Journal profile · Environmental Science-General Environmental Science
Frontiers in Environmental Science
ISSN 2296-665X · Frontiers Media S.A. · SWITZERLAND
Frontiers in Environmental Science: CAS Zone 4 · Environmental Science & Ecology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 4.35; fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; review about 12 weeks (community reports); 1,037 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus; flagged on an early-warning list or for an indexing change: check before submitting.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Frontiers in Environmental Science is published by Frontiers Media S.A. and is in Zone 4 of Environmental Science & Ecology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Energy, Environment, Economic Growth, Land Use and Ecosystem Services and Environmental Impact and Sustainability, together about 33.1% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Frontiers in Environmental Science is a multidisciplinary journal, publishing research on the rapid changes occurring in our natural world due to anthropogenic activity. Led by Field Chief Editor Martin Siegert (University of Exeter, UK), Frontiers in Environmental Science is indexed in Scopus, Web of Science (SCIE) and the DOAJ among others, and welcomes submissions that explore environmental changes and their cause across the following disciplines: • atmosphere and climate • biogeochemical dynamics • drylands • ecosystem restoration • environmental citizen science • environmental economics and management • environmental informatics and remote sensing • environmental policy and governance • environmental systems engineering • freshwater science • interdisciplinary climate studies • land use dynamics • social-ecological urban systems • soil processes • toxicology, pollution and the environment • water and wastewater management. Our natural world is experiencing a state of rapid change unprecedented in the presence of humans. The changes affect virtually all physical, chemical and biological systems on Earth. The interaction of these systems leads to tipping points, system feedbacks and amplification of effects. The journal aims to explore the processes responsible, and the measures needed to reduce their impact. Without proper understanding of the processes involved, and deep understanding of the likely impacts of bad decisions or inaction, the security of food, water and energy is a risk. Left unchecked shortages of these basic commodities will lead to migration, economic deterioration, global geopolitical tension and conflict. The journal actively welcomes submissions which support and advance the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), notably SDG 13: take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. Manuscripts that do not have a clear focus on addressing the environmental changes or challenges that humanity is facing are not suitable for publication in this journal. This includes studies focusing on economics or business without strong relevance to addressing environmental issues. Additionally, studies that focus on public health issues without a foundation in environmental science are also outside the scope of this journal. Frontiers’ journals require that manuscripts primarily comprising computational studies of public data, such as Bibliometric studies must include appropriate validation. Please refer to the Frontiers Standards for re
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Environmental Science-General Environmental Science
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 6%); most named United States 3, United Kingdom 3, Germany 2, Australia 2, Finland 2 (18 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Energy, Environment, Economic GrowthEconomics, Econometrics and Finance16.7%
- Land Use and Ecosystem ServicesEnvironmental Science9.4%
- Environmental Impact and SustainabilityEnvironmental Science7%
- Energy, Environment, and Transportation PoliciesEnergy5%
- Environmental Sustainability in BusinessBusiness, Management and Accounting4.9%
- Air Quality and Health ImpactsEnvironmental Science4.6%
- Soil Carbon and Nitrogen DynamicsAgricultural and Biological Sciences4.4%
- Climate Change Policy and EconomicsEconomics, Econometrics and Finance4.2%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Environmental Sciences | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Environmental Sciences | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Environmental Sciences | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
Early warning / risk: CAS Early Warning Journal List: listed in the 2023 edition (low risk); not listed in the other 5 editions.LetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of ScienceINSPECPublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Astrophysics Data System, CLOCKSS, Crossref
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
- 4.35LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 4.4Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 9.2LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 9.2Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.94LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.04LetPub ·
- h-index
- 131OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 3,896OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.97OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 2.3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.94%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 929LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 8,565 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 853 | 853 | 375 |
| 2025 | 1,037 | 1,037 | 4,696 |
| 2024 | 962 | 962 | 9,116 |
| 2023 | 1,450 | 1,450 | 20,634 |
| 2022 | 2,611 | 2,611 | 47,474 |
| 2021 | 664 | 664 | 19,431 |
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
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 12 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 | CHF 3,150 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | CHF 3,150 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 3,295 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Conflicts of interest, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- AI use Use of AI to create written or visual content
Authors should not list a generative AI technology as a co-author or author of any submitted manuscript. Generative AI technologies cannot be held accountable for all aspects of a manuscript and consequently do not meet the criteria required for authorship. If the author of a submitted manuscript has used written or visual content produced by or edited using a generative AI technology, this use mu…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Safeguards against financial conflicts of interest
Only leading researchers acting as Associate Editors, who are not part of Frontiers' staff, can make acceptance decisions based on reviews performed by external experts acting as Community Reviewers or Reviewers. None have a financial incentive to accept articles, i.e. they are not paid for their role as Associate Editor or community Reviewer, and any award scheme is not linked to acceptances of m…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Open access and copyright
All Frontiers' articles from July 2012 onwards are published with open access under the Creative Commons CC-BY license (the current version is CC-BY, version 4.0). This means that the author(s) retains copyright, but the content is free to download, distribute, and adapt for commercial or non-commercial purposes, given appropriate attribution to the original article. Upon submission, the author(s)…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access and copyright
All Frontiers' articles from July 2012 onwards are published with open access under the Creative Commons CC-BY license (the current version is CC-BY, version 4.0). This means that the author(s) retains copyright, but the content is free to download, distribute, and adapt for commercial or non-commercial purposes, given appropriate attribution to the original article. Upon submission, the author(s)…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review
Our rigorous, transparent peer review process combines expert review and constructive dialogue to strengthen your manuscript.
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
- Frontiers Media S.A.
- Country or region
- SWITZERLAND
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2296-665X
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- 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 Frontiers in Environmental Science
What CAS zone is Frontiers in Environmental Science in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Frontiers in Environmental Science is in Zone 4 of Environmental Science & Ecology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Environmental Sciences. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Environmental Science & Ecology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Frontiers in Environmental Science?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 4.35; CiteScore 9.2, h-index 131.
How long does peer review take at Frontiers in Environmental Science?
Authors report an average review time of about 12 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Frontiers in Environmental Science based?
Of the 18 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 6%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (3), United Kingdom (3) and Germany (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Frontiers in Environmental Science?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Frontiers in Environmental Science is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science and INSPEC; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Frontiers in Environmental Science open access, and what is the APC?
Frontiers in Environmental Science is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, Publisher website, DOAJ; 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: .