Journal profile
Sustainable Earth
ISSN 2520-8748 · BMC · United Kingdom
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Sustainable Earth: fully open access; APC about USD 1,290; median 186 days to acceptance (28 articles, last 24 months); 18 articles in 2025.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Sustainable Earth is published by BMC. By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Environmental and sustainability education, Sustainability in Higher Education and Sustainability and Climate Change Governance, together about 29.1% of its articles. Its main subfields are Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Sustainable Earth Reviews is an open access journal dedicated to advancing sustainability science and its potential to influence policy, promote transferable knowledge, and achieve global sustainable development. The critical challenges and global efforts of sustainability affect every facet of life on Earth. This is a global issue recognized by the United Nations and requires the involvement of a broad range of experts in the natural sciences, engineering, and social sciences. In line with the importance of Nexus approaches in sustainability, Sustainable Earth Reviews fosters integrative discussions that bring together diverse perspectives from across scientific disciplines. To promote a deeper understanding of sustainability science and to translate research into practice, Sustainable Earth Reviews publishes primarily overview-like articles that are able to synthesize existing evidence, innovatively analyze new emerging challenges, formulate effective summaries and practice recommendations, and propose exchanges of broad significance. Content types include a variety of overview formats such as Review, Analysis, Systematic Review, Policy Guidelines, Debate and Perspective. Primary research findings, as well as practical case studies, are considered only when presented as part of a broader analysis. Sustainable Earth Reviews provides a community forum for practitioners and researchers across science disciplines, such as ecology, biodiversity and conservation, earth and environmental sciences, climate and atmospheric sciences, engineering, food security and agriculture, land use and resource management, water management, energy, urban sustainability, as well as public health, education, and economics. It aims to deliver content that is valuable to specialists in specific fields, while also promoting transdisciplinary approaches and holistic solutions. As a community-oriented journal, Sustainable Earth Reviews bridges the gap between academia and the general public. We aim to enhance communication through both traditional and innovative scientific channels, promoting academic discourse that connects sustainability research with societal impact. Sustainable Earth Reviews particularly welcomes innovative and impactful submissions that have the potential to influence policy or shift social paradigms in support of sustainable development. To further advance this vision, the journal will engage authors and readers with contemporary topics of public interest and t
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Editor-in-chief Susie SiewPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 3 in mainland China (about 5%); most named Australia 11, Netherlands 8, United States 5, Singapore 5, India 4 (65 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Environmental and sustainability educationEnvironmental Science10.8%
- Sustainability in Higher EducationSocial Sciences9.5%
- Sustainability and Climate Change GovernanceEnvironmental Science8.9%
- Climate Change Communication and PerceptionSocial Sciences7%
- Sustainable Development and Environmental ManagementEnvironmental Science5.7%
- Climate Change and Sustainable DevelopmentEnvironmental Science5.1%
- Climate Change Policy and EconomicsEconomics, Econometrics and Finance3.8%
- Urban Green Space and HealthEnvironmental Science3.8%
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
Indexing the journal's website claims
CAB AbstractsPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Astrophysics Data System, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS, Semantic Scholar
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
- h-index
- 31OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 63OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 13.62OpenAlex ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 0%LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2,025Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 785,900Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 121 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 11 | 11 | 804 |
| 2025 | 18 | 18 | 864 |
| 2024 | 29 | 29 | 566 |
| 2023 | 18 | 18 | 370 |
| 2022 | 4 | 4 | 230 |
| 2021 | 6 | 6 | 136 |
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 Crossref · to
186 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 125 days – 265 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 19 days (28 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 211 days
- Sample
- 28 articles with submission and acceptance dates (29 in the window); the latest was accepted on
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".
Other sources
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 20 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 11 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 22 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 | GBP 990 / USD 1,290 / EUR 1,190 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 1,340 / EUR 1,240 / GBP 1,040 | — | — | |
| LetPub | GBP 990 / USD 1,290 / EUR 1,190 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | GBP 990 / USD 1,290 / EUR 1,190 | — | — |
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 papers3, by deadline
Publisher websiteWhat to prepare3 items from the author guidelines
- Reference style
- Numbered, in order of citation
- Templates
- LaTeX
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
Article types accepted8
- analysisReview Policy Guidelines Commentary - retired Debate Analysis Systematic Review Systematic Review Protocol PerspectiveLength not stated
- commentaryReview Policy Guidelines Commentary - retired Debate Analysis Systematic Review Systematic Review Protocol PerspectiveLength not stated
- debateReview Policy Guidelines Commentary - retired Debate Analysis Systematic Review Systematic Review Protocol PerspectiveLength not stated
- perspectiveReview Policy Guidelines Commentary - retired Debate Analysis Systematic Review Systematic Review Protocol PerspectiveLength not stated
- policy guidelinesReview Policy Guidelines Commentary - retired Debate Analysis Systematic Review Systematic Review Protocol PerspectiveLength not stated
- reviewReview Policy Guidelines Commentary - retired Debate Analysis Systematic Review Systematic Review Protocol PerspectiveLength not stated
- systematic reviewReview Policy Guidelines Commentary - retired Debate Analysis Systematic Review Systematic Review Protocol PerspectiveLength not stated
- systematic review protocolReview Policy Guidelines Commentary - retired Debate Analysis Systematic Review Systematic Review Protocol PerspectiveLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Data availability, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- Authorship
Manuscripts must be submitted by an author, not a third party. Model summary
Please note that a manuscript can only be submitted by an author of the manuscript and may not be submitted by a third party.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Formatting the 'Availability of data and materials' section of your manuscript
Data sharing strongly encouraged or required; deposit in public repositories where appropriate. Model summary
The following format for the 'Availability of data and materials section of your manuscript should be used:
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Licensing and copyright
Creative Commons licences Open access articles in Springer Nature journals are published under Creative Commons licences. These provide an industry-standard framework to support easy re-use of open access material. Under Creative Commons licences, authors retain copyright of their articles. Sustainable Earth Reviews articles are published open access under a CC BY-NC-ND (Creative Commons Attributi…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Benefits of open access
Publishing open access (OA) offers a number of benefits, including greater reach and readership for your work: Cited more 1.6x more citations of OA articles than non-OA articles across all subjects Downloaded more 4x more downloads of OA articles than non-OA articles Greater impact 2.5x more Altmetric attention. OA articles attracted 1.9x more news mentions and 1.2x more policy mentions Open acces…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review policy
Peer review is the process used to evaluate the quality of a manuscript before publication. Independent researchers in the relevant field assess submitted manuscripts to check their validity and robustness. Their feedback guides editors in making publication decisions. Typically, two or more experts evaluate each manuscript based on three main criteria: scientific robustness: is the research metho…
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 Sustainable Earth
- 1ScopeRecent output centres on Environmental and sustainability education, Sustainability in Higher Education.Check scope
- 2Article type and formatReference style: Numbered, in order of citation; Templates: LaTeX; Suggested reviewers: Optional.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.
- 4FeesGBP 990 (DOAJ), waivers availableFee details
- 5Expected review time186 days · Median, submission to acceptance · 28 articles, last 24 months · CrossrefReview data
The checks are built from this page's data.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- BMC
- Country or region
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2520-8748
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- 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 Sustainable Earth
How long does peer review take at Sustainable Earth?
Based on the dates recorded on 28 articles published between November 2024 and November 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 186 days (interquartile range 125–265 days); authors report an average review time of about 20 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 are the manuscript requirements of Sustainable Earth?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Reference style: Numbered, in order of citation; Templates: LaTeX; Suggested reviewers: Optional. 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 Sustainable Earth based?
Of the 65 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 3 (about 5%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Australia (11), Netherlands (8) and United States (5). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Sustainable Earth?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Sustainable Earth is indexed in DOAJ. The journal's website also lists CAB Abstracts; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Sustainable Earth open access, and what is the APC?
Sustainable Earth is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 1,290.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .