Journal profile · Engineering, Environmental
Indoor and Built Environment
ISSN 1420-326X · eISSN 1423-0070 · SAGE Publications Ltd · ENGLAND · Bimonthly
Indoor and Built Environment: CAS Zone 3 · Engineering (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.71; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,400; review about 3 months (community reports); community-reported acceptance: easy; 100 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Indoor and Built Environment is published by SAGE Publications Ltd and is in Zone 3 of Engineering in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Building Energy and Comfort Optimization, Air Quality and Health Impacts and Indoor Air Quality and Microbial Exposure, together about 38% of its articles. Its main subfields are Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis and Environmental Engineering. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Indoor and Built Environment is a fully peer reviewed journal that publishes research on any topic pertaining to the quality of the indoor and built environment, and how these might affect the health, performance, efficiency and comfort of persons living or working there. Topics range from urban infrastructure, design of buildings, and materials used to laboratory studies … | View full journal description This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Engineering, Environmental
Editor-in-chief Chuck YuPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 18 in mainland China (about 30%); most named Mainland China 18, United States 8, United Kingdom 8, Hong Kong, China 5, Sweden 3 (60 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Building Energy and Comfort OptimizationEngineering16.2%
- Air Quality and Health ImpactsEnvironmental Science11.4%
- Indoor Air Quality and Microbial ExposureEnvironmental Science10.4%
- Wind and Air Flow StudiesEnvironmental Science7.5%
- Urban Heat Island MitigationEnvironmental Science7.2%
- Infection Control and VentilationMedicine6.9%
- Noise Effects and ManagementHealth Professions5.6%
- Air Quality Monitoring and ForecastingEnvironmental Science3.8%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Engineering Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Construction & Building Technology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Public, Environmental & Occupational Health | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Engineering, Environmental | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Engineering Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Construction & Building Technology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Engineering, Environmental | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Public, Environmental & Occupational Health | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Engineering Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Construction & Building Technology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Engineering, Environmental | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Public, Environmental & Occupational Health | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
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
- 2.71LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2.7Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 2.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 6.5LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.61LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.91LetPub ·
- h-index
- 36LetPub ·
- h-index
- 73OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,397OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.17OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 14.8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 9.41%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 90LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 3,439 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 96 | 18 | 20 |
| 2025 | 100 | 25 | 140 |
| 2024 | 105 | 33 | 493 |
| 2023 | 112 | 37 | 1,027 |
| 2022 | 145 | 33 | 1,753 |
| 2021 | 77 | 19 | 1,345 |
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 3 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 9%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 4 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 46 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 4,400 / GBP 3,226 | — | — | |
| 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)
What to prepare4 items from the author guidelines
- Reference style
- Vancouver
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Required
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted13
- case studyIndoor and Built Environment considers the following kinds of article for publication: Editorials: These will normally be published by the Editor accompanying w…Length not stated
- editorialIndoor and Built Environment considers the following kinds of article for publication: Editorials: These will normally be published by the Editor accompanying w…Length not stated
- editorialsEditorials: These will normally be published by the Editor accompanying with an issue; however, in some cases the Editor may invite contributions from other aut…Length not stated
- letter to the editorIndoor and Built Environment considers the following kinds of article for publication: Editorials: These will normally be published by the Editor accompanying w…Length not stated
- original researchIndoor and Built Environment considers the following kinds of article for publication: Editorials: These will normally be published by the Editor accompanying w…Length not stated
- original research articleIndoor and Built Environment considers the following kinds of article for publication: Editorials: These will normally be published by the Editor accompanying w…Length not stated
- original research articlesOriginal Research Articles: Original research findings, designs and new developments relevant to the scope of the journal will be published after acceptance, as…Length not stated
- perspectiveIndoor and Built Environment considers the following kinds of article for publication: Editorials: These will normally be published by the Editor accompanying w…Length not stated
- perspectivesPerspectives: Short articles, which stress an original point of view of a controversial nature. Matters of a political or lobbying nature should not be consider…Length not stated
- reviewIndoor and Built Environment considers the following kinds of article for publication: Editorials: These will normally be published by the Editor accompanying w…Length not stated
- reviewsReviews: Authoritative reviews will be published from both invited experts and by direct submission. In both cases, the work will be subject to editorial peer r…Length not stated
- short communicationIndoor and Built Environment considers the following kinds of article for publication: Editorials: These will normally be published by the Editor accompanying w…Length not stated
- short communicationsShort Communications: Articles which do not present new findings or original research, but are case studies illustrating problems related to particular types of…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Data availability, Publication ethics, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Preprints, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- Authorship Authorship
Please view our authorship policies, which includes information on criteria for authorship, who should be the corresponding author and more. Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability
The Journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages. Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to: Share your research data in a relevant public data repository Include a data ava…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Ethical considerations
COPE member Model summary
Please include your ethics approval statements under this heading, even if you have already included ethics approval information in your methods section. If ethical approval was not required, you need to explicitly state this. All papers reporting studies involving human participants, human data or human tissue must state that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board approved th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Publishing fees and open access
There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this journal. Figures submitted in color will be published in color in the online version of the journal at no cost. For specifically requested colour reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Sage after receipt of your accepted article. Optional open access publishing is available for a fee via the Sage Choice pr…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review policy
Single anonymized peer review Model summary
The following summary describes the peer review process for this journal: Identity transparency: Single-anonymized Reviewer interacts with: Editor Review information published: None Your manuscript will undergo an initial evaluation. If it does not conform to the requirements laid out in these guidelines, it will be returned to you for amendments prior to peer review. Manuscripts may be desk rejec…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism Plagiarism
The journal and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. Please read Sage's complete policy on plagiarism and the actions we may take.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
The journal will consider submissions of manuscripts that have been posted on preprint servers. Please enter the preprint DOI in the designated field when submitting your manuscript. We advise that you inform the Journal Editorial office about your posted preprint at submission. Note that you should not post an updated version of your manuscript on a preprint server while it is being peer reviewed…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Trial registration / reporting guidelines Clinical trial registration
The journal conforms to the ICMJE requirement that clinical trials are registered in a WHO-approved public trials registry at or before the time of first participant enrollment as a condition of consideration for publication. The trial registry name and URL, and registration number must be included at the end of the abstract.
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
- SAGE Publications Ltd
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Bimonthly
- ISSN
- 1420-326X
- Electronic ISSN
- 1423-0070
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Indoor and Built Environment
What CAS zone is Indoor and Built Environment in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Indoor and Built Environment is in Zone 3 of Engineering, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Construction & Building Technology / Public, Environmental & Occupational Health / Engineering, Environmental. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Engineering. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Indoor and Built Environment?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.71; CiteScore 6.5, h-index 73.
How long does peer review take at Indoor and Built Environment?
Authors report an average review time of about 3 months; the community-reported acceptance is “Easy”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 9%. 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 Indoor and Built Environment?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Reference style: Vancouver; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Required; Cover letter: 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 Indoor and Built Environment based?
Of the 60 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 18 (about 30%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (18), United States (8) and United Kingdom (8). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Indoor and Built Environment?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Indoor and Built Environment is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is Indoor and Built Environment open access, and what is the APC?
Indoor and Built Environment is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,400.
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 2026-08-24). Last updated: .