Journal profile · Agricultural and Biological Sciences-Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous)
Vegetation Classification and Survey VCS
ISSN 2683-0671 · Pensoft Publishers · Bulgaria
Vegetation Classification and Survey VCS: CAS Zone 3 · Environmental Science & Ecology (2026 Xinrui edition); impact factor 2.7 (journal website); fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; review about 12 weeks (community reports); 21 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Vegetation Classification and Survey VCS is published by Pensoft Publishers and is classed under Environmental Science & Ecology in the CAS Journal Ranking. By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Botany and Plant Ecology Studies, Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies and Mediterranean and Iberian flora and fauna, together about 49.1% of its articles. Its main subfields are Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics and Plant Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Vegetation Classification and Survey (VCS) is an international, peer-reviewed, online journal of plant community ecology published on behalf of the International Association for Vegetation Science (IAVS) together with its sister journals, Journal of Vegetation Science (JVS) and Applied Vegetation Science (AVS). It is devoted to vegetation survey and classification at any organizational and spatial scale and without restriction to certain methodological approaches.The journal publishes original papers that develop new vegetation typologies as well as applied studies that use such typologies, for example, in vegetation mapping, ecosystem modelling, nature conservation, land use management or monitoring. Particularly encouraged are methodological studies that design and compare tools for vegetation classification and mapping, such as algorithms, databases and nomenclatural principles. Papers dealing with conceptual and theoretical bases of vegetation survey and classification are also welcome. While large-scale studies are preferred, regional studies will be considered when filling important knowledge gaps or presenting new methods. VCS also contains Permanent Collections on "Ecoinformatics" and "Phytosociological Nomenclature".Papers on vegetation science which do not fit to this scope (do not have a typological approach and are not in ecoinformatics) should be directed to our sister journals, the ournal of Vegetation Science (JVS) for fundamental and theoretical studies and Applied Vegetation Science (AVS) for applied studies (conservation, management and restoration).The journal is published online only.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Agricultural and Biological Sciences-Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous)
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named Spain 1, Switzerland 1, Austria 1 (3 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Botany and Plant Ecology StudiesAgricultural and Biological Sciences17.2%
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics StudiesEnvironmental Science17%
- Mediterranean and Iberian flora and faunaAgricultural and Biological Sciences15%
- Bryophyte Studies and RecordsAgricultural and Biological Sciences7.2%
- Species Distribution and Climate ChangeEnvironmental Science6.5%
- Plant Taxonomy and PhylogeneticsAgricultural and Biological Sciences5.7%
- Botany, Ecology, and Taxonomy StudiesAgricultural and Biological Sciences4%
- Plant Ecology and Taxonomy StudiesAgricultural and Biological Sciences4%
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)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Plant Sciences | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Ecology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
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 (publisher)
- 2.7Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.7LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 4.7Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.92LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.18LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher)
- 1.18Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 14OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 30OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.67OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 33.3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 20LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 150 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 9 | 9 | 3 |
| 2025 | 21 | 21 | 43 |
| 2024 | 24 | 24 | 98 |
| 2023 | 25 | 25 | 278 |
| 2022 | 23 | 23 | 191 |
| 2021 | 26 | 26 | 227 |
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 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 12 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Double 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 | EUR 2,000 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | EUR 750 | — | — | |
| LetPub | EUR 2,000 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | EUR 250 / EUR 125 / EUR 500 / EUR 1,000 / EUR 150 / EUR 225 / EUR 300 | — | — |
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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- AI use Use of AI
Authors must be transparent about the use of Artificial Intelligence tools such as ChatGPT and other large language models in the manuscript preparation, and disclose details of how the AI tool was used within the "Materials and Methods" section.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Authorship/Contributorship
Some journals are integrated with Contributor Role Taxonomy (CRediT), in order to recognise individual author input within a publication, thereby ensuring professional and ethical conduct, while avoiding authorship disputes, gift / ghost authorship and similar pressing issues in academic publishing. During manuscript submission, the submitting author is strongly recommended to specify a contributo…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflict of interest
During the editorial process, the following relationships between Editors, Authors and Reviewers are considered potential conflicts of interest: Current or recent colleagues at the same institution, close collaborators, doctoral students for which the editor served as committee chair and vice versa, as well as family members. The Receiving Editor will assign a Subject Editor who is, as far as poss…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement
GeneralThe publishing ethics and malpractice policies follow the IAVS Code of Professional Ethics, Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (joint statement by COPE, DOAJ, WAME, and OASPA), the NISO Recommended Practices for the Presentation and Identification of E-Journals (PIE-J), and, where relevant, the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Public…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright License and Copyright Agreement
In submitting the manuscript to any of Pensoft’s journals, authors certify that: They are authorized by their co-authors to enter into these arrangements. The work described has not been published before (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, review or thesis); it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; its publication has been approved by all author(s)…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access
This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Double-Blind Peer Review
This journal uses double-blind peer review to ensure that reviewer reports are not (positively or negatively) biased by knowing the identity of the authors.
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
- Pensoft Publishers
- Country or region
- Bulgaria
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2683-0671
- Society / sponsor
- International Association for Vegetation Science
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- 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
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Vegetation Classification and Survey VCS
What CAS zone is Vegetation Classification and Survey VCS in?
In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Environmental Science & Ecology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Vegetation Classification and Survey VCS?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 2.7; this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 4.7, h-index 14.
How long does peer review take at Vegetation Classification and Survey VCS?
Authors report an average review time of about 12 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Vegetation Classification and Survey VCS based?
Of the 3 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Spain (1), Switzerland (1) and Austria (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Vegetation Classification and Survey VCS?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Vegetation Classification and Survey VCS is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Vegetation Classification and Survey VCS open access, and what is the APC?
Vegetation Classification and Survey VCS is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
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: .