Journal profile · Multiple
Biochar
ISSN 2524-7972 · eISSN 2524-7867 · Springer Nature · Singapore
Biochar: CAS Zone 1 · Environmental Science & Ecology (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 15.15; fully open access; APC about USD 2,790; median 154 days to acceptance (95 articles, last 24 months); 143 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Biochar is published by Springer Nature and is in Zone 1 of Environmental Science & Ecology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics, Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal and Clay minerals and soil interactions, together about 38.3% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Biochar is a professional academic journal covering multidisciplinary subjects such as agronomy, environmental science, and materials science. It publishes innovative articles in the fields of preparation and processing of biochar and its multifunctional applications including bioenergy production, biochar-based materials for environmental applications, soil improvement, climate change, contaminated-environment remediation, water purification, new analytical techniques, life cycle assessment, and importantly, rural and regional development, etc. The article types published by Biochar including review, original research, rapid report, commentary and perspective. The journal aims to report important research achievements, key critical reviews that promote our mechanistic understanding of the science, and promote academic exchange and scientific and technological development. Biochar publishes articles related with biochar that focus on, but are not limited to: processing and preparation of biochar biochar-based materials for environmental applications soil and farming remediation and conservation global climate change bioenergy and rural development
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Multiple
Editor-in-chief Wenfu ChenPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 44 in mainland China (about 52%); most named Mainland China 44, United States 6, Australia 5, Japan 4, South Korea 4 (85 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Soil Carbon and Nitrogen DynamicsAgricultural and Biological Sciences18.7%
- Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removalEnvironmental Science12%
- Clay minerals and soil interactionsMaterials Science7.7%
- Heavy metals in environmentEnvironmental Science6.5%
- Thermochemical Biomass Conversion ProcessesEngineering6.2%
- Phosphorus and nutrient managementEnvironmental Science5.7%
- Soil and Unsaturated FlowEngineering4.4%
- Environmental remediation with nanomaterialsEngineering3.8%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Environmental Sciences | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Soil Science | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Environmental Sciences | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Soil Science | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview 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 | Environmental Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Soil Science | 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
CASCAB AbstractsCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, 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
- 15.15LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 15.1Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 16.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 25.6LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 3.03LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 2.38LetPub ·
- h-index
- 80OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 461OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 18.77OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 4%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 120LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2,025Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 1,100,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 755 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 149 | 149 | 466 |
| 2025 | 143 | 143 | 2,859 |
| 2024 | 100 | 100 | 4,033 |
| 2023 | 91 | 91 | 4,192 |
| 2022 | 97 | 97 | 6,279 |
| 2021 | 50 | 22 | 3,252 |
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
154 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 127 days – 187 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 54 days (95 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 209 days
- Sample
- 95 articles with submission and acceptance dates (281 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 10 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 21 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 10 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 2,290 / USD 2,790 / GBP 2,060 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | USD 2,690 / EUR 2,190 / GBP 1,990 | — | — | |
| LetPub | GBP 1,890 / USD 2,590 / EUR 2,090 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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
Publisher websiteWhat to prepare5 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- 150–250 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 4
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
- Highlights
- Required
Article types accepted9, with length limits
- commentaryThe article types published by Biochar include Review, Original research, Rapid report, Commentary, and Perspectives. Original Research ArticlesThis kind of art…Length not stated
- original researchThe article types published by Biochar include Review, Original research, Rapid report, Commentary, and Perspectives. Original Research ArticlesThis kind of art…Length not stated
- original research articled report, Commentary, and Perspectives. Original Research Articles This kind of article should have a maximum of 8,000 words (including tables, references, figu…main text ≤ 8,000 words
- perspectiveThe article types published by Biochar include Review, Original research, Rapid report, Commentary, and Perspectives. Original Research ArticlesThis kind of art…main text ≤ 4,000 words
- perspectivesThe article types published by Biochar include Review, Original research, Rapid report, Commentary, and Perspectives.Length not stated
- rapid reportThe article types published by Biochar include Review, Original research, Rapid report, Commentary, and Perspectives.Length not stated
- research articleThe article types published by Biochar include Review, Original research, Rapid report, Commentary, and Perspectives. Original Research ArticlesThis kind of art…main text ≤ 8,000 words
- reviewThe article types published by Biochar include Review, Original research, Rapid report, Commentary, and Perspectives. Original Research ArticlesThis kind of art…Length not stated
- review articleThe article types published by Biochar include Review, Original research, Rapid report, Commentary, and Perspectives. Original Research ArticlesThis kind of art…main text ≤ 10,000 words
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- AI use Generative AI Images
LLMs do not satisfy authorship criteria; AI-assisted copy editing need not be declared 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 availability statements
Data availability statement required for all original research Model summary
All original research must include a data availability statement. This statement should explain how to access data supporting the results and analysis in the article, including links/citations to publicly archived datasets analysed or generated during the study. Please see our full policy here. If it is not possible to share research data publicly, for instance when individual privacy could be com…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright
Articles in Springer Nature open access journals do not require transfer of copyright as the copyright remains with the author. Details of the OA licences offered to authors can be found on the individual journal website, in the journal's How to publish with us guide. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publishing
To find out more about publishing your work Open Access in Biochar, including information on fees, funding and licences, visit our Open access publishing page. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Single-blind peer review
Single-blind peer review Model summary
This journal follows a single-blind reviewing procedure. This journal also publishes special/guest-edited issues. The peer review process for these articles is the same as the peer review process of the journal in general. Additionally, if a guest editor authors an article in their issue/collection, they will not handle the peer review process. Back to top
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
- Country or region
- Singapore
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2524-7972
- Electronic ISSN
- 2524-7867
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Biochar
What CAS zone is Biochar in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Biochar is in Zone 1 of Environmental Science & Ecology, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Environmental Sciences / Soil Science; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Environmental Science & Ecology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Biochar?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 15.15; CiteScore 25.6, h-index 80.
How long does peer review take at Biochar?
Based on the dates recorded on 95 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 154 days (interquartile range 127–187 days); authors report an average review time of about 10 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.
What are the manuscript requirements of Biochar?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 150–250 words; Keywords: ≥ 4; Reference style: Author–date; Suggested reviewers: Optional; Highlights: Required. 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 Biochar based?
Of the 85 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 44 (about 52%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (44), United States (6) and Australia (5). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Biochar?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Biochar is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists CAS, CAB Abstracts and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Biochar open access, and what is the APC?
Biochar is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 2,790.
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: .