Journal profile · Earth and Planetary Sciences-Earth-Surface Processes
Discover Environment
ISSN 2731-9431 · Springer · Switzerland
Discover Environment: impact factor 4.7 (journal website); fully open access; APC about USD 1,440; median 132 days to acceptance (151 articles, last 24 months); 300 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Discover Environment is published by Springer. By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Heavy metals in environment, Land Use and Ecosystem Services and Energy, Environment, Economic Growth, together about 21.4% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Discover Environment is a transdisciplinary, open-access journal that provides a leading platform for the rapid dissemination of knowledge and advances in innovative and high-impact original research articles, case studies, review papers, viewpoints, and short communications covering the research and innovation that is taking place across the environmental sector. The journal welcomes basic, methodological, and applied science that focuses on environmental science, chemistry, technology, and engineering. Topics Discover Environment particularly welcomes papers that highlight transformative resilience pathways towards bioeconomy, circular and climate-neutral economy, biobased products, and biorefinery approaches, and food waste valorisation efforts, as well as research with implications for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on clean water and sanitation (SDG 6), affordable and clean energy (SDG 7), climate action (SDG 13), life below water (SDG14) and life on land (SDG15). The journal covers topics including (but not limited to) the following: • Ecology, biodiversity, biotic and abiotic stresses • Conservation and restoration of degraded ecosystems (atmospheric, agriculture, marine, forestry, etc.) • Environmental toxicology and human health • Water and wastewater treatment and management (emerging contaminants, nanoparticles, microplastics, etc.) • Hydrology and geochemistry modelling (remote sensing, monitoring, geochemical cycles, etc.) • Environmental soil science and land contamination • Emissions and air pollution management • Water supply, security, and sustainability • Renewable energy, and climate change • Nature-based solutions and biomass valorisation • Solid, hazardous, and industrial waste management • Carbon footprint, life cycle assessment and cleaner production • Urban environmental problems • Industry 4.0, data science and environment • Food, water, and energy nexus for sustainable growth • Innovation strategies, policies, and economics in the environmental sector • Industrial ecology, sustainability, and eco-design practices Content Types Discover Environment welcomes a variety of article types – please see our submission guidelines for details. The journal also publishes guest-edited Topical Collections of relevance to all aspects of environmental sciences. For more information, please follow up with our journal publishing contact.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Earth and Planetary Sciences-Earth-Surface Processes
Editor-in-chief Charis M. GalanakisPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Heavy metals in environmentEnvironmental Science8.2%
- Land Use and Ecosystem ServicesEnvironmental Science7.3%
- Energy, Environment, Economic GrowthEconomics, Econometrics and Finance6%
- Climate change impacts on agricultureAgricultural and Biological Sciences6%
- Municipal Solid Waste ManagementEnvironmental Science5.9%
- Microplastics and Plastic PollutionEnvironmental Science5.6%
- Air Quality and Health ImpactsEnvironmental Science4.9%
- Water Quality and Pollution AssessmentEnvironmental Science4.4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
CASPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Astrophysics Data System, 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
- 4.7Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 4.7Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 2.8LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.74LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.2LetPub ·
- h-index
- 28OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 108OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.08OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 2.1%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.79%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 299LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2,025Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 634,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,013 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 542 | 542 | 375 |
| 2025 | 300 | 300 | 1,603 |
| 2024 | 147 | 147 | 2,057 |
| 2023 | 24 | 24 | 242 |
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
132 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 96 days – 196 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 10 days (151 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 150 days
- Sample
- 151 articles with submission and acceptance dates (857 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
- 20 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 1,140 / USD 1,440 / GBP 990 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 1,390 / EUR 1,090 / GBP 940 | — | — | |
| LetPub | GBP 890 / USD 1,340 / EUR 1,040 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | EUR 1,140 / USD 1,440 / GBP 990 / EUR 1,890 / USD 2,190 / GBP 1,590 | — | — |
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 websiteWhat to prepare3 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted14
- brief reportWhen you first submit in Snapp you will need to choose the correct article type.This journal accepts the following article types: Research Research articles pre…Length not stated
- case studyWhen you first submit in Snapp you will need to choose the correct article type.This journal accepts the following article types: Research Research articles pre…Length not stated
- commentComment articles can focus on policy, science and society, or purely scientific issues. They should be of immediate interest to a broad readership and should be…Length not stated
- data noteWhen you first submit in Snapp you will need to choose the correct article type.This journal accepts the following article types: Research Research articles pre…Length not stated
- full research articleWhen you first submit in Snapp you will need to choose the correct article type.This journal accepts the following article types: Research Research articles pre…Length not stated
- matters arisingMatters Arising articles are interesting and timely scientific or academic comments and clarifications on original research papers published in the journal.Length not stated
- methodologyMethodologies should present a new experimental or computational method, test or procedure. The method described may either be completely new, or may offer a be…Length not stated
- original paperWhen you first submit in Snapp you will need to choose the correct article type.This journal accepts the following article types: Research Research articles pre…Length not stated
- original research paperWhen you first submit in Snapp you will need to choose the correct article type.This journal accepts the following article types: Research Research articles pre…Length not stated
- perspectiveA Perspective is a scholarly review and discussion of the primary research literature that does not meet the criteria for a review article because: the scope is…Length not stated
- registered reportRegistered Reports are a publication format in which the research question and the quality of methodology are peer reviewed before the data are collected and an…Length not stated
- researchResearch articles present new scientific results within the scope of the journal that have not been published previously and are not being considered for public…Length not stated
- research articleWhen you first submit in Snapp you will need to choose the correct article type.This journal accepts the following article types: Research Research articles pre…Length not stated
- reviewReview articles provide critical accounts and comprehensive surveys of topics of major current interest within the scope of the journal.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteLicense & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- License & copyright Step 4 - Understand your copyright
If your submission is accepted for publication, you will need to sign a licence agreement with Springer Nature to allow us to publish your article. According to this agreement:authors of articles published in this journal retain the copyright of their articles.authors grant Springer Nature a licence to publish the article and identify itself as the original publisher.authors retain full re-use rig…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publishing
Open access publishing model Model summary
To find out more about publishing your work Open Access in Discover Environment, including information on fees, funding and licences, visit our Open access publishing page. Back to top Did you find what you were looking for? Share feedback.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Step 3 - Understand the peer review policy
Single-anonymous peer review Model summary
This journal follows a single-anonymous peer review procedure, where the reviewers are aware of the names and affiliations of the authors, but the reviewer reports provided to authors are anonymous. Peer review process All manuscripts undergo technical checks upon submission. Manuscripts that pass technical checks undergo suitability checks by our in-house editorial team. Eligible manuscripts are …
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
- Country or region
- Switzerland
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2731-9431
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- 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 Discover Environment
What is the impact factor of Discover Environment?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 4.7 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 2.8, h-index 28.
How long does peer review take at Discover Environment?
Based on the dates recorded on 151 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 132 days (interquartile range 96–196 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 Discover Environment?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Reference style: Author–date; Cover letter: 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.
Which databases index Discover Environment?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Discover Environment is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists CAS; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Discover Environment open access, and what is the APC?
Discover Environment is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 1,440.
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: .