Journal profile · Environmental Science-Ecology
Rethinking Ecology
ISSN 2534-9260 · Pensoft Publishers · Bulgaria
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Rethinking Ecology: fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; review about 12 weeks (community reports); 0 articles in 2025; indexed in Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Rethinking Ecology is published by Pensoft Publishers. By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies, Animal Behavior and Reproduction and Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, together about 27.3% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Rethinking Ecology is an open access journal that aims at fostering forward thinking and the publication of novel ideas in ecology. The term ecology in this instance should be understood in the broadest sense, and contributions including (but not limited to) evolution, ecophysiology, environmental sciences, global change biology, human ecology and decision ecology are all welcome. The journal publishes perspectives, research papers, rapid communications, responses, software descriptions and horizon scanning papers with an emphasis on new hypotheses and bold ideas.As opposed to other journals, perspectives and horizon scanning papers to Rethinking Ecology are not commissioned. We believe that novel ideas and innovative research do not arise from direct invitations and we are committed to enable authors to publish their best work, regardless of their seniority, gender, publication track record and country of origin. Other singularities of the journal include a percentage-based author contribution index that accurately reflects the contribution of each co-author and a double-blind review process where reviewers score manuscripts against well-defined criteria in relation to the type of paper.There is an urgent need for new ideas, new hypotheses and horizon scanning in ecology, particularly with regards to finding solutions to address critical issues such as climate change and biodiversity loss. Such challenges require bold and potentially controversial thinking. Rethinking Ecology is an opportunity to publish novel ideas and hypotheses prior to fully testing them. Our aim is to encourage scientists to share and discuss their novel ideas with their peers without fear of being scooped. Publishing in Rethinking Ecology will also draw attention from the scientific community, help create research networks, and support grant proposals aiming at putting these novel ideas to the test.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Environmental Science-Ecology
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics StudiesEnvironmental Science12.7%
- Animal Behavior and ReproductionAgricultural and Biological Sciences7.3%
- Wildlife Ecology and ConservationEnvironmental Science7.3%
- Evolution and Genetic DynamicsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology7.3%
- Academic Publishing and Open AccessDecision Sciences5.5%
- Conservation, Ecology, Wildlife EducationEnvironmental Science5.5%
- scientometrics and bibliometrics researchDecision Sciences3.6%
- Land Use and Ecosystem ServicesEnvironmental Science3.6%
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.
CiteScore quartiles (Scopus, June 2026 release)
| Subject | Quartile | Rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics | Q1 | 164/687 | — |
| Ecology | Q2 | 111/437 | — |
Scopus ranks journals by CiteScore within each subject: the 75th percentile and above is Q1, then a quartile every 25 points. A different system from the CAS zones.LetPub
Database indexing
ScopusDOAJLetPub
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
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.5LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.35LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.97LetPub ·
- h-index
- 9OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 9OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0OpenAlex ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 0%LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 28 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 2025 | 0 | 0 | 31 |
| 2024 | 0 | 0 | 41 |
| 2023 | 0 | 0 | 49 |
| 2022 | 0 | 0 | 67 |
| 2021 | 3 | 3 | 73 |
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 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 12 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 | EUR 550 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | EUR 550 | — | — | |
| LetPub | EUR 550 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | EUR 550 / EUR 100 | — | — |
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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- AI use Use of AI
Authors must be transparent about the use of Artificial Intelligence tools such as ChatGPT and other large language models in the manuscript preparation, and disclose details of how the AI tool was used within the "Materials and Methods" section.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Authorship/Contributorship
No direct invitations; committed to enabling all authors to publish their best work regardless of seniority, gender, publication track record and country of origin. Model summary
Some journals are integrated with Contributor Role Taxonomy (CRediT), in order to recognise individual author input within a publication, thereby ensuring professional and ethical conduct, while avoiding authorship disputes, gift / ghost authorship and similar pressing issues in academic publishing. During manuscript submission, the submitting author is strongly recommended to specify a contributo…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflict of interest
During the editorial process, the following relationships between editors and authors are considered conflicts of interest: Colleagues currently working in the same research group or department, recent co-authors, and doctoral students for which the editor served as committee chair. During the submission process, the authors are kindly advised to identify possible conflicts of interest with the jo…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement
GeneralThe publishing ethics and malpractice policies follow the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (joint statement by COPE, DOAJ, WAME, and OASPA), the NISO Recommended Practices for the Presentation and Identification of E-Journals (PIE-J), and, where relevant, the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright License and Copyright Agreement
In submitting the manuscript to any of Pensoft’s journals, authors certify that: They are authorized by their co-authors to enter into these arrangements. The work described has not been published before (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, review or thesis); it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; its publication has been approved by all author(s)…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access
This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer Review Policy
This journal uses a double-blind peer review process, which means that both reviewer and author's names are concealed throughout the review process. To facilitate this, authors need to ensure that their manuscripts are prepared in a way that does not reveal their identity. Please consider the Editor and Reviewer Guidelines in the About webpage of this journal for more details and stepwise instruct…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
This journal allows posting preprints of the manuscripts submitted for peer-review. Authors are strongly encouraged to use the ARPHA Preprints server for that as an option available during the submission process, which will save a double effort in manuscript submission and allows the preprint to be directly linked to the published article and vice versa. Manuscripts that contain nomenclatural acts…
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.
Before you submit
Five checks before submitting to Rethinking Ecology
- 1ScopeRecent output centres on Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies, Animal Behavior and Reproduction.Check scope
- 2Article type and formatPrepare text, figures and references as the author guidelines ask.Author guidelines ↗
- 3English languagePolish grammar and academic style before you submit: it lowers the risk of rejection for language and improves your chances of acceptance.
- 4FeesEUR 550 (DOAJ), waivers availableFee details
- 5Expected review timeabout 12 weeks · Community averageReview data
The checks are built from this page's data.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Pensoft Publishers
- Country or region
- Bulgaria
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2534-9260
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Rethinking Ecology
How long does peer review take at Rethinking Ecology?
Authors report an average review time of about 12 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 Rethinking Ecology?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Rethinking Ecology is indexed in Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Rethinking Ecology open access, and what is the APC?
Rethinking Ecology is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
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 2026-08-30). Last updated: .