Journal profile · Environmental Sciences
Ecological Applications
ISSN 1051-0761 · eISSN 1939-5582 · Wiley-Blackwell · UNITED STATES · Bimonthly · Founded 1991
Ecological Applications: CAS Zone 2 · Environmental Science & Ecology (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 4.5; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,970; median 214 days to acceptance (94 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: fairly hard; 206 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Ecological Applications is published by Wiley-Blackwell and is in Zone 2 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 Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies, Wildlife Ecology and Conservation and Species Distribution and Climate Change, together about 31.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are Ecology and Global and Planetary Change. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The pages of Ecological Applications are open to research and discussion papers that integrate ecological science and concepts with their application and implications. Of special interest are papers that develop the basic scientific principles on which environmental decision-making should rest, and those that discuss the application of ecological concepts to environmental problem solving, policy, and management. Papers that deal explicitly with policy matters are welcome. Interdisciplinary approaches are encouraged, as are short communications on emerging environmental challenges. Ecological Applications rarely publishes papers focused on the management of a single species or particular habitat unless the case study clearly addresses a topic of wide relevance, broad interest or extraordinary novelty. Case studies accepted in Ecological Applications will almost certainly inform ecological science or management across ecosystems, habitats or taxa, rather than pertaining to a particular species, location or unique setting. Papers that focus on the management of a single species or habitat are better submitted to more specialized journals. Discussions of particular environmental problems, and site- and species-specific research results, will be considered only if they are placed successfully in a more general context. Papers describing new methods or techniques can be published only if they describe truly new and significant advances in methodology that can be broadly applied to the understanding or management of environmental problems. Inevitably, there will be some overlap in subject matter with Ecology; however, papers submitted to Ecological Applications should explicitly discuss the applications or implications of the work with regard to policy, management, or the analysis and solution of major environmental problems. Ecological Applications invites contributions from scientists, policy makers, and managers concerned with the full spectrum of ecological applications. Included within this spectrum are global climate change and biogeochemistry, conservation biology, ecotoxicology and pollution ecology, fishery and wildlife ecology, forestry, agroecosystems, range management, soils, hydrology and groundwater, landscape ecology, and epidemiology.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Environmental Sciences
Editor-in-chief Juan C. CorleyPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named Argentina 2, Hong Kong, China 1, United States 1, Australia 1, Chile 1 (6 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics StudiesEnvironmental Science15.7%
- Wildlife Ecology and ConservationEnvironmental Science8.7%
- Species Distribution and Climate ChangeEnvironmental Science7.1%
- Fire effects on ecosystemsEnvironmental Science6.3%
- Rangeland and Wildlife ManagementEnvironmental Science6.2%
- Fish Ecology and Management StudiesEnvironmental Science6%
- Plant and animal studiesAgricultural and Biological Sciences4.7%
- Marine and fisheries researchEnvironmental Science4.6%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Ecology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Environmental Sciences | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Ecology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Environmental Sciences | Zone 2 |
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 | Ecology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Environmental Sciences | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Astrophysics Data SystemPublisher website
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
- 4.5LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 4.6Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 4.6Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 9LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 9Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.68LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.64LetPub ·
- h-index
- 193LetPub ·
- h-index
- 309OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 5,381OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.57OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 4.3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 59.51%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 180LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2Publisher website ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 182Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 1,108,944Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 7,182 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 157 | 120 | 89 |
| 2025 | 206 | 143 | 660 |
| 2024 | 146 | 102 | 1,068 |
| 2023 | 142 | 108 | 1,937 |
| 2022 | 281 | 151 | 5,701 |
| 2021 | 258 | 140 | 7,060 |
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
214 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 116 days – 322 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 89 days (94 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 302 days
- Sample
- 94 articles with submission and acceptance dates (387 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 6 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly hardLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 18%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 18%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 35 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 35 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 218 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 75 daysPublisher 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 3,970 / EUR 3,310 / GBP 2,650 | — | — |
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)
Article types accepted8, with length limits
- articleArticle 60 Yes 350 Yes N/Aabstract ≤ 350 words
- commentComment 16 No N/A No N/ALength not stated
- commentaryCommentary 16 No N/A No By invitation onlyLength not stated
- communicationCommunication 20 Yes 200 Yes N/Aabstract ≤ 200 words
- introductionIntroduction 5 No N/A No By invitation onlyLength not stated
- methodMethod 30 Yes 350 Yes N/Aabstract ≤ 350 words
- replyReply 16 No N/A No By invitation onlyLength not stated
- reviewReview 60 Yes 350 Yes N/Aabstract ≤ 350 words
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- AI use
AI tools cannot be authors; use must be disclosed in the manuscript and submission form. Model summary
ESA Publications follow the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) position that artificial intelligence (AI) tools cannot be recognized as authors, as they cannot take responsibility for the submitted manuscript.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Authorship List and Roles
Author List All individuals in the author list must be entitled to authorship. Refer to the “Publication” section of the ESA Code of Ethics for guidelines on authorship. Names of individuals entitled to authorship must appear in both the ScholarOne online submission form and on the title page of the manuscript, in the same order. It is not appropriate to name multi-author collaborative and consort…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Disclosure of Overlap
At the time of submission, authors must provide information describing the extent to which data, text, or figures in the manuscript have been used in other papers that are published, in press, submitted, or soon to be submitted elsewhere. Authors should provide this information in the “Dual Publication” field of the ScholarOne online submission form. In cases of overlap with other publications or …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Reuse of Papers That Were Not Published Open Access
Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of papers published in journals of the Ecological Society of America for personal use or educational use within one’s home institution is granted to ESA members without fee, provided that the first page or initial screen of a display includes the notice “Copyright by the Ecological Society of America,” along with the full citation, including…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Changing the Contact Author During the Peer Review Process
It is possible to change the contact author for a submission. To change roles, both the original contact author and the new contact author must affirm that they consent to the change in author roles by contacting the journal’s editorial staff.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprint Policy
Manuscripts must include continuous line numbering on all pages. Model summary
Authors interested in posting a copy of their manuscript to a preprint server must obey the following guidelines: The version of the manuscript posted on the preprint server must be the original version submitted to the journal and cannot be any version improved by peer review. If the manuscript is accepted, the author must provide a link to the published paper with the preprint posting. Authors s…
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
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Bimonthly
- Founded
- 1991
- ISSN
- 1051-0761
- Electronic ISSN
- 1939-5582
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 36, Issue 6 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Ecological Applications
What CAS zone is Ecological Applications in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Ecological Applications is in Zone 2 of Environmental Science & Ecology, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Ecology / Environmental Sciences; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Environmental Science & Ecology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Ecological Applications?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 4.5; CiteScore 9, h-index 309.
How long does peer review take at Ecological Applications?
Based on the dates recorded on 94 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 214 days (interquartile range 116–322 days); authors report an average review time of about 6 months; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly hard”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 18% (2025). 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 Ecological Applications based?
Of the 6 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Argentina (2), Hong Kong, China (1) and United States (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Ecological Applications?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Ecological Applications is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is Ecological Applications open access, and what is the APC?
Ecological Applications is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,970.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .