Journal profile · Engineering, Mechanical
International Journal of Refrigeration
ISSN 0140-7007 · eISSN 1879-2081 · Elsevier Ltd · ENGLAND · Bimonthly · Founded 1978
International Journal of Refrigeration: CAS Zone 2 · Engineering (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 4; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,220; review about 104 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); community-reported acceptance: easy (Elsevier website: 38%); 422 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
International Journal of Refrigeration is published by Elsevier Ltd and is in Zone 2 of Engineering in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Technologies, Heat Transfer and Optimization and Heat Transfer and Boiling Studies, together about 49.4% of its articles. Its main subfields are Mechanical Engineering. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Covering the Theory and Practice of Refrigeration, including Heat Pumps, Air Conditioning, and Food Storage and TransportThe International Journal of Refrigeration is published for the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR) by Elsevier. It is essential reading for all those wishing to keep abreast of research and industrial news in refrigeration, air conditioning and associated fields. This is particularly important in these times of rapid introduction of alternative refrigerants and the emergence of new technology. The journal has published special issues on alternative refrigerants and novel topics in the field of boiling, condensation, heat pumps, food refrigeration, carbon dioxide, ammonia, hydrocarbons, magnetic refrigeration at room temperature, sorptive cooling, phase change materials and slurries, ejector technology, compressors, and solar cooling.As well as original research papers the International Journal of Refrigeration also includes review articles, papers presented at IIR conferences, short reports and letters describing preliminary results and experimental details, and letters to the Editor on recent areas of discussion and controversy. Other features include forthcoming events, conference reports and book reviews.Papers are published in either English or French with the IIR news section in both languages.Index bound in last issue of calendar year.Visit the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR) homepage.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Engineering, Mechanical
Editor-in-chief Jocelyn BonjourPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 3 in mainland China (about 7%); most named United Kingdom 6, Italy 6, France 5, Mainland China 3, Germany 3 (45 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Refrigeration and Air Conditioning TechnologiesEngineering23.7%
- Heat Transfer and OptimizationEngineering14.7%
- Heat Transfer and Boiling StudiesEngineering11%
- Adsorption and Cooling SystemsEngineering6.7%
- Thermodynamic and Exergetic Analyses of Power and Cooling SystemsEngineering5.7%
- Advanced Thermodynamic Systems and EnginesEngineering5.7%
- Phase Equilibria and ThermodynamicsEngineering4.9%
- Building Energy and Comfort OptimizationEngineering3.5%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Engineering Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Engineering, Mechanical | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Thermodynamics | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Engineering Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Thermodynamics | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Engineering, Mechanical | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Engineering Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Engineering, Mechanical | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Thermodynamics | Zone 2 |
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
- 4LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 4Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 7LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 7Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.82LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.3LetPub ·
- h-index
- 100LetPub ·
- h-index
- 167OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 5,236OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.61OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 15%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 14.72%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 390LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 9,574 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 299 | 86 | 117 |
| 2025 | 422 | 86 | 1,569 |
| 2024 | 359 | 86 | 3,293 |
| 2023 | 346 | 91 | 3,929 |
| 2022 | 374 | 75 | 5,454 |
| 2021 | 406 | 80 | 7,679 |
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
104 dayssubmission to acceptance · community reports about 3.6 months
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
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 3.6 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- 38%LetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 31%Publisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 104 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 3,220 / EUR 3,010 / GBP 2,580 / JPY 399,380 | — | — |
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)
Open calls for papers2, by deadline
Publisher websiteWhat to prepare7 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 2
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 5,000 words
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
- Suggested reviewers
- Required
- Highlights
- Required
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
Article types accepted10, with length limits
- book reviewResearch papers should report original research or development of techniques and applications. They should be written with a wide readership in mind and should …Length not stated
- book reviewsThe journal will also consider notices of forthcoming meetings and exhibitions, conference reports and book reviews, which should be submitted to the Editor-in-…Length not stated
- conference reportResearch papers should report original research or development of techniques and applications. They should be written with a wide readership in mind and should …Length not stated
- conference reportsThe journal will also consider notices of forthcoming meetings and exhibitions, conference reports and book reviews, which should be submitted to the Editor-in-…Length not stated
- letters to the editorResearch papers should report original research or development of techniques and applications. They should be written with a wide readership in mind and should …Length not stated
- notices of forthcoming meetings and exhibitionsThe journal will also consider notices of forthcoming meetings and exhibitions, conference reports and book reviews, which should be submitted to the Editor-in-…Length not stated
- original researchResearch papers should report original research or development of techniques and applications. They should be written with a wide readership in mind and should …Length not stated
- research paperResearch papers should report original research or development of techniques and applications. They should be written with a wide readership in mind and should …main text ≤ 5,000 words
- reviewResearch papers should report original research or development of techniques and applications. They should be written with a wide readership in mind and should …main text ≤ 7,000 words
- short reportsShort reports, which are submitted in the same way as papers, concentrate on new techniques, concepts and instruments; they should not exceed 1,500 words and si…Length not stated
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 in scientific writing
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 Author contributions
Upon acceptance, authors complete a Journal Publishing Agreement. Model summary
For transparency, we require corresponding authors to provide co-author contributions to the manuscript using the relevant CRediT roles. The CRediT taxonomy includes 14 different roles describing each contributor's specific contribution to the scholarly output. The roles are: Conceptualization; Data curation; Formal analysis; Funding acquisition; Investigation; Methodology; Project administration;…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Declaration of competing interest
All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. Authors should complete the declaration of compe…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright
Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' (see more information on this). An e-mail will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript together with a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' form or a link to the online version of this agreement.Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles includ…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access
Please visit our Open Access page for more information about open access publishing in this journal.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review
This journal operates a single anonymized review process. All contributions will be initially assessed by the editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then typically sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The Editor is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. The Editor'…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
Preprints can be shared anywhere at any time; sharing preprints will not count as prior publication. Model summary
Please note that preprints can be shared anywhere at any time, in line with Elsevier's sharing policy. Sharing your preprints e.g. on a preprint server will not count as prior publication (see 'Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication' for more information).
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 Ltd
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- Multi-Language
- Frequency
- Bimonthly
- Founded
- 1978
- ISSN
- 0140-7007
- Electronic ISSN
- 1879-2081
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about International Journal of Refrigeration
What CAS zone is International Journal of Refrigeration in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, International Journal of Refrigeration is in Zone 2 of Engineering, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Engineering, Mechanical / Thermodynamics. 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 International Journal of Refrigeration?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 4; CiteScore 7, h-index 167.
How long does peer review take at International Journal of Refrigeration?
The publisher reports about 104 days (submission to acceptance); authors report an average review time of about 3.6 months; the community-reported acceptance is “Easy (Elsevier website: 38%)”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 31%. 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 International Journal of Refrigeration?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Keywords: ≥ 2; Manuscript length: ≤ 5,000 words; Templates: LaTeX and Word; Suggested reviewers: Required; Highlights: Required; Graphical abstract: Optional. 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 International Journal of Refrigeration based?
Of the 45 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 3 (about 7%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (6), Italy (6) and France (5). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index International Journal of Refrigeration?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, International Journal of Refrigeration is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is International Journal of Refrigeration open access, and what is the APC?
International Journal of Refrigeration is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,220.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .