Journal profile · Multiple
Frontiers in Sustainable Cities
ISSN 2624-9634 · Frontiers Media S.A. · Switzerland
Frontiers in Sustainable Cities: CAS Zone 4 · Economics (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.3 (journal website); fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; review about 13 weeks (community reports); 202 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Frontiers in Sustainable Cities is published by Frontiers Media S.A. and is in Zone 4 of Economics in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Urban Green Space and Health, Land Use and Ecosystem Services and Urban Transport and Accessibility, together about 30.7% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Frontiers in Sustainable Cities aims to develop a multi-disciplinary academic approach to life in contemporary and future urban environments. Led by Field Chief Editor Professor James Evans (University of Manchester, UK) and supported by an outstanding editorial board of international experts, Frontiers in Sustainable Cities brings together prominent scholars, policy makers and key opinion leaders. The journal publishes research on a broad range of topics, from infrastructure and technology to governance, climate change and health, with a focus on achieving sustainable living processes within future urban landscapes. This includes aspects of engineering, human geography and economics, urban and transport planning, urban studies and architecture, social and political science, public health, ecology and environmental science, computer science, and behavioral science. Topics of interest include: cities in the global south climate change and cities health and cities innovation and governance smart technologies and cities social inclusion in cities sustainable infrastructure urban economics urban energy end-use urban greening urban resource management urban transportation systems and mobility. To achieve resilience, environmental health, inclusion, equality, and healthy living in the face of the challenges facing the world today, the journal welcomes research that advances the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities is indexed in Scopus, Web of Science (ESCI) and the DOAJ Manuscripts that focus solely on the future predictions or performance enhancement without a fundamental basis in sustainable urban development are not suitable for publication in this journal. Additionally, studies that are primarily health-focused without a fundamental basis in urban sustainability are not within the scope of this journal. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities is committed to advancing developments in its field by communicating scientific knowledge to researchers and the public alike to enable the scientific breakthroughs of the future. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities is an official partner of and supports the mission of the US Africa Collaborative.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Multiple
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 6%); most named United Kingdom 4, Hong Kong, China 2, Australia 2, Mainland China 1, United States 1 (17 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Urban Green Space and HealthEnvironmental Science11.4%
- Land Use and Ecosystem ServicesEnvironmental Science10.7%
- Urban Transport and AccessibilitySocial Sciences8.6%
- Smart Cities and TechnologiesEngineering6.9%
- Urban Agriculture and SustainabilityAgricultural and Biological Sciences6.3%
- Urban Heat Island MitigationEnvironmental Science5.7%
- Sustainability and Climate Change GovernanceEnvironmental Science4.8%
- Sustainable Building Design and AssessmentEngineering4.4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Economics Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Economics | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Environmental Sciences | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Environmental Studies | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Green & Sustainable Science & Technology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Urban Studies | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Economics Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Economics | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Green & Sustainable Science & Technology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Environmental Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Environmental Studies | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Urban Studies | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
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
Web of SciencePublisher 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 (publisher)
- 3.3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.1LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 5.1Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.73LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.04LetPub ·
- h-index
- 44OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 356OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.46OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 183LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,111 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 241 | 241 | 126 |
| 2025 | 202 | 202 | 874 |
| 2024 | 116 | 116 | 932 |
| 2023 | 127 | 127 | 1,296 |
| 2022 | 204 | 204 | 2,512 |
| 2021 | 150 | 150 | 3,958 |
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 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 | CHF 1,175 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | CHF 1,175 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 1,285 | 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)
What to prepare3 items from the author guidelines
- Keywords
- 5–8
- Reference style
- Harvard
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
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
Figures/tables published under CC-BY; authors must obtain permission for third-party copyrighted material. Model summary
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
Open access under CC-BY v4.0 since July 2012; authors retain copyright. Model summary
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
Manuscripts must meet international English language standards. Model summary
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
- 2624-9634
- 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 Sustainable Cities
What CAS zone is Frontiers in Sustainable Cities in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Frontiers in Sustainable Cities is in Zone 4 of Economics, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Environmental Sciences / Environmental Studies / Green & Sustainable Science & Technology / Urban Studies. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Economics. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Frontiers in Sustainable Cities?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 3.3; this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 5.1, h-index 44.
How long does peer review take at Frontiers in Sustainable Cities?
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.
What are the manuscript requirements of Frontiers in Sustainable Cities?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Keywords: 5–8; Reference style: Harvard; Templates: LaTeX and Word. 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Frontiers in Sustainable Cities based?
Of the 17 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 6%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (4), Hong Kong, China (2) and Australia (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Frontiers in Sustainable Cities?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Frontiers in Sustainable Cities is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Frontiers in Sustainable Cities open access, and what is the APC?
Frontiers in Sustainable Cities 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: .