Journal profile
Open Rivers
ISSN 2471-190X · University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing · United States
Open Rivers: diamond open access (no APC); no APC; review about 10 weeks (community reports); 23 articles in 2025.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Open Rivers is published by University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing. By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Water Governance and Infrastructure, American Environmental and Regional History and Ecocriticism and Environmental Literature, together about 40% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Open Rivers is an interdisciplinary online journal designed to communicate with an audience of both academics and community practitioners more broadly. Issues of the journal often have an overarching theme and include feature articles and columns in several distinct categories described below.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Water Governance and InfrastructureSocial Sciences16.5%
- American Environmental and Regional HistoryEnvironmental Science12.2%
- Ecocriticism and Environmental LiteratureArts and Humanities11.3%
- Environmental Science and Water ManagementEnvironmental Science9.6%
- Water Resource Management and QualityEnvironmental Science5.4%
- Indigenous Cultures and HistorySocial Sciences4.7%
- Artistic and Creative ResearchArts and Humanities4.2%
- Indigenous and Place-Based EducationSocial Sciences3.8%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
DOAJLetPub
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
- h-index
- 4OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.08OpenAlex ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 0%LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 316 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 2025 | 23 | 23 | 9 |
| 2024 | 28 | 28 | 19 |
| 2023 | 20 | 20 | 18 |
| 2022 | 36 | 36 | 12 |
| 2021 | 17 | 17 | 12 |
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 10 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 10 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Editorial 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
Diamond open access (no APC)DOAJ
Every article is open access and authors pay no article processing charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | No APC | No | CC BY-NC | |
| LetPub | No APC | No | — | |
| Publisher website | No APC | — | — |
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 prepare1 items from the author guidelines
- Reference style
- Chicago
Article types accepted7
- columnsEach issue includes pieces of varying lengths and formats that explain particular kinds of data, focus on specific places, discuss pedagogical approaches and st…Length not stated
- featuresEach issue includes original articles that address a particular theme determined by the editorial staff and board. The recommended length is approximately 3,000…Length not stated
- geographiesGeographies focuses on spatial representations and organization of information, considering these a critical way of enriching understandings of place, community…Length not stated
- in reviewIn Review includes reviews of recent books, exhibits, symposia, blogs, podcasts, films, and websites.Length not stated
- perspectivesPerspectives offers insights that diverge from the main theme of the issue or give a different viewpoint.Length not stated
- primary sourcesPrimary Sources is a close reading of a particular resource, collection, data set, or other source.Length not stated
- teaching and practiceTeaching and Practice highlights recent classroom work or discusses issues related to teaching and learning, in both formal and informal settings.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, License & copyright, Peer review
- Authorship
Chicago Manual of Style Model summary
Open Rivers follows the Chicago Manual of Style for questions of spelling, grammar, and punctuation, including use of the author-date system for references and text citations.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Permissions and License
Creative Commons Noncommercial Attribution license (CC BY-NC 4.0) Model summary
All authors will receive a permission/release form to be signed and returned before publication may take place. Authors are responsible for securing permission for use of student work and media, including photos, videos, and drawings (and appropriate attribution must be included for publication). All articles published in Open Rivers are distributed with a Creative Commons Noncommercial Attributio…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Features are read by at least two readers Model summary
Features are read by at least two readers as part of the journal’s editorial 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
- University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing
- Country or region
- United States
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2471-190X
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Open Rivers
How long does peer review take at Open Rivers?
Authors report an average review time of about 10 weeks. 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.
Which databases index Open Rivers?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Open Rivers is indexed in DOAJ.
Is Open Rivers open access, and what is the APC?
Open Rivers is a diamond open-access journal (no APC). It charges no article processing charge.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, DOAJ, Publisher website; 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: .