articles, last 24 months); 338 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Applied Water Science is published by SPRINGER HEIDELBERG and is in Zone 3 of Environmental Science & Ecology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Groundwater and Watershed Analysis, Groundwater and Isotope Geochemistry and Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal, together about 31.3% of its articles. Its main subfields are Water Science and Technology and Environmental Engineering. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Applied Water Science is an open access journal that explores water scarcity solutions from a holistic system oriented viewpoint. From the sustainable management of natural water resources to the development of the technologies and infrastructure for the production of clean fresh water from natural and waste water. The journal accepts innovative and sound theoretical research on different water issues, exploring potential alternative water sources via recycling and reuse of wastewater with a focus on arid and semiarid environments and the following topics; water desalination, drinking water treatment, wastewater treatment, water resources planning, investigation and management. Editors-in-Chief Saad A. Aljlil PhD Francesca Macedonio View all editors
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): WATER RESOURCES
Editor-in-chief Saad A. AljlilPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 11 in mainland China (about 37%); most named Mainland China 11, India 5, Italy 5, United States 2, Spain 2 (30 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Groundwater and Watershed AnalysisEnvironmental Science11.1%
- Groundwater and Isotope GeochemistryEarth and Planetary Sciences10.9%
- Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removalEnvironmental Science9.3%
- Water Quality and Pollution AssessmentEnvironmental Science8.7%
- Hydrology and Watershed Management StudiesEnvironmental Science8%
- Flood Risk Assessment and ManagementEnvironmental Science5.5%
- Hydrological Forecasting Using AIEnvironmental Science3.7%
- Groundwater flow and contamination studiesEnvironmental Science3.7%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Water Resources | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Water Resources | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Water Resources | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
EI CompendexINSPECCASCAB AbstractsCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, AGRICOLA, Astrophysics Data System, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS, Semantic Scholar
As the journal's website lists them, not checked against each database; for Web of Science editions the records above apply.
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor
- 5.69LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 5.7Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 6.3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 11.5LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.2LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.6LetPub ·
- h-index
- 131OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,840OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 7.23OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 3.5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 329LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 3,200,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,917 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 253 | 253 | 241 |
| 2025 | 338 | 338 | 2,148 |
| 2024 | 272 | 272 | 3,848 |
| 2023 | 197 | 197 | 3,679 |
| 2022 | 326 | 326 | 9,632 |
| 2021 | 219 | 219 | 8,006 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
Review time from article dates manuscript dates registered with Crossref · to
269 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 160 days – 402 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 30 days (100 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 310 days
- Sample
- 100 articles with submission and acceptance dates (648 in the window); the latest was accepted on
Only articles that were accepted and published are counted, not the time spent on rejected manuscripts, so this usually runs longer than a publisher's "time to first decision".
Other sources
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 13 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 23 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 13 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer reviewDOAJ
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Fully open accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | EUR 2,190 / USD 2,590 / GBP 1,890 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 2,490 / EUR 2,090 / GBP 1,790 | — | — | |
| LetPub | GBP 1,590 / USD 2,290 / EUR 1,890 | Yes | — |
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
Open calls for papers2, by deadline
Publisher websiteExcerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- SPRINGER HEIDELBERG
- Country or region
- GERMANY
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2190-5487
- Electronic ISSN
- 2190-5495
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗DOAJ
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗DOAJ
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Applied Water Science
What CAS zone is Applied Water Science in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Applied Water Science is in Zone 3 of Environmental Science & Ecology, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Water Resources. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Environmental Science & Ecology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Applied Water Science?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 5.69; CiteScore 11.5, h-index 131.
How long does peer review take at Applied Water Science?
Based on the dates recorded on 100 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 269 days (interquartile range 160–402 days); authors report an average review time of about 13 weeks. Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
Where are the editorial board members of Applied Water Science based?
Of the 30 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 11 (about 37%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (11), India (5) and Italy (5). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Applied Water Science?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Applied Water Science is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists EI Compendex, INSPEC, CAS, CAB Abstracts and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Applied Water Science open access, and what is the APC?
Applied Water Science is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 2,590.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, DOAJ, Publisher website; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-25). Last updated: .