Journal profile · ENGINEERING, CIVIL
Underground Space
ISSN 2096-2754 · eISSN 2467-9674 · KEAI PUBLISHING LTD · PEOPLES R CHINA
Underground Space: CAS Zone 1 · Engineering (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 9.56; diamond open access (no APC); no APC; review about 11 weeks (community reports); 121 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Underground Space is published by KEAI PUBLISHING LTD and is in Zone 1 of Engineering in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Geotechnical Engineering and Underground Structures, Geotechnical Engineering and Analysis and Civil and Geotechnical Engineering Research, together about 38.4% of its articles. Its main subfields are Civil and Structural Engineering. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Underground Space is an open access international journal committed to serving as a scientific forum for researchers and practitioners in the field of underground engineering. The journal welcomes manuscripts that deal with original theories, methods, technologies, and important applications throughout the life-cycle of underground projects, including planning, design, operation and maintenance, disaster prevention, and demolition. The journal is particularly interested in manuscripts related to the latest development of smart underground engineering from the perspectives of resilience, resources saving, environmental friendliness, humanity, and artificial intelligence. The manuscripts are expected to have significant innovation and potential impact in the field of underground engineering, and should have clear association with or application in underground projects. The following are some examples about whether or not a manuscript is considered within the scope of this journal: A manuscript on constitutive modeling with no significant connection with underground space is out of the scope of the journal, but a manuscript about constitutive modeling for solving underground space problems such as predicting tunnel deformation and stability is considered within the scope of the journal.A manuscript on piling engineering with no significant connection with underground space is out of the scope of the journal, but a manuscript about the interactions between piles and underground structures such as tunnels is considered within the scope of the journal.A manuscript on slope stability with no significant connection with underground space is out of the scope of the journal, but a manuscript about the interaction between slopes and underground structures such as tunnels is considered within the scope of the journal. Editorial Board
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): ENGINEERING, CIVIL
Editor-in-chief Hehua ZhuPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 15 in mainland China (about 17%); most named Mainland China 15, Australia 10, United States 9, Japan 8, United Kingdom 6 (89 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Geotechnical Engineering and Underground StructuresEngineering14.2%
- Geotechnical Engineering and AnalysisEngineering13.8%
- Civil and Geotechnical Engineering ResearchEngineering10.4%
- Rock Mechanics and ModelingEngineering7.2%
- Geomechanics and Mining EngineeringEngineering7.1%
- Tunneling and Rock MechanicsEngineering5.9%
- Grouting, Rheology, and Soil MechanicsEngineering5.8%
- Underground infrastructure and sustainabilityEngineering5%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Engineering Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Engineering, Civil | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Engineering Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Engineering, Civil | Zone 1 |
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, Civil | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
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
- 9.56LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 9.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 15.8LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 15.8Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 2.1LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 2.68LetPub ·
- h-index
- 60OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 457OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 8.35OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5.3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.4%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 123LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,189 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 80 | 80 | 94 |
| 2025 | 121 | 121 | 664 |
| 2024 | 99 | 99 | 1,748 |
| 2023 | 130 | 130 | 3,597 |
| 2022 | 69 | 69 | 2,666 |
| 2021 | 49 | 49 | 1,634 |
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 publication (journal-reported)
- about 11 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
Diamond open access (no APC)DOAJ
Every article is open access and authors pay no article processing charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | No APC | No | CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 0 | — | — | |
| LetPub | No APC | No | — | |
| 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 papers3, by deadline
- Special Issue on Geo-Infrastructure Intelligence: Integrating Artificial Intelligence with Physical Laws for Next-Generation Underground EngineeringDeadline
- Special Issue on Mechanism and Prevention of Rockburst Disasters in Deep Underground EngineeringDeadline
- Special Issue on Multiscale Failure Mechanisms, Intelligent Sensing, and Risk Control of Tunnels under Complex Geological ConditionsDeadline
What to prepare7 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 3
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 9,000 words
- Reference style
- APA
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
- Highlights
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted5, with length limits
- letterUNDSP publishes: Article typeRequirementsResearch paperRegular articles are expected not to exceed 15 printed pages (about 9,000 words, including tables and ref…Length not stated
- research paperSP publishes: Article type Requirements Research paper Regular articles are expected not to exceed 15 printed pages (about 9,000 words, including tables and ref…main text ≤ 9,000 words
- reviewUNDSP publishes: Article typeRequirementsResearch paperRegular articles are expected not to exceed 15 printed pages (about 9,000 words, including tables and ref…Length not stated
- review articlen from the Editor-in-Chief is obtained. Review Article Review articles are suggested to be no more than 20 printed pages (about 12,000 words, including tables a…main text ≤ 12,000 words
- technical noteUNDSP publishes: Article typeRequirementsResearch paperRegular articles are expected not to exceed 15 printed pages (about 9,000 words, including tables and ref…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, 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 to…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Authorship
All authors should have made substantial contributions to all of the following: The conception and design of the study, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of dataDrafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content.Final approval of the version to be submitted. All authors are accountable for all aspects of the work, to ensure that questions related…
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 ·- License & copyright Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND)
Allows users to: distribute and copy the article; and include in a collective work (such as an anthology). These uses are permitted only for non-commercial purposes, and provided the user: gives appropriate credit to the author(s) (with a link to the formal publication through the relevant DOI); provides a link to the license; and does not alter or modify the article. If you need to comply with yo…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access KeAi Guide for authors: Open Access
This is an open access journal: all articles will be immediately and permanently free for everyone to read and download. To provide open access, this journal has an open access fee (also known as an article publishing charge APC) which needs to be paid by the authors or on their behalf e.g. by their research funder or institution. Permitted third party (re)use is defined by the following Creative …
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 to determine suitability for publication in this journal. If your submission is deemed suitable, it will typically be sent to a minimum of two reviewers for an independent expert assessment of the scientific quality. The decision as to whether your article is accepted or rejected will…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism
Plagiarism screening via iThenticate CrossCheck. Model summary
Submissions to KeAi journals are automatically screened using iThenticate's CrossCheck within the editorial system to detect plagiarism issues including instances of overlapping and similar text in submitted manuscripts.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprint sharing
Preprint sharing allowed. Model summary
Authors 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.
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
- KEAI PUBLISHING LTD
- Country or region
- PEOPLES R CHINA
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2096-2754
- Electronic ISSN
- 2467-9674
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Underground Space
What CAS zone is Underground Space in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Underground Space is in Zone 1 of Engineering, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Engineering, Civil; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Engineering. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Underground Space?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 9.56; CiteScore 15.8, h-index 60.
How long does peer review take at Underground Space?
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 are the manuscript requirements of Underground Space?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Keywords: ≥ 3; Manuscript length: ≤ 9,000 words; Reference style: APA; Suggested reviewers: Optional; Highlights: 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 Underground Space based?
Of the 89 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 15 (about 17%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (15), Australia (10) and United States (9). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Underground Space?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Underground Space is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Underground Space open access, and what is the APC?
Underground Space is a diamond open-access journal (no APC). It charges no article processing charge.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, Publisher website, 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: .