Journal profile · Engineering, Industrial
Safety Science
ISSN 0925-7535 · eISSN 1879-1042 · Elsevier · NETHERLANDS · Monthly · Founded 1991
Safety Science: CAS Zone 2 · Engineering (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 6.12; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,360; review about 176 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); community-reported acceptance: about 50%; 259 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Safety Science is published by Elsevier and is in Zone 2 of Engineering in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Occupational Health and Safety Research, Risk and Safety Analysis and Traffic and Road Safety, together about 53.2% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Safety Science serves as an international medium for research in the science and technology of human and industrial safety. It extends from safety of people at work to other spheres, such as transport, energy or infrastructures, as well as every other field of man's hazardous activities.Safety Science is multidisciplinary. Its contributors and its audience range from social scientists to engineers. The journal covers the physics and engineering of safety; its social, policy and organizational aspects; the assessment, management and communication of risks; the effectiveness of control and management techniques for safety; standardization, legislation, inspection, insurance, costing aspects, human behavior and safety and the like.Papers addressing the interfaces between technology, people and organizations are especially welcome.Safety Science will enable academic researchers, engineers and decision-makers in companies, government agencies and international bodies, to augment their information level on the latest trends in the field, from policy-makers and management scientists to engineers.The journal focuses primarily on original research papers across its whole scope, but also welcomes state-of-the-art review papers and first-hand case histories on accidents and disasters of special significance and discussion papers on hot topics.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Engineering, Industrial
Editor-in-chief Georgios BoustrasPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 17 in mainland China (about 12%); most named United Kingdom 21, Mainland China 17, Australia 13, United States 12, Norway 11 (140 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Occupational Health and Safety ResearchHealth Professions25.9%
- Risk and Safety AnalysisDecision Sciences19.1%
- Traffic and Road SafetyEngineering8.2%
- Human-Automation Interaction and SafetyPsychology5.3%
- Safety Warnings and SignagePsychology4.1%
- Evacuation and Crowd DynamicsEngineering4%
- Quality and Safety in HealthcareHealth Professions3.7%
- Human auditory perception and evaluationEngineering2.5%
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, Industrial | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Operations Research & Management Science | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Engineering Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Engineering, Industrial | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Operations Research & Management Science | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Engineering Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Engineering, Industrial | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Operations Research & Management Science | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview 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
- 6.12LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 6.2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 13.7LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 13.7Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.44LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 2.26LetPub ·
- h-index
- 90LetPub ·
- h-index
- 202OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 4,735OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 6.01OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 8.1%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 49.28%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 238LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 6,566 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 313 | 192 | 175 |
| 2025 | 259 | 151 | 1,381 |
| 2024 | 274 | 147 | 3,528 |
| 2023 | 287 | 148 | 6,418 |
| 2022 | 318 | 139 | 8,755 |
| 2021 | 416 | 178 | 15,188 |
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 1 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)
- about 3.1 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- 50%LetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 8 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 64 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 176 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 9 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Double 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 4,360 / EUR 4,080 / GBP 3,490 / JPY 540,770 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 4,150 | — | — |
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 papers6, by deadline
- 50 years of Safety Science Anniversary SIDeadline
- Interdisciplinary Approaches to Electric Micromobility SafetyDeadline
- Nudging Crowds: Subtle Interventions for Safe and Efficient Crowd ManagementDeadline
- 50 Years since the Seveso disaster – Lessons Learnt, Challenges, and Future DirectionsDeadline
- Ensuring Safety in Digital and Autonomous Transport Systems: From Theory to PracticeDeadline
- Pedestrian and Evacuation Dynamics 2027Deadline
What to prepare2 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Reference style
- Numbered, in order of citation
Article types accepted8
- book reviewResearch Paper; Paper with newly collected or analysed data, experimental or survey results, or a proposed new theory or model supported by analysis and argumen…Length not stated
- case study of accident or incidentCase Study of accident or incident; Description and analysis of a single accident or incident, or a small number of these, providing some depth of understanding…Length not stated
- letterResearch Paper; Paper with newly collected or analysed data, experimental or survey results, or a proposed new theory or model supported by analysis and argumen…Length not stated
- letter to the editorResearch Paper; Paper with newly collected or analysed data, experimental or survey results, or a proposed new theory or model supported by analysis and argumen…Length not stated
- research paperResearch Paper; Paper with newly collected or analysed data, experimental or survey results, or a proposed new theory or model supported by analysis and argumen…Length not stated
- reviewResearch Paper; Paper with newly collected or analysed data, experimental or survey results, or a proposed new theory or model supported by analysis and argumen…Length not stated
- review paperReview Paper; Paper with a comprehensive review of the literature on a specified topic, which updates previously published reviews, or proposes new interpretati…Length not stated
- surveyResearch Paper; Paper with newly collected or analysed data, experimental or survey results, or a proposed new theory or model supported by analysis and argumen…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- AI use Declaration of generative AI use
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 Group authorship
Corresponding author Model summary
Group authorship refers to the attribution of an article to a defined and named group of authors whose members have contributed to the work. Examples include research consortia, clinical trial groups, collaborative networks, task forces or working groups, expert panels or consensus groups, and participatory research groups. Group authorship must be declared on the title page at submission. When av…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Declaration of competing interests
All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence or bias their work. Examples of potential competing interests include:EmploymentConsultanciesStock ownershipHonorariaPaid expert testimonyPatent applications or registrationsGrants or any other fundingAffiliation with the journal as an Editor or Advisory Board …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics
Ethics in publishing Model summary
Authors must follow ethical guidelines stated in Elsevier's Publishing Ethics Policy.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright License options
Authors will be offered open access user license options which will determine how you, and third parties, can reuse your open access article. We advise that you review these options and any funding body license requirements before selecting a license option.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access
We refer you to our open access information page to learn about open access options for this journal.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review
Double anonymized peer review Model summary
This journal follows a double anonymized review process. Your submission will initially be assessed by our editors. If your submission is deemed suitable, it will typically be sent to be reviewed by a minimum of one reviewer for an independent expert assessment of the scientific quality. The decision as to whether your article is accepted or rejected for publication will be made by our editors.Rea…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
Preprint sharing Model summary
Preprint sharingAuthors may share preprints in line with Elsevier's article sharing policy. Sharing preprints, such as on a preprint server, will not count as prior publication.We advise you to read our policy on multiple, redundant or concurrent publication. In support of Open Science, this journal offers its authors a free preprint posting service on SSRN, Elsevier’s preprint and early research …
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
- Country or region
- NETHERLANDS
- Language
- Multi-Language
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Founded
- 1991
- ISSN
- 0925-7535
- Electronic ISSN
- 1879-1042
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Safety Science
What CAS zone is Safety Science in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Safety Science is in Zone 2 of Engineering, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Engineering, Industrial / Operations Research & Management Science; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Engineering. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Safety Science?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 6.12; CiteScore 13.7, h-index 202.
How long does peer review take at Safety Science?
The publisher reports about 176 days (submission to acceptance); authors report an average review time of about 3.1 months; the community-reported acceptance is “about 50%”. 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 Safety Science?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Reference style: Numbered, in order of citation. 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 Safety Science based?
Of the 140 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 17 (about 12%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (21), Mainland China (17) and Australia (13). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Safety Science?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Safety Science is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is Safety Science open access, and what is the APC?
Safety Science is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,360.
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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .