Journal profile · Decision Sciences-Information Systems and Management
Systems
ISSN 2079-8954 · Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) · Switzerland
Systems: CAS Zone 4 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.76; JCR Q1 (journal website); fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; review about 11 weeks (community reports); 1,164 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Systems is published by Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) and is in Zone 4 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Digital Transformation in Industry, Sustainable Supply Chain Management and Energy, Environment, Economic Growth, together about 23.3% of its articles. Its main subfields are Strategy and Management. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
AimsSystems (ISSN 2079-8954) is an international, peer-reviewed journal on systems theory, practice and methodologies, including fields such as systems engineering, management, systems-based project planning, intelligent cities, intelligent planning, health systems, transportation systems, digital systems, environmental management, and complex social systems at the intersection of social and technical systems.We seek papers that emphasize the systemic and holistic nature of these domains, where we consider systems as interrelated elements that form a unified whole where the system is influenced by its environment and described by its boundaries. Papers, therefore, should engage with systems in different topics, methods and theories and not be focused on one narrow or singular aspect of a system. We aim to encourage scientists to publish their experimental, theoretical and practical results in as much detail as possible. We publish original research papers and comprehensive reviews. There is no restriction on the maximum length of the papers. Full experimental and/or methodical details must be provided. Complex mathematical or quantitative modelling not applied to systems are not suitable. There are, in addition, unique features of this journal: manuscripts regarding research proposals and research ideas will be particularly welcomed and electronic files or software regarding the full details of the calculation and experimental procedure—if unpublishable in a normal way—can be categorized as supplementary material.ScopeThe scope of this journal includes, but is not limited to, the following topics: Systems thinking; Socio-technical systems; Action research and intervention-based research; Business and management systems (production and service); Complex systems and complex adaptive systems; Operations/supply chain/logistics/transportation; Systems architecting and systemic design; Systems engineering management; Network and decision theory; Quantum systems theory/applications; System analysis; IS/IT and digitalization; Systems theory and cybernetics; Systems assurance/lifecycle engineering; Artificial intelligence/machine learning; Change management and innovation. MDPI Publication Ethics Statement MDPI is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). MDPI takes the responsibility to enforce a rigorous peer-review together with strict ethical policies and standards to ensure to add high quality scientific works to the field of scholarly publicatio
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Decision Sciences-Information Systems and Management
Editorial board by country: 6 in mainland China (about 19%); most named United States 12, Mainland China 6, Italy 6, United Kingdom 1, Switzerland 1 (31 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Digital Transformation in IndustryEngineering8.1%
- Sustainable Supply Chain ManagementBusiness, Management and Accounting7.7%
- Energy, Environment, Economic GrowthEconomics, Econometrics and Finance7.5%
- Supply Chain Resilience and Risk ManagementBusiness, Management and Accounting6.9%
- Complex Systems and Decision MakingDecision Sciences6.3%
- Innovation and Knowledge ManagementBusiness, Management and Accounting5.3%
- Environmental Sustainability in BusinessBusiness, Management and Accounting5.2%
- Supply Chain and Inventory ManagementBusiness, Management and Accounting4.7%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Sociology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- JCR Q1 · Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary
- CiteScore Q1 · Modeling and Simulation
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
SSCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
EI CompendexWeb of ScienceDBLPPublisher 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
- 3.76LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.8Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.4Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.4LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 5.4Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.64LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.05LetPub ·
- h-index
- 67OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 941OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.08OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 10.5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.96%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 1,175LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 4,184 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1,166 | 1,166 | 670 |
| 2025 | 1,164 | 1,164 | 5,504 |
| 2024 | 598 | 598 | 5,769 |
| 2023 | 571 | 571 | 10,362 |
| 2022 | 281 | 281 | 3,901 |
| 2021 | 95 | 95 | 1,359 |
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
- 19.8 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 2.8 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 2,400 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | CHF 2,400 | — | — | |
| LetPub | CHF 2,400 | 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 papers7, by deadline
- Digital Transformation of Business EcosystemsDeadline
- Governance of System of Systems (SoS)Deadline
- Multi-Objective Decision Making in Supply Chain Management Under UncertaintyDeadline
- Redefining Knowledge Management Systems: The Role of Generative AI in Innovation, Learning, and Knowledge ProcessesDeadline
- Applying Systems Science to Place-Based Systems Change Efforts: Theoretical and Methodological AdvancesDeadline
- Data-Driven Formation and Development of Business EcosystemsDeadline
- Sociotechnical Systems in Engineering EducationDeadline
What 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. The work should report scientifically sound experiments and provide a substantial amount of new information.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 required for all articles. 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
Originality requirement: manuscripts must not be previously published or under consideration elsewhere. Model summary
Systems 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 falsificati…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright / Open Access
Articles published in Systems 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 and co…
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
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
Systems 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 independentl…
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
- Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
- Country or region
- Switzerland
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2079-8954
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 14 (2026)
- 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 Systems
What CAS zone is Systems in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Systems is in Zone 4 of Sociology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Sociology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Systems?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.76; CiteScore 5.4, h-index 67.
How long does peer review take at Systems?
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 Systems in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q1; by category, Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary 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 4 of Sociology.
What are the manuscript requirements of Systems?
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 Systems based?
Of the 31 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 6 (about 19%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (12), Mainland China (6) and Italy (6). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Systems?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Systems is indexed in SSCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists EI Compendex, Web of Science and DBLP; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Systems open access, and what is the APC?
Systems 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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .