Journal profile · ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
Ethics Policy & Environment
ISSN 2155-0085 · eISSN 2155-0093 · Taylor & Francis
Ethics Policy & Environment: CAS Zone 4 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.8 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 288 days to acceptance (64 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 24% (journal website); 46 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Ethics Policy & Environment is published by Taylor & Francis and is in Zone 4 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Climate Change and Geoengineering, Environmental Philosophy and Ethics and Religion, Ecology, and Ethics, together about 42.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Ethics, Policy & Environment offers scholarly articles, reviews, critical exchanges, and short reflections on all aspects of environmental ethics, environmental philosophy, and the normative dimensions of environmental policy. While Ethics, Policy & Environment centers on environmental ethics and policy, its substantive coverage is wider. Authors have been concerned with a range of subjects, such as applied environmental ethics, animal welfare, environmental justice, development ethics, sustainability, and cultural values relevant to environmental concerns. The journal also welcomes analyses of practical applications of environmental, energy technology, regional, and urban policies, as well as theoretically robust discussions of common arguments that appear throughout debates on environment and energy policy, either in the scholarly literature or in the broader civic sphere. Ethics, Policy & Environment is of particular relevance to a number of disciplines, including Philosophy, Environmental Studies, Public Policy, Political Science, Law, Ecology, Economics, Architecture, Geography, and Urban Planning. Peer Review Policy: All articles published in this journal have undergone rigorous peer review, based on initial editor screening and anonymized refereeing by at least two anonymous referees. Queries: If you have any publication queries related to formatting, printing, and publication of your article, please visit our Author Services Website. If you would like to query the editors of EPE with a proposal, please email the journal directly here: ethicspolicyenvironment@gmail.com.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
Editor-in-chief Benjamin HalePublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 24, United Kingdom 4, Ireland 2, Canada 1, Australia 1 (35 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Climate Change and GeoengineeringEnvironmental Science22.2%
- Environmental Philosophy and EthicsEnvironmental Science11.6%
- Religion, Ecology, and EthicsSocial Sciences8.4%
- Climate Change Policy and EconomicsEconomics, Econometrics and Finance5.9%
- Climate Change Communication and PerceptionSocial Sciences5.3%
- Risk Perception and ManagementSocial Sciences5%
- Geographies of human-animal interactionsSocial Sciences4%
- Sustainability and Climate Change GovernanceEnvironmental Science3.9%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Environmental Studies | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Environmental Studies | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- CiteScore Q1 · 2025
Publisher-reported: JCR figures are Clarivate's and CiteScore figures Scopus's to confirm; both are a different system from the CAS zones.Publisher website
Database indexing
ESCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
OCLC, C S A Human Population & Natural Resource Management, Current Abstracts, Educational Research Abstracts Online, Garden, Landscape & Horticulture Index, GEOBASE, International Bibliography of the Social Sciences, Multicultural Education Abstracts, Philosopher's Index, Philosophy Research Index, Social Services Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, Special Educational Needs Abstracts, Studies on Women and Gender Abstracts, Urban Studies AbstractsPublisher 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 (publisher) 2025
- 1.8Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.7LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 3.7Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.61LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.61Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.04LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 1.04Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 35OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 180OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.19OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5.6%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 32.97%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 29LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 130,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 633 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 31 | 19 | 2 |
| 2025 | 46 | 14 | 33 |
| 2024 | 31 | 17 | 93 |
| 2023 | 36 | 21 | 275 |
| 2022 | 43 | 17 | 328 |
| 2021 | 28 | 10 | 388 |
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
288 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 188 days – 433 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 28 days (64 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 328 days
- Sample
- 64 articles with submission and acceptance dates (86 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
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 24%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 76 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 154 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 26 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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 accepted2
- research articleResearch Article | Published online: 16 Sep 2026Length not stated
- reviewoffers scholarly articles, reviews, critical exchanges, and short reflectionsLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access, Peer review
- Open access Open access
Hybrid open access journal (Taylor & Francis Open Select). Model summary
Ethics, Policy & Environment is a hybrid open access journal that is part of the Taylor & Francis Open Select publishing program, giving you the option to publish open access. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership, and impact of your research. Why choose open access? Increase the discoverabilit…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Peer review: initial editor screening and anonymized refereeing by at least two anonymous referees. Model summary
All articles published in this journal have undergone rigorous peer review, based on initial editor screening and anonymized refereeing by at least two anonymous referees.
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
- Taylor & Francis
- ISSN
- 2155-0085
- Electronic ISSN
- 2155-0093
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 29, Issue 3 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Ethics Policy & Environment
What CAS zone is Ethics Policy & Environment in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Ethics Policy & Environment is in Zone 4 of Sociology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Environmental Studies. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Sociology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Ethics Policy & Environment?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 1.8 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 3.7, h-index 35.
How long does peer review take at Ethics Policy & Environment?
Based on the dates recorded on 64 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 288 days (interquartile range 188–433 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 24%. 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 Ethics Policy & Environment based?
Of the 35 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (24), United Kingdom (4) and Ireland (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Ethics Policy & Environment?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Ethics Policy & Environment is indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Is Ethics Policy & Environment open access, and what is the APC?
Ethics Policy & Environment is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC charged, amount not published.
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: .