Journal profile · Remote Sensing
International Journal of Digital Earth
ISSN 1753-8947 · eISSN 1753-8955 · Taylor and Francis Ltd. · ENGLAND · Quarterly
International Journal of Digital Earth: CAS Zone 2 · Earth Sciences (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 5.43; JCR Q1 (journal website); fully open access; APC about USD 2,990; median 140 days to acceptance (118 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: easy; 384 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
International Journal of Digital Earth is published by Taylor and Francis Ltd. and is in Zone 2 of Earth Sciences in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Remote Sensing in Agriculture, Remote Sensing and LiDAR Applications and Geographic Information Systems Studies, together about 29.5% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Please note, from 2022 the Print ISSN is not in active use as this journal is no longer published in print. International Journal of Digital Earth is a journal focusing on the theories, technologies, applications and societal implications of Digital Earth. International Journal of Digital Earth is the official journal of the International Society for Digital Earth. The journal is a response to the Digital Earth initiative and its aim to improve social conditions, protect the environment, and support future sustainable development. International Journal of Digital Earth welcomes papers that: Progress visions for Digital Earth frameworks, policies, and standard Explore geographically referenced 3D, 4D, or 5D models to represent the real planet, and geo-data-intensive science and discovery Develop methods that turn all forms of geo-referenced data, from scientific to social, into useful information that can be analyzed, visualized, and shared Present innovative, operational applications and pilots of Digital Earth technologies at a local, national, regional, and global level Expand the role of Digital Earth in the fields of Earth science, including climate change, adaptation and health related issues, natural disasters, new energy sources, agricultural and food security, and urban planning Foster the use of web-based public-domain platforms, social networks, and location-based services for the sharing of digital data, models, and information about the virtual Earth Explore the role of social media and citizen-provided data in generating geo-referenced information in the spatial sciences and technologies. The journal accepts primary Research Articles, Review Articles, Research Letters, Target Articles and Data Notes. International Journal of Digital Earth operates a double-anonymized peer review policy. Members of the International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE) are eligible for a 20% discount off the APC. Contact wangcl@radi.ac.cn for a discount code. Please note that the corresponding author must be a paid-up member of the ISDE to quality for the discount and it must be applied at the Charges stage of the submission process when the APC quote is confirmed and may not be considered after submission. Authors should include a footnote in the manuscript with author details stating "Member of the International Society for Digital Earth" and indicate which authors are ISDE members. To become an ISDE member, please visit the ISDE membership page or email isde@rad
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Remote Sensing
Editor-in-chief Huadong GuoPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 4 in mainland China (about 67%); most named Mainland China 4, United States 1, Sweden 1 (6 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Remote Sensing in AgricultureEnvironmental Science11.5%
- Remote Sensing and LiDAR ApplicationsEnvironmental Science9.3%
- Geographic Information Systems StudiesSocial Sciences8.8%
- Land Use and Ecosystem ServicesEnvironmental Science8.6%
- Remote-Sensing Image ClassificationEngineering5.4%
- Cryospheric studies and observationsEarth and Planetary Sciences4.7%
- Remote Sensing and Land UseEarth and Planetary Sciences4.4%
- Data Management and AlgorithmsComputer Science4.3%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Earth Sciences Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Geography, Physical | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Remote Sensing | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Earth Sciences Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Geography, Physical | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Remote Sensing | Zone 3 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Earth Sciences Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Geography, Physical | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Remote Sensing | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- JCR Q1 · best quartile · 2025
- 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
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
EI CompendexESCIINSPECCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest, OCLC, Astrophysics Data Systems, Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, EBSCO Databases, Geobase, NewJour, Cab International
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
- 5.43LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 5.4Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 5.3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 7.4LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 7.4Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.2LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 1.2Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.28LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 1.28Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 37LetPub ·
- h-index
- 88OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,037OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 6.43OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 7.4%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.89%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 367LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 1,200,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,159 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 218 | 218 | 166 |
| 2025 | 384 | 384 | 1,696 |
| 2024 | 337 | 337 | 4,180 |
| 2023 | 246 | 246 | 4,522 |
| 2022 | 117 | 117 | 2,751 |
| 2021 | 66 | 52 | 1,677 |
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
140 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 112 days – 189 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 13 days (118 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 160 days
- Sample
- 118 articles with submission and acceptance dates (680 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
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 3 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 34%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 41 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 67 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 10 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 11 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Double 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 | AUD 4,165 / EUR 2,875 / GBP 2,392 / USD 2,990 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC | |
| OpenAlex | USD 2,390 | — | — | |
| 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)
Article types accepted5
- data notesThe journal accepts primary Research Articles, Review Articles, Research Letters, Target Articles and Data Notes.Length not stated
- research articlesThe journal accepts primary Research Articles, Review Articles, Research Letters, Target Articles and Data Notes.Length not stated
- research lettersThe journal accepts primary Research Articles, Review Articles, Research Letters, Target Articles and Data Notes.Length not stated
- review articlesThe journal accepts primary Research Articles, Review Articles, Research Letters, Target Articles and Data Notes.Length not stated
- target articlesThe journal accepts primary Research Articles, Review Articles, Research Letters, Target Articles and Data Notes.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access, Peer review
- Open access Open access
Open access Model summary
International Journal of Digital Earth is an open access journal and only publishes open access articles. 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 discoverability and readership of your article Make an impact and reach new readers,…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Double-anonymized peer review Model summary
International Journal of Digital Earth operates a double-anonymized peer review policy.
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 and Francis Ltd.
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Quarterly
- ISSN
- 1753-8947
- Electronic ISSN
- 1753-8955
- Society / sponsor
- International Society for Digital Earth
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 19, Issue 2 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗DOAJ
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗DOAJ
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about International Journal of Digital Earth
What CAS zone is International Journal of Digital Earth in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, International Journal of Digital Earth is in Zone 2 of Earth Sciences, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Geography, Physical / Remote Sensing. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Earth Sciences. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of International Journal of Digital Earth?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 5.43; CiteScore 7.4, h-index 88.
How long does peer review take at International Journal of Digital Earth?
Based on the dates recorded on 118 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 140 days (interquartile range 112–189 days); 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 34%. 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 JCR quartile is International Journal of Digital Earth in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q1 (best quartile). JCR quartiles are Clarivate's to confirm and a different system from the CAS zones; in the CAS ranking the journal is in Zone 2 of Earth Sciences.
Where are the editorial board members of International Journal of Digital Earth based?
Of the 6 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 4 (about 67%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (4), United States (1) and Sweden (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index International Journal of Digital Earth?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, International Journal of Digital Earth is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists EI Compendex, ESCI, INSPEC and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is International Journal of Digital Earth open access, and what is the APC?
International Journal of Digital Earth is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 2,990.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, 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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .