Journal profile · Optics
Lighting Research & Technology
ISSN 1477-1535 · eISSN 1477-0938 · SAGE Publications Ltd · ENGLAND · Quarterly · Founded 2001
Lighting Research & Technology: CAS Zone 3 · Engineering (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.89; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,150; review about 244 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); community-reported acceptance: easy; 67 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Lighting Research & Technology 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 Impact of Light on Environment and Health, Building Energy and Comfort Optimization and Color Science and Applications, together about 57.2% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Lighting Research & Technology (LR&T) publishes original peer-reviewed research on all aspects of light and lighting and is published in association with The Society of Light and Lighting. LR&T covers the human response to light, the science of light generation, light control and measurement plus lighting design for both interior and exterior environments, as … | 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): Optics
Editor-in-chief Stephen A. FotiosPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 3%); most named United Kingdom 7, Netherlands 4, United States 3, Germany 2, France 2 (32 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Impact of Light on Environment and HealthEnvironmental Science29.1%
- Building Energy and Comfort OptimizationEngineering16.1%
- Color Science and ApplicationsPhysics and Astronomy12%
- Color perception and designPsychology8%
- Visual perception and processing mechanismsNeuroscience5.6%
- Urban Heat Island MitigationEnvironmental Science4.1%
- Circadian rhythm and melatoninNeuroscience3.3%
- Urban Green Space and HealthEnvironmental Science2.6%
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 | Optics | 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 | Optics | Zone 3 |
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 | Optics | Zone 3 |
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
- 1.89LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 2.7Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.6LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.57LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.36LetPub ·
- h-index
- 44LetPub ·
- h-index
- 89OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 934OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.57OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 15%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 32.56%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 48LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,808 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 53 | 19 | 9 |
| 2025 | 67 | 31 | 91 |
| 2024 | 53 | 29 | 172 |
| 2023 | 53 | 32 | 360 |
| 2022 | 82 | 36 | 614 |
| 2021 | 57 | 31 | 908 |
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 PubMed · to
Too few articlesOnly 2 articles from the last 24 months carry both submission and acceptance dates, too few for a median
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".
Figures by source
- Average review time (community reports)
- over 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 24.4%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 4 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 57 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 244 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 60 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 4,150 / GBP 3,043 | — | — |
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 prepare2 items from the author guidelines
- Reference style
- Vancouver
- Suggested reviewers
- Required
Article types accepted6, with length limits
- case studyCase Study: papers describing new and innovative lighting installations and giving details of the design concepts and performance data.Length not stated
- correspondence- at the Editor-in-Chief’s discretion. Correspondence should not normally be more than 1000 words. For papers, acceptance is conditional on authors’ addressimain text ≤ 1,000 words
- opinionOpinion: discussion papers, which explore a subject from a theoretical view point. By invitation only.Length not stated
- original research articleOriginal Research Article: papers describing original theoretical, laboratory, or field investigations.Length not stated
- research noteResearch note: concise research article raising a specific issue.Length not stated
- reviewReview: papers on a particular aspect of light or lighting or a related topicLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- AI use 3.4 The use of Artificial Intelligence for preparing manuscripts
Generative AI may be used as productivity tool for preparing manuscripts; human intervention essential; limitations acknowledged. Model summary
LR&T and Sage recognise the value of large language models (LLMs) (e.g. ChatGPT) and generative AI as productivity tools that can help authors in preparing their article for submission; to generate initial ideas for a structure, for example, or when summarizing, paraphrasing, language polishing etc. However, it is important to note that all language models have limitations and are unable to replic…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship 2.2 Authorship
No fees payable to submit or publish. Model summary
Papers should only be submitted for consideration once consent is given by all contributing authors. Those submitting papers should carefully check that all those whose work contributed to the paper are acknowledged as contributing authors.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability
Email alerts available for new content and tables of contents Model summary
Sign up to receive email alerts: With the latest table of contents When new articles are published online
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics 3.1 Publication ethics
Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright wording for Conference Special Issues
Copyright assignment to the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineering required. Model summary
The journal will consider articles previously published by conference organisers, though authors should inform the Editor and acknowledge the first source of publication in the article itself. The author must retain all the rights in the work or clear any necessary permissions with the copyright owners. At the time of submission, the author should confirm that they have not granted the conference …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access 3.3 Open access and author archiving
Optional open access via Sage Choice programme and Open Access agreements. Model summary
Lighting Research & Technology offers optional open access publishing via the Sage Choice programme and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. For more information on Open Access publishing options at Sage please …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Single-anonymized peer review; at least two independent reviews required for Accept or Revise decision for most submissions; one review for research notes; opinions and correspondence reviewed by Editorial Team; author-suggested reviewers not permitted. Model summary
The journal operates a conventional single-anonymized reviewing policy in which the reviewers’ names are is always concealed from the submitting authors.
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
- Quarterly
- Founded
- 2001
- ISSN
- 1477-1535
- Electronic ISSN
- 1477-0938
- Society / sponsor
- Society of Light and Lighting
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Lighting Research & Technology
What CAS zone is Lighting Research & Technology in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Lighting Research & Technology is in Zone 3 of Engineering, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Construction & Building Technology / Optics. 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 Lighting Research & Technology?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.89; CiteScore 5.6, h-index 89.
How long does peer review take at Lighting Research & Technology?
The publisher reports about 244 days (submission to acceptance); authors report an average review time of over 12 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Easy”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 24.4%. 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 Lighting Research & Technology?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Reference style: Vancouver; Suggested reviewers: 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 Lighting Research & Technology based?
Of the 32 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 3%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (7), Netherlands (4) and United States (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Lighting Research & Technology?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Lighting Research & Technology is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is Lighting Research & Technology open access, and what is the APC?
Lighting Research & Technology is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,150.
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: .