Journal profile · Toxicology
Aquatic Toxicology
ISSN 0166-445X · eISSN 1879-1514 · Elsevier · NETHERLANDS · Semimonthly · Founded 1981
Aquatic Toxicology: CAS Zone 3 · Environmental Science & Ecology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 4.57; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,320; median 87 days to acceptance (121 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: hard; 381 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Aquatic Toxicology is published by Elsevier 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 Environmental Toxicology and Ecotoxicology, Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts and Toxic Organic Pollutants Impact, together about 38.7% of its articles. Its main subfields are Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Aquatic Toxicology publishes significant contributions that increase the understanding of the impact of harmful substances (including natural and synthetic chemicals) on aquatic organisms and ecosystems. Aquatic Toxicology considers both laboratory and field studies with a focus on freshwater/marine environments. The journal strives to attract high quality original scientific papers, critical reviews and expert opinion papers in the following areas: Effects of harmful substances on molecular, cellular, sub-organismal, organismal, population, community, and ecosystem level; Mechanisms of toxicity; Genetic disturbances, transgenerational effects, behavioral and adaptive responses; Impacts of harmful substances on structure, function of and services provided by aquatic ecosystems; Mixture and multiple toxicity assessment; Acute and chronic exposure; Environmental realistic scenarios; Impact of emerging substances and environmental pollutants of high actuality; Statistical approaches to predict exposure to and hazards of contaminants. The journal also considers manuscripts in other areas, such as the development of innovative concepts, approaches, and methodologies, which promote the wider application of toxicological datasets to the protection of aquatic environments and inform ecological risk assessments and decision making by relevant authorities. Aquatic Toxicology does not publish articles that focus on the health of aquaculture organisms associated with aquaculture practices, unless these studies enhance our understanding of the potential effects of chemical stressors associated with aquaculture (e.g. pesticides use, water quality degradation) on aquatic organisms and/or ecosystems. Aquatic Toxicology does not consider articles that focus on monitoring the presence of chemicals in the environment unless these studies further investigate the impacts of the chemicals on aquatic organisms and/or ecological systems. Furthermore, studies that characterize the potential risks of contaminated fish or other aquatic food products on humans or livestock are outside of the scope of the journal.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Toxicology
Editor-in-chief Willie PeijnenburgPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 11 in mainland China (about 22%); most named Mainland China 11, United States 7, Canada 7, Spain 3, Portugal 3 (49 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Environmental Toxicology and EcotoxicologyEnvironmental Science26.1%
- Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental ImpactsEnvironmental Science7%
- Toxic Organic Pollutants ImpactEnvironmental Science5.7%
- Reproductive biology and impacts on aquatic speciesBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.4%
- Aquaculture Nutrition and GrowthAgricultural and Biological Sciences5.2%
- Mercury impact and mitigation studiesEnvironmental Science3.8%
- Marine Biology and Environmental ChemistryEngineering3.7%
- Effects and risks of endocrine disrupting chemicalsEnvironmental 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 | Marine & Freshwater Biology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Toxicology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Marine & Freshwater Biology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Toxicology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Marine & Freshwater Biology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Toxicology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
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
- 4.57LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 4.6Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 7.9LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 7.9Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.3LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.92LetPub ·
- h-index
- 125LetPub ·
- h-index
- 204OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 5,938OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.79OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 6.5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 20.57%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 359LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 8,098 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 269 | 95 | 106 |
| 2025 | 381 | 129 | 1,556 |
| 2024 | 311 | 93 | 2,940 |
| 2023 | 346 | 102 | 5,409 |
| 2022 | 238 | 67 | 4,238 |
| 2021 | 257 | 76 | 6,213 |
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 PubMed · to
87 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 65 days – 108 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 1 days (121 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 89 days
- Sample
- 121 articles with submission and acceptance dates (738 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 3.3 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- HardLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 1 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 38 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 86 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 1 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer reviewPublisher website
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
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 3,320 / EUR 3,110 / GBP 2,660 / JPY 411,780 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 3,040 | — | — |
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
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 papers3, by deadline
- PFAS and Pollutant Mixtures in Aquatic Environments: Ecotoxicological Consequences in a Changing Climate – PRIMO23 FindingsDeadline
- Dynamics of Chemical Toxicity Across Time, Space, and Biological ScalesDeadline
- Aquatic Toxicology in Brazil: From experimental models to field-based evidence for ecotoxicological assessmentDeadline
What to prepare4 items from the author guidelines
- Keywords
- 1–7
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 7,000 words
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Highlights
- Optional
Article types accepted14, with length limits
- letterOriginal Research Papers (Regular Papers) Review Articles Short Communications Letters to the Editor Original Research Papers should report the results of origi…Length not stated
- letter to the editorOriginal Research Papers (Regular Papers) Review Articles Short Communications Letters to the Editor Original Research Papers should report the results of origi…Length not stated
- letters to the editorOriginal Research Papers (Regular Papers) Review Articles Short Communications Letters to the Editor Original Research Papers should report the results of origi…Length not stated
- opinionOriginal Research Papers (Regular Papers) Review Articles Short Communications Letters to the Editor Original Research Papers should report the results of origi…Length not stated
- original researchOriginal Research Papers (Regular Papers) Review Articles Short Communications Letters to the Editor Original Research Papers should report the results of origi…Length not stated
- original research paperOriginal Research Papers (Regular Papers) Review Articles Short Communications Letters to the Editor Original Research Papers should report the results of origi…Length not stated
- original research papers (regular papers)Original Research Papers (Regular Papers)Length not stated
- regular paperOriginal Research Papers (Regular Papers) Review Articles Short Communications Letters to the Editor Original Research Papers should report the results of origi…Length not stated
- reviewOriginal Research Papers (Regular Papers) Review Articles Short Communications Letters to the Editor Original Research Papers should report the results of origi…main text ≤ 10,000 words
- review articleOriginal Research Papers (Regular Papers) Review Articles Short Communications Letters to the Editor Original Research Papers should report the results of origi…Length not stated
- review articlesReview ArticlesLength not stated
- short communicationOriginal Research Papers (Regular Papers) Review Articles Short Communications Letters to the Editor Original Research Papers should report the results of origi…Length not stated
- short communicationsShort CommunicationsLength not stated
- short reviewOriginal Research Papers (Regular Papers) Review Articles Short Communications Letters to the Editor Original Research Papers should report the results of origi…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- AI use Declaration of generative AI use
Authors must declare the use of generative AI tools in the manuscript preparation process upon submission of the paper.Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies (“AI tools”) have been rapidly adopted in research and scholarly publishing, offering significant benefits while requiring clear standards for responsible and transparent use.Authors preparing a manuscript for this journal may use AI tool…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Group authorship
Group authorship refers to the attribution of an article to a defined and named group of authors whose members have contributed to the work. Examples include research consortia, clinical trial groups, collaborative networks, task forces or working groups, expert panels or consensus groups, and participatory research groups. Group authorship must be declared on the title page at submission. When av…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Declaration of competing interests
All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence or bias their work. Examples of potential competing interests include:EmploymentConsultanciesStock ownershipHonorariaPaid expert testimonyPatent applications or registrationsGrants or any other fundingAffiliation with the journal as an Editor or Advisory Board …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright License options
Authors will be offered open access user license options which will determine how you, and third parties, can reuse your open access article. We advise that you review these options and any funding body license requirements before selecting a license option.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access
We refer you to our open access information page to learn about open access options for this journal.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review
Single anonymized review process Model summary
This journal follows a single anonymized review process. Your submission will initially be assessed by our editors. If your submission is deemed suitable, it will typically be sent to be reviewed by a minimum of two reviewers for an independent expert assessment of the scientific quality. The decision as to whether your article is accepted or rejected for publication will be made by our editors.Re…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
Preprint sharingAuthors may share preprints in line with Elsevier's article sharing policy. Sharing preprints, such as on a preprint server, will not count as prior publication.We advise you to read our policy on multiple, redundant or concurrent publication. In support of Open Science, this journal offers its authors a free preprint posting service on SSRN, Elsevier’s preprint and early research …
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts 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
- Elsevier
- Country or region
- NETHERLANDS
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Semimonthly
- Founded
- 1981
- ISSN
- 0166-445X
- Electronic ISSN
- 1879-1514
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Aquatic Toxicology
What CAS zone is Aquatic Toxicology in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Aquatic Toxicology is in Zone 3 of Environmental Science & Ecology, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Marine & Freshwater Biology / Toxicology. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Environmental Science & Ecology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Aquatic Toxicology?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 4.57; CiteScore 7.9, h-index 204.
How long does peer review take at Aquatic Toxicology?
Based on the dates recorded on 121 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 87 days (interquartile range 65–108 days); authors report an average review time of about 3.3 months; the community-reported acceptance is “Hard”. 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.
What are the manuscript requirements of Aquatic Toxicology?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Keywords: 1–7; Manuscript length: ≤ 7,000 words; Reference style: Author–date; Highlights: Optional. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Where are the editorial board members of Aquatic Toxicology based?
Of the 49 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 11 (about 22%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (11), United States (7) and Canada (7). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Aquatic Toxicology?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Aquatic Toxicology is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is Aquatic Toxicology open access, and what is the APC?
Aquatic Toxicology is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,320.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex; 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: .