Journal profile · Social Sciences-Geography, Planning and Development
Groundwater for Sustainable Development
ISSN 2352-801X · Elsevier
Groundwater for Sustainable Development: CAS Zone 2 · Environmental Science & Ecology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 5.8 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,640; review about 177 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); 172 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Groundwater for Sustainable Development is published by Elsevier 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 Groundwater and Isotope Geochemistry, Groundwater and Watershed Analysis and Groundwater flow and contamination studies, together about 42.8% of its articles. Its main subfields are Water Science and Technology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Groundwater for Sustainable Development is an international, interdisciplinary journal dedicated to advancing the science, management, governance, and protection of groundwater resources in support of sustainable, resilient societies and ecosystems.Groundwater is fundamental to water, energy and food security, human health, economic development, ecosystem functioning, and adaptation to climate variability and change. At the same time, groundwater systems worldwide face increasing pressures from overexploitation, contamination, land-use change, urbanization, climate change, seawater intrusion, and competing demands. Addressing these challenges requires approaches that connect hydrogeological understanding with environmental, technological, socioeconomic, institutional, and policy dimensions.The journal provides a global platform for high-quality research that improves understanding of groundwater systems and translates scientific knowledge into effective solutions for their sustainable use, protection, restoration, and governance. It places particular emphasis on studies that clearly demonstrate relevance to groundwater sustainability, provide methodological or conceptual advances, and generate insights transferable beyond a single study area.The journal welcomes research on:Groundwater resources and aquifer systems: occurrence, recharge, storage, flow, discharge, groundwater–surface water interactions, aquifer characterization, water balances, and resource assessment.Groundwater quality and hydrogeochemistry: natural and anthropogenic controls on groundwater chemistry, geogenic contaminants, salinization, seawater intrusion, nutrients, trace elements, emerging contaminants, pathogens, and processes affecting groundwater quality.Groundwater contamination and remediation: contaminant sources, transport and fate, vulnerability and risk assessment, remediation technologies, natural attenuation, and prevention and management strategies.Groundwater sustainability and resource management: sustainable abstraction, groundwater depletion and recovery, water-use efficiency, conjunctive use, demand management, groundwater allocation, and strategies for balancing human and environmental water needs.Climate change, drought, and groundwater resilience: impacts of climate variability and change on recharge, storage, quality, availability, and groundwater-dependent systems; groundwater drought; extreme events; and the role of aquifer management, and policy response in climate adaptation and water-security strategies.Managed aquifer recharge and groundwater replenishment: MAR, aquifer storage and recovery, water banking, nature-based recharge solutions, recharge enhancement, water reuse, and assessment of their technical, environmental, economic, and societal performance.Groundwater-dependent ecosystems and environmental flows: interactions among groundwater, rivers, wetlands, springs, terrestrial ecosystems, biodiversity, and ecosystem services, including approaches for their protection and restoration.Groundwater, agriculture, cities, industry, and energy: groundwater within food–water–energy–ecosystem systems, irrigation and agricultural productivity, urban groundwater, industrial water use, subsurface energy systems, geothermal energy, hot and cold water relation, and competing sectoral demands.Groundwater governance, policy, economics, and society: institutions, regulation, groundwater rights and allocation, economic instruments, social-ecological systems, community-based management, equity, environmental justice, stakeholder participation, transboundary aquifers, and the political economy of groundwater.Groundwater and human health: exposure to groundwater contaminants, drinking-water security, health-risk assessment, and interdisciplinary approaches connecting groundwater quality with public health.Monitoring, modeling, and emerging technologies: field and sensor-based monitoring, numerical and conceptual modeling, remote sensing, geophy
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Social Sciences-Geography, Planning and Development
Editor-in-chief Jürgen MahlknechtPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 6 in mainland China (about 18%); most named Mainland China 6, United States 5, Mexico 5, United Kingdom 2, Italy 2 (33 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Groundwater and Isotope GeochemistryEarth and Planetary Sciences19.6%
- Groundwater and Watershed AnalysisEnvironmental Science15.8%
- Groundwater flow and contamination studiesEnvironmental Science7.4%
- Water Quality and Pollution AssessmentEnvironmental Science6.6%
- Hydrology and Watershed Management StudiesEnvironmental Science6.6%
- Flood Risk Assessment and ManagementEnvironmental Science4.5%
- Arsenic contamination and mitigationEnvironmental Science4%
- Water resources management and optimizationEngineering3.9%
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 | Water Resources | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Engineering, Environmental | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Environmental Sciences | Zone 3 |
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 | Engineering, Environmental | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Environmental Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Water Resources | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ESCIScopusLetPub
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 (publisher)
- 5.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 10.7LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 10.7Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.32LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.28LetPub ·
- h-index
- 90OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,010OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 8.11OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5.2%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 17.04%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 166LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,765 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 116 | 56 | 52 |
| 2025 | 172 | 48 | 677 |
| 2024 | 324 | 74 | 4,233 |
| 2023 | 180 | 43 | 4,072 |
| 2022 | 171 | 28 | 4,021 |
| 2021 | 175 | 31 | 5,310 |
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
Publisher-reported review time from the journal's website
177 dayssubmission to acceptance
The publisher's own definition applies; dates from this journal's articles in the last 24 months are not available yet, so the publisher's figure is used.
Figures by source
- Submission to first decision
- 4 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 59 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 177 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 2 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer reviewPublisher 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 3,640 / EUR 3,410 / GBP 2,910 / JPY 451,470 | — | — |
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)
What to prepare5 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Keywords
- 1–7
- Reference style
- Vancouver
- Highlights
- Required
- Graphical abstract
- Required
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- AI use Declaration of generative AI use
Authors must declare the use of generative AI tools in the manuscript preparation process upon submission of the paper.Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies (“AI tools”) have been rapidly adopted in research and scholarly publishing, offering significant benefits while requiring clear standards for responsible and transparent use.Authors preparing a manuscript for this journal may use AI tool…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Group authorship
Group authorship refers to the attribution of an article to a defined and named group of authors whose members have contributed to the work. Examples include research consortia, clinical trial groups, collaborative networks, task forces or working groups, expert panels or consensus groups, and participatory research groups. Group authorship must be declared on the title page at submission. When av…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Declaration of competing interests
All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence or bias their work. Examples of potential competing interests include:EmploymentConsultanciesStock ownershipHonorariaPaid expert testimonyPatent applications or registrationsGrants or any other fundingAffiliation with the journal as an Editor or Advisory Board …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright License options
Authors will be offered open access user license options which will determine how you, and third parties, can reuse your open access article. We advise that you review these options and any funding body license requirements before selecting a license option.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access
We refer you to our open access information page to learn about open access options for this journal.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review
This journal follows a single anonymized review process. Your submission will initially be assessed by our editors. If your submission is deemed suitable, it will typically be sent to be reviewed by a minimum of two reviewers for an independent expert assessment of the scientific quality. The decision as to whether your article is accepted or rejected for publication will be made by our editors.Re…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
Preprint sharingAuthors may share preprints in line with Elsevier's article sharing policy. Sharing preprints, such as on a preprint server, will not count as prior publication.We advise you to read our policy on multiple, redundant or concurrent publication. In support of Open Science, this journal offers its authors a free preprint posting service on SSRN, Elsevier’s preprint and early research …
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
- Elsevier
- ISSN
- 2352-801X
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Groundwater for Sustainable Development
What CAS zone is Groundwater for Sustainable Development in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Groundwater for Sustainable Development is in Zone 2 of Environmental Science & Ecology, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Water Resources / Engineering, Environmental / 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 Groundwater for Sustainable Development?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 5.8; this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 10.7, h-index 90.
How long does peer review take at Groundwater for Sustainable Development?
The publisher reports about 177 days (submission to acceptance). 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 Groundwater for Sustainable Development?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Keywords: 1–7; Reference style: Vancouver; Highlights: Required; Graphical abstract: Required. 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 Groundwater for Sustainable Development based?
Of the 33 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 6 (about 18%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (6), United States (5) and Mexico (5). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Groundwater for Sustainable Development?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Groundwater for Sustainable Development is indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Is Groundwater for Sustainable Development open access, and what is the APC?
Groundwater for Sustainable Development is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,640.
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: .