Journal profile · Multiple
Smart Cities
ISSN 2624-6511 · MDPI AG · Switzerland
Smart Cities: CAS Zone 3 · Economics (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 6.6 (journal website); JCR Q1 (journal website); fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; review about 11 weeks (community reports); 213 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Smart Cities is published by MDPI AG and is in Zone 3 of Economics in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Smart Cities and Technologies, Human Mobility and Location-Based Analysis and Transportation and Mobility Innovations, together about 36% of its articles. Its main subfields are Transportation. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
This journal encompasses all topics relating to various aspects of smart cities research. Topics include, but are not limited to, the following: Core Technologies & Methods for Smart Cities artificial intelligence (AI) & machine learning Internet of Things (IoT) & sensor networks big data analytics & urban informatics digital twins & urban modeling blockchain technology 5G/6G & advanced communication networks cloud/edge computing cyber-physical systems Key Application Areas in Smart Cities smart mobility & transportation (e.g., MaaS) smart energy systems & grids sustainable & resilient infrastructure urban governance & citizen engagement smart buildings & urban planning social sustainability & quality of life connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) water and waste management logistics and supply chains Cross-Cutting Themes in Smart Cities metaverse for smart cities human-centric design & inclusivity cybersecurity & privacy policy, AI ethics & governance citizen engagement public participation Sustainability, Resilience & Environment in Smart Cities urban sustainability urban resilience urban environmental monitoring urban climate change adaptation urban circular economy urban green infrastructure urban disaster management
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Multiple
Editorial board by country: 4 in mainland China (about 13%); most named United States 6, Italy 6, Mainland China 4, United Kingdom 4, Spain 3 (32 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Smart Cities and TechnologiesEngineering20%
- Human Mobility and Location-Based AnalysisSocial Sciences10.2%
- Transportation and Mobility InnovationsEngineering5.8%
- IoT and Edge/Fog ComputingComputer Science5.4%
- Transportation Planning and OptimizationSocial Sciences5.2%
- Smart Grid Energy ManagementEngineering5%
- Urban Transport and AccessibilitySocial Sciences4.8%
- Innovative Approaches in Technology and Social DevelopmentBusiness, Management and Accounting4.6%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Economics Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Economics | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Engineering, Electrical & Electronic | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Urban Studies | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Economics Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Economics | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Engineering, Electrical & Electronic | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Urban Studies | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- JCR Q1 · Urban Studies
- CiteScore Q1 · Urban Studies
Publisher-reported: JCR figures are Clarivate's and CiteScore figures Scopus's to confirm; both are a different system from the CAS zones.Publisher website
Database indexing
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of ScienceINSPECPublisher website
As the journal's website lists them, not checked against each database; for Web of Science editions the records above apply.
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 (publisher) 2025
- 6.6Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 7.2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 13LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.19LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.92LetPub ·
- h-index
- 69OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 503OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 10.13OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 7.6%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 215LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,165 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 158 | 158 | 142 |
| 2025 | 213 | 213 | 1,953 |
| 2024 | 181 | 181 | 3,498 |
| 2023 | 170 | 170 | 3,886 |
| 2022 | 131 | 131 | 3,853 |
| 2021 | 76 | 76 | 6,722 |
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 11 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 25.1 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 4.5 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 6 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Single 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 | CHF 2,000 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | CHF 2,000 | — | — | |
| LetPub | CHF 2,000 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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 papers4, by deadline
Publisher websiteWhat to prepare7 items from the author guidelines
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Required, 3
- Highlights
- Required
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted20
- articleArticle: These are original research manuscripts.Length not stated
- book reviewAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- brief communicationAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- brief reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- case reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- commentaryAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- conference reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- editorialAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- hypothesisAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- letterAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- opinionAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- perspectiveAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- protocolAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- registered reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- reviewAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- scoping reviewA Scoping Review type can be submitted as a Review.Length not stated
- systematic reviewAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- technical noteAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- tutorialAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- viewpointAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- Authorship Authorship
MDPI follows the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines which state that, in order to qualify for authorship of a manuscript, the following criteria should be observed: Make substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; Draft the work or review it critically for important intel…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflicts of Interest
According to The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, “Authors should avoid entering into agreements with study sponsors, both for-profit and non-profit, that interfere with authors’ access to all of the study’s data or that interfere with their ability to analyze and interpret the data and to prepare and publish manuscripts independently when and where they choose.” All authors mus…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability statements
Data availability statements are mandatory. Model summary
Data availability statements are required for all articles published with MDPI. During the peer review and editorial decision process, authors can be asked to share existing datasets or raw data that have been analyzed in the manuscript, and whether they will be made available to other researchers following publication. Authors will also be asked for the details of any existing datasets that have …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Publication Ethics Statement
Citation policy requires clear sourcing and permission. Model summary
MDPI is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). We fully adhere to its Code of Conduct and to its Best Practice Guidelines. The editors of this journal enforce a rigorous peer review process together with strict ethical policies and standards to ensure to add high quality scientific works to the field of scholarly publication. Unfortunately, cases of plagiarism, data falsification,…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright / Open Access
Articles published in Smart Cities will be Open-Access articles distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The copyright is retained by the author(s). MDPI will insert the following note at the end of the published text: © 2026 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms a…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publication fees
Open access licensing for all articles. Model summary
If you transfer your manuscript to another open access (OA) journal, you will be charged an Article Processing Charge (APC) if your article is accepted for publication. The APC for each journal can be found on the individual journal’s website. For more information about APCs, please see here.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Editorial Process and Peer Review
Feature papers are invited submissions of high-impact research. Model summary
All submissions are thoroughly peer-reviewed by experts within the field and undergo a structured editorial workflow designed to ensure quality, transparency, and scientific integrity. The full editorial procedure is available on the Editorial Process page and is also provided below. Pre-check Pre-check consists of a technical pre-check performed by the Editorial Office and an editorial pre-check …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints and Conference Papers
Smart Cities accepts submissions that have previously been made available as preprints provided that they have not undergone peer review. A preprint is a draft version of a paper made available online before submission to a journal. MDPI operates Preprints, a preprint server to which submitted papers can be uploaded directly after completing journal submission. Note that Preprints operates indepen…
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
- MDPI AG
- Country or region
- Switzerland
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2624-6511
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 9 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Smart Cities
What CAS zone is Smart Cities in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Smart Cities is in Zone 3 of Economics, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Engineering, Electrical & Electronic / Urban Studies. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Economics. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Smart Cities?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 6.6 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 13, h-index 69.
How long does peer review take at Smart Cities?
Authors report an average review time of about 11 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.
What JCR quartile is Smart Cities in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q1; by category, Urban Studies Q1. JCR quartiles are Clarivate's to confirm and a different system from the CAS zones; in the CAS ranking the journal is in Zone 3 of Economics.
What are the manuscript requirements of Smart Cities?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Reference style: Author–date; Templates: LaTeX and Word; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Required, 3; Highlights: Required; Graphical abstract: Optional; Cover letter: 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 Smart Cities based?
Of the 32 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 4 (about 13%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (6), Italy (6) and Mainland China (4). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Smart Cities?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Smart Cities is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science and INSPEC; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Smart Cities open access, and what is the APC?
Smart Cities is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, DOAJ; 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: .