Journal profile · Engineering-Automotive Engineering
Automotive Innovation
ISSN 2096-4250 · eISSN 2522-8765 · Springer Nature · 4 issues per year
Automotive Innovation: CAS Zone 2 · Engineering (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 7.6 (journal website); JCR Q1 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,190; median 196 days to acceptance (72 articles, last 24 months); 68 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Automotive Innovation is published by Springer Nature and is in Zone 2 of Engineering in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Autonomous Vehicle Technology and Safety, Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Technologies and Advanced Battery Technologies Research, together about 32.1% of its articles. Its main subfields are Automotive Engineering. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Automotive Innovation is the leading peer-reviewed international journal and China SAE’s flagship publication. The journal presents innovative findings and influential developments that meet the changing needs of the automotive industry. It provides a high-level platform for automotive scientists and engineers worldwide. The journal provides a forum for the research of principles, methodologies, designs, theoretical background, and cutting-edge technologies in connection with the development of vehicle and mobility. The main topics cover emerging vehicle technologies, including but are not limited to: electrification, autonomous driving, eco-driving.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Engineering-Automotive Engineering
Editor-in-chief Jun LiPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 51 in mainland China (about 53%); most named Mainland China 51, United States 10, United Kingdom 9, Germany 6, Canada 4 (97 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Autonomous Vehicle Technology and SafetyEngineering14%
- Electric and Hybrid Vehicle TechnologiesEngineering9.3%
- Advanced Battery Technologies ResearchEngineering8.8%
- Vehicle Dynamics and Control SystemsEngineering8.6%
- Traffic control and managementEngineering8.4%
- Electric Vehicles and InfrastructureEngineering6.1%
- Vehicle emissions and performanceEngineering4.5%
- Traffic and Road SafetyEngineering3.7%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Engineering Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Engineering, Electrical & Electronic | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Engineering, Mechanical | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Transportation Science & Technology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Engineering Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Engineering, Electrical & Electronic | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Engineering, Mechanical | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Transportation Science & Technology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Engineering Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Engineering, Mechanical | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Engineering, Electrical & Electronic | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Transportation Science & Technology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- JCR Q1 · ENGINEERING, ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC · rank 40/369 · 2025
- JCR Q1 · ENGINEERING, MECHANICAL · rank 9/184 · 2025
- JCR Q1 · TRANSPORTATION SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY · rank 12/80 · 2025
Publisher-reported: JCR figures are Clarivate's and CiteScore figures Scopus's to confirm; both are a different system from the CAS zones.Publisher website
Database indexing
ESCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
EI CompendexPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS
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 (publisher) 2025
- 7.6Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 7.2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 10.4LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 1Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.47LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher)
- 10.4Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 2.07LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher)
- 1.47Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 41OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 194OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 6.39OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 9.2%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 27.22%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 66LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2,025Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 278,700Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 436 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 70 | 13 | 63 |
| 2025 | 68 | 21 | 451 |
| 2024 | 50 | 14 | 687 |
| 2023 | 48 | 20 | 1,074 |
| 2022 | 39 | 18 | 869 |
| 2021 | 40 | 24 | 1,489 |
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
196 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 160 days – 266 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 282 days (73 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 485 days
- Sample
- 72 articles with submission and acceptance dates (150 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
- Submission to first decision
- 13 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Double 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 3,190 / EUR 2,590 / GBP 2,290 | — | — |
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 papers1, by deadline
- AI Safety for Autonomous DrivingDeadline
What to prepare4 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- 150–250 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 4
- Reference style
- Numbered, in order of citation
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
Article types accepted1
- editorialDouble-blind peer review This journal follows a double-blind reviewing procedure. This means that the author will remain anonymous to the reviewers throughout p…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism
- AI use Generative AI Images
LLM use policy Model summary
Please check Springer’s policy on generative AI images and make sure your work adheres to the principles described therein. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Authorship principles
These guidelines describe authorship principles and good authorship practices to which prospective authors should adhere to. Authorship clarified The Journal and Publisher assume all authors agreed with the content and that all gave explicit consent to submit and that they obtained consent from the responsible authorities at the institute/organization where the work has been carried out, before th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Disclosures and declarations
Competing interests disclosure required Model summary
All authors are requested to include information regarding sources of funding, financial or non-financial interests, study-specific approval by the appropriate ethics committee for research involving humans and/or animals, informed consent if the research involved human participants, and a statement on welfare of animals if the research involved animals (as appropriate). The decision whether such …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability
Data transparency Model summary
All authors are requested to make sure that all data and materials as well as software application or custom code support their published claims and comply with field standards.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics
Research integrity commitment Model summary
Authors should refrain from misrepresenting research results which could damage the trust in the journal, the professionalism of scientific authorship, and ultimately the entire scientific endeavour.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publishing
To find out more about publishing your work Open Access in Automotive Innovation, including information on fees, funding and licences, visit our Open access publishing page. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Double-blind peer review
Double-blind peer review Model summary
This journal follows a double-blind reviewing procedure. This means that the author will remain anonymous to the reviewers throughout peer review. It is the responsibility of the author to anonymize the manuscript and any associated materials. Author names, affiliations and any other potentially identifying information should be removed from the manuscript text and any accompanying files (such as …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism
Plagiarism screening Model summary
the journal may use software to screen for plagiarism
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
- Springer Nature
- Frequency
- 4 issues per year
- ISSN
- 2096-4250
- Electronic ISSN
- 2522-8765
- Society / sponsor
- Society of Automotive Engineers of China
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 9, Issue 3 (August 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Automotive Innovation
What CAS zone is Automotive Innovation in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Automotive Innovation is in Zone 2 of Engineering, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Engineering, Electrical & Electronic / Engineering, Mechanical / Transportation Science & Technology. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Engineering. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Automotive Innovation?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 7.6 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 10.4, h-index 41.
How long does peer review take at Automotive Innovation?
Based on the dates recorded on 72 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 196 days (interquartile range 160–266 days). 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 JCR quartile is Automotive Innovation in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q1; by category, ENGINEERING, ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC Q1 (40/369), ENGINEERING, MECHANICAL Q1 (9/184), TRANSPORTATION SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Q1 (12/80). JCR quartiles are Clarivate's to confirm and a different system from the CAS zones; in the CAS ranking the journal is in Zone 2 of Engineering.
What are the manuscript requirements of Automotive Innovation?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 150–250 words; Keywords: ≥ 4; Reference style: Numbered, in order of citation; Suggested reviewers: 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 Automotive Innovation based?
Of the 97 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 51 (about 53%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (51), United States (10) and United Kingdom (9). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Automotive Innovation?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Automotive Innovation is indexed in ESCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists EI Compendex; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Automotive Innovation open access, and what is the APC?
Automotive Innovation is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,190.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, 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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .