Journal profile · Environmental Science-Ecological Modeling
Ecological Processes
ISSN 2192-1709 · Springer Berlin Heidelberg · PEOPLES R CHINA · Founded 2012
Ecological Processes: CAS Zone 2 · Environmental Science & Ecology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 4.84; fully open access; APC about USD 1,890; median 126 days to acceptance (96 articles, last 24 months); 90 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Ecological Processes is published by Springer Berlin Heidelberg and is in Zone 2 of Environmental Science & Ecology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies, Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics and Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics, together about 28.8% of its articles. Its main subfields are Global and Planetary Change. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Ecological Processes is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal devoted to quality publications in ecological studies with a focus on the underlying processes responsible for the dynamics and functions of ecological systems at multiple spatial and temporal scales. The journal welcomes manuscripts on techniques, approaches, concepts, models, reviews, syntheses, short communications and applied research for advancing our knowledge and capability toward sustainability of ecosystems and the environment. Integrations of ecological and socio-economic processes are strongly encouraged.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Environmental Science-Ecological Modeling
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics StudiesEnvironmental Science13.8%
- Soil Carbon and Nitrogen DynamicsAgricultural and Biological Sciences8.3%
- Plant Water Relations and Carbon DynamicsEnvironmental Science6.7%
- Land Use and Ecosystem ServicesEnvironmental Science6.6%
- Species Distribution and Climate ChangeEnvironmental Science4.8%
- Wildlife Ecology and ConservationEnvironmental Science4.4%
- Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource ManagementEnvironmental Science4.1%
- Fire effects on ecosystemsEnvironmental Science3.9%
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: noReview 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: noReview 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
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
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
- 4.84LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 7.3LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.28LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.41LetPub ·
- h-index
- 69OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 456OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 5.38OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 2.1%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 88LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 787 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 96 | 96 | 59 |
| 2025 | 90 | 90 | 451 |
| 2024 | 87 | 87 | 960 |
| 2023 | 64 | 64 | 1,035 |
| 2022 | 67 | 67 | 1,481 |
| 2021 | 73 | 73 | 2,842 |
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
126 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 98 days – 175 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 18 days (96 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 153 days
- Sample
- 96 articles with submission and acceptance dates (205 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 13 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 13 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 1,690 / USD 1,890 / GBP 1,350 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 1,670 / EUR 1,490 / GBP 1,190 | — | — | |
| LetPub | EUR 1,390 / USD 1,610 / GBP 1,140 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | GBP 1,350 / USD 1,890 / EUR 1,690 | — | — |
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 accepted3
- letterFormatting guidelines for specific article types can be found below. Research Article Review LetterLength not stated
- research articleFormatting guidelines for specific article types can be found below. Research Article Review LetterLength not stated
- reviewFormatting guidelines for specific article types can be found below. Research Article Review LetterLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteData availability, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- Data availability Formatting the 'Availability of data and materials' section of your manuscript
Data availability: datasets should be deposited in public repositories or included in the paper/supporting files; machine-readable format preferred; 'Availability of data and materials' section required. Model summary
The following format for the 'Availability of data and materials section of your manuscript should be used:
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Licensing and copyright
Creative Commons licences Open access articles in Springer Nature journals are published under Creative Commons licences. These provide an industry-standard framework to support easy re-use of open access material. Under Creative Commons licences, authors retain copyright of their articles. Ecological Processes articles are published open access under a CC BY-NC-ND (Creative Commons Attribution No…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Benefits of open access
Publishing open access (OA) offers a number of benefits, including greater reach and readership for your work: Cited more 1.6x more citations of OA articles than non-OA articles across all subjects Downloaded more 4x more downloads of OA articles than non-OA articles Greater impact 2.5x more Altmetric attention. OA articles attracted 1.9x more news mentions and 1.2x more policy mentions Open acces…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review policy
Peer review is the process used to evaluate the quality of a manuscript before publication. Independent researchers in the relevant field assess submitted manuscripts to check their validity and robustness. Their feedback guides editors in making publication decisions. Typically, two or more experts evaluate each manuscript based on three main criteria: scientific robustness: is the research metho…
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 Berlin Heidelberg
- Country or region
- PEOPLES R CHINA
- Language
- English
- Founded
- 2012
- ISSN
- 2192-1709
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗DOAJ
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗DOAJ
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Ecological Processes
What CAS zone is Ecological Processes in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Ecological Processes is in Zone 2 of Environmental Science & Ecology, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Ecology / Environmental Sciences. 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 Processes?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 4.84; CiteScore 7.3, h-index 69.
How long does peer review take at Ecological Processes?
Based on the dates recorded on 96 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 126 days (interquartile range 98–175 days); authors report an average review time of about 13 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.
Which databases index Ecological Processes?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Ecological Processes is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Ecological Processes open access, and what is the APC?
Ecological Processes is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 1,890.
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: .