Journal profile · Engineering, Chemical
Desalination
ISSN 0011-9164 · eISSN 1873-4464 · Elsevier · NETHERLANDS · Semimonthly · Founded 1966
Desalination: CAS Zone 2 · Engineering (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 9.9; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,580; review about 67 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); 1,102 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Desalination is published by Elsevier and is in Zone 2 of Engineering in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Membrane Separation Technologies, Membrane-based Ion Separation Techniques and Solar-Powered Water Purification Methods, together about 56.1% of its articles. Its main subfields are Water Science and Technology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The International Journal on the Science and Technology of Desalting and Water PurificationDesalination is an inter-disciplinary journal publishing high quality papers on desalination materials, processes and related technologies.Desalination welcomes submissions detailing work that is clearly connected to water desalting including applications of desalination to seawater, groundwater and waste waters, such as thermal, membrane, sorption and hybrid processes.Design, technical, economic and regulatory analyses of full-scale plants.Energy consumption and energy recovery;Environmental issues related to desalination;Hybrid desalination processes;Membrane desalination processes;New membrane/material and the impact on desalination performance;Performance aspects, for example causes, consequences and countermeasures of fouling and scaling;Recovery of resources from brines;Related systems to desalination such as pre-treatment, post-treatment, integrated plants and brine disposal;Renewable energy applications in desalination;Thermal desalination processes;Transport and process modelling in desalination;Electrodialysis desalination process;Novel desalination technologies and processes.Recovery of resources from brines and issues related to brine mining;Resource recovery for a circular economy in water reuse and desalination;Hydrogen with water industries;Emerging contaminants using desalination membranes and technologies;*Authors are requested to complete a Review Proposal Form for Editorial approval prior to submission of the review article. Proposals should be submitted via the Desalination Editorial Manager system: https://submit.elsevier.com/DES.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Engineering, Chemical
Editor-in-chief Tao HePublisher website
Editorial board by country: 44 in mainland China (about 40%); most named Mainland China 44, South Korea 12, Australia 12, United States 11, Taiwan, China 6 (111 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Membrane Separation TechnologiesEnvironmental Science29.2%
- Membrane-based Ion Separation TechniquesEngineering17.3%
- Solar-Powered Water Purification MethodsEnergy9.7%
- Fuel Cells and Related MaterialsEngineering4%
- Extraction and Separation ProcessesEngineering3.6%
- Membrane Separation and Gas TransportEngineering3.6%
- Water-Energy-Food Nexus StudiesEnvironmental Science3.3%
- Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic SystemsEnergy2.8%
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 | Water Resources | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Engineering, Chemical | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Engineering Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Engineering, Chemical | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Water Resources | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Engineering Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Water Resources | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Engineering, Chemical | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview 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
- 9.9LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 9.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 16.1LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 16.1Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.64LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.56LetPub ·
- h-index
- 155LetPub ·
- h-index
- 284OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 13,937OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 10.64OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 17.2%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 13.67%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 1,030LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 21,345 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 895 | 147 | 1,061 |
| 2025 | 1,102 | 182 | 9,586 |
| 2024 | 1,037 | 200 | 21,621 |
| 2023 | 738 | 164 | 22,111 |
| 2022 | 685 | 145 | 25,455 |
| 2021 | 439 | 101 | 19,982 |
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
Publisher-reported review time from the journal's website
67 dayssubmission to acceptance · community reports about 3.4 months
The publisher's own definition applies; dates from this journal's articles in the last 24 months are not available yet, so the publisher's figure is used.
Figures by source
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 3.4 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- 84%LetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 3 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 27 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 67 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 2 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 4,580 / EUR 4,180 / GBP 3,670 / JPY 540,350 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 5,190 | — | — |
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
Publisher websiteArticle types accepted14
- commentariesCommentaries - Any comment on or discussion of a published paper must be received by the Editor within three months of the online publication of the paper under…Length not stated
- commentaryThe Journal publishes Full Text Papers, Short Communications, State-of-the-Art Reviews and Letters to Editors. Authors are requested to complete a Review Propos…Length not stated
- editorialThe Journal publishes Full Text Papers, Short Communications, State-of-the-Art Reviews and Letters to Editors. Authors are requested to complete a Review Propos…Length not stated
- full text papersThe Journal publishes Full Text Papers, Short Communications, State-of-the-Art Reviews and Letters to Editors.Length not stated
- invited featureInvited Feature - Upon invitation only invited only and written by experts in specific area to give a full insight and more depth to a research topic strongly r…Length not stated
- letterThe Journal publishes Full Text Papers, Short Communications, State-of-the-Art Reviews and Letters to Editors. Authors are requested to complete a Review Propos…Length not stated
- letters to editorsThe Journal publishes Full Text Papers, Short Communications, State-of-the-Art Reviews and Letters to Editors.Length not stated
- perspectiveThe Journal publishes Full Text Papers, Short Communications, State-of-the-Art Reviews and Letters to Editors. Authors are requested to complete a Review Propos…Length not stated
- regular paperThe Journal publishes Full Text Papers, Short Communications, State-of-the-Art Reviews and Letters to Editors. Authors are requested to complete a Review Propos…Length not stated
- reviewThe Journal publishes Full Text Papers, Short Communications, State-of-the-Art Reviews and Letters to Editors. Authors are requested to complete a Review Propos…Length not stated
- review articleThe Journal publishes Full Text Papers, Short Communications, State-of-the-Art Reviews and Letters to Editors. Authors are requested to complete a Review Propos…Length not stated
- short communicationThe Journal publishes Full Text Papers, Short Communications, State-of-the-Art Reviews and Letters to Editors. Authors are requested to complete a Review Propos…Length not stated
- short communicationsThe Journal publishes Full Text Papers, Short Communications, State-of-the-Art Reviews and Letters to Editors.Length not stated
- state-of-the-art reviewsThe Journal publishes Full Text Papers, Short Communications, State-of-the-Art Reviews and Letters to Editors.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Publication ethics, 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 ·- Publication ethics
Authors must follow Elsevier's Publishing Ethics Policy. Model summary
Authors must follow ethical guidelines stated in Elsevier's Publishing Ethics Policy.
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; submissions initially assessed by editors; suitable submissions sent to a minimum of two reviewers; editors make the decision. 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 sharing allowed and does not count as prior publication; free preprint posting service on SSRN offered. Model summary
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
- 1966
- ISSN
- 0011-9164
- Electronic ISSN
- 1873-4464
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Desalination
What CAS zone is Desalination in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Desalination is in Zone 2 of Engineering, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Water Resources / Engineering, Chemical; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Engineering. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Desalination?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 9.9; CiteScore 16.1, h-index 284.
How long does peer review take at Desalination?
The publisher reports about 67 days (submission to acceptance); authors report an average review time of about 3.4 months. 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 Desalination based?
Of the 111 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 44 (about 40%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (44), South Korea (12) and Australia (12). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Desalination?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Desalination is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is Desalination open access, and what is the APC?
Desalination is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,580.
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: .