Journal profile · Multiple
Communications Earth & Environment
ISSN 2662-4435 · Springer Nature · United Kingdom
Communications Earth & Environment: CAS Zone 1 · Earth Sciences (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 9.31; fully open access; APC about USD 3,690; median 192 days to acceptance (158 articles, last 24 months); 1,139 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Communications Earth & Environment is published by Springer Nature and is in Zone 1 of Earth Sciences in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Climate variability and models, Geology and Paleoclimatology Research and Geological and Geochemical Analysis, together about 26.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Atmospheric Science and Geophysics. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Communications Earth & Environment is an open access journal from Nature Portfolio publishing high-quality research, reviews and commentary in all areas of the Earth, environmental and planetary sciences. Research papers published by the journal represent significant advances that bring new insight to a specialized area in Earth science, planetary science or environmental science. Communications Earth & Environment complements the other Nature Portfolio journals by providing a high-quality open access option for the Earth, environmental and planetary sciences while applying somewhat less stringent criteria for impact and significance than the Nature-branded journals, including Nature Communications. Communications Earth & Environment publishes primary research Articles, Reviews, Perspectives, Comments, and Matters Arising.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Multiple
Editorial board by country: 45 in mainland China (about 16%); most named Mainland China 45, United States 40, United Kingdom 30, Germany 21, Italy 16 (288 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Climate variability and modelsEnvironmental Science10.1%
- Geology and Paleoclimatology ResearchEarth and Planetary Sciences9.7%
- Geological and Geochemical AnalysisEarth and Planetary Sciences6.4%
- earthquake and tectonic studiesEarth and Planetary Sciences6%
- Cryospheric studies and observationsEarth and Planetary Sciences5.2%
- High-pressure geophysics and materialsEarth and Planetary Sciences4.4%
- Oceanographic and Atmospheric ProcessesEarth and Planetary Sciences4.3%
- Marine and coastal ecosystemsEarth and Planetary Sciences4.2%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Earth Sciences Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Environmental Sciences | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Geosciences, Multidisciplinary | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Earth Sciences Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Environmental Sciences | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Geosciences, Multidisciplinary | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Earth Sciences Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Environmental Sciences | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Geosciences, Multidisciplinary | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of ScienceGeoRefCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Astrophysics Data System, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS, Semantic Scholar, ANVUR, Astrophysics Data System (ADS), CNPIEC, Chinese Academy of Medical Science (CAMS), Engineering Village – GEOBASE, Japanese Science and Technology Agency (JST), Meta, Norwegian Register for Scientific Journals and Series, OCLC WorldCat Discovery Service, Ovid Discovery, SCImago, TD Net Discovery Service, Wanfang, eLibrary.ru
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
- 9.31LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 9.3Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 10.4Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 11.3LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 3.17LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 2.51LetPub ·
- h-index
- 104OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,752OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 8.52OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 4.3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.96%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 1,060LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 12,198,123Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 4,088 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 980 | 980 | 876 |
| 2025 | 1,139 | 1,139 | 9,082 |
| 2024 | 809 | 809 | 14,983 |
| 2023 | 501 | 501 | 15,525 |
| 2022 | 329 | 329 | 15,680 |
| 2021 | 260 | 260 | 14,152 |
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
192 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 157 days – 254 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 18 days (158 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 214 days
- Sample
- 158 articles with submission and acceptance dates (2,358 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 26 weeksLetPub ·
- Desk decision
- 8 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 26 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Open peer review, Double anonymous 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 3,190 / USD 3,690 / GBP 2,890 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 3,490 / EUR 2,990 / GBP 2,690 | — | — | |
| LetPub | GBP 2,490 / USD 3,290 / EUR 2,790 | 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)
Article types accepted5
- articleCommunications Earth & Environment publishes primary research Articles, Reviews, Perspectives, Comments, and Matters Arising.Length not stated
- commentCommunications Earth & Environment publishes primary research Articles, Reviews, Perspectives, Comments, and Matters Arising.Length not stated
- matters arisingCommunications Earth & Environment publishes primary research Articles, Reviews, Perspectives, Comments, and Matters Arising.Length not stated
- perspectiveCommunications Earth & Environment publishes primary research Articles, Reviews, Perspectives, Comments, and Matters Arising.Length not stated
- reviewCommunications Earth & Environment publishes primary research Articles, Reviews, Perspectives, Comments, and Matters Arising.Length not stated
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
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2662-4435
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- 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 Communications Earth & Environment
What CAS zone is Communications Earth & Environment in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Communications Earth & Environment is in Zone 1 of Earth Sciences, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Environmental Sciences / Geosciences, Multidisciplinary / Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Earth Sciences. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Communications Earth & Environment?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 9.31; CiteScore 11.3, h-index 104.
How long does peer review take at Communications Earth & Environment?
Based on the dates recorded on 158 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 192 days (interquartile range 157–254 days); authors report an average review time of about 26 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 Communications Earth & Environment based?
Of the 288 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 45 (about 16%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (45), United States (40) and United Kingdom (30). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Communications Earth & Environment?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Communications Earth & Environment is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science, GeoRef and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Communications Earth & Environment open access, and what is the APC?
Communications Earth & Environment is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,690.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .