Journal profile · Engineering-Engineering (miscellaneous)
Water Cycle
ISSN 2666-4453 · KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. · China
Water Cycle: CAS Zone 4 · Environmental Science & Ecology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 7.9 (journal website); fully open access; APC about USD 700; review about 8 weeks (community reports); 56 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Water Cycle is published by KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. and is in Zone 4 of Environmental Science & Ecology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Membrane Separation Technologies, Wastewater Treatment and Reuse and Advanced oxidation water treatment, together about 20.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are Water Science and Technology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Water Cycle is an interdisciplinary open access journal that publishes top-tier original research in all areas of water cycles, including meta-cycles. It examines their relationship to science, technology, society, economics, health, culture, policy, regulation and strategy. It also offers water academics, engineers and practitioners the opportunity to exchange knowledge and experience.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Engineering-Engineering (miscellaneous)
Editor-in-chief Hong-Ying HuPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 16 in mainland China (about 41%); most named Mainland China 16, United States 5, Japan 4, Ireland 2, United Kingdom 1 (39 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Membrane Separation TechnologiesEnvironmental Science6.9%
- Wastewater Treatment and ReuseEnvironmental Science6.9%
- Advanced oxidation water treatmentEnvironmental Science6.6%
- Water Treatment and DisinfectionEnvironmental Science6.3%
- Constructed Wetlands for Wastewater TreatmentEnvironmental Science6%
- Hydrology and Watershed Management StudiesEnvironmental Science5.4%
- Advanced Photocatalysis TechniquesEnergy5.1%
- Wastewater Treatment and Nitrogen RemovalEnvironmental Science5.1%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Water Resources | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Water Resources | Zone 1 |
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)
- 7.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 11.2LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 11.2Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.43LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.49LetPub ·
- h-index
- 28OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 89OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 5.65OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5.1%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 45LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 220 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 40 | 40 | 18 |
| 2025 | 56 | 56 | 250 |
| 2024 | 43 | 43 | 518 |
| 2023 | 29 | 29 | 955 |
| 2022 | 22 | 22 | 439 |
| 2021 | 12 | 12 | 338 |
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 8 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 8 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 | USD 700 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 1,100 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 1,100 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 1,100 | — | — |
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)
What to prepare2 items from the author guidelines
- Reference style
- Numbered, in order of citation
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
Article types accepted14, with length limits
- case studyContributions falling into the following categories will be considered for publication: Research Papers should report on innovation and significant findings of …Length not stated
- editorialContributions falling into the following categories will be considered for publication: Research Papers should report on innovation and significant findings of …Length not stated
- editorialsEditorials are published by Editor-in-Chief, or other members from Editorial Board or Guest Editors.Length not stated
- original researchContributions falling into the following categories will be considered for publication: Research Papers should report on innovation and significant findings of …Length not stated
- original research paperContributions falling into the following categories will be considered for publication: Research Papers should report on innovation and significant findings of …Length not stated
- research paperContributions falling into the following categories will be considered for publication: Research Papers should report on innovation and significant findings of …Length not stated
- research papersResearch Papers should report on innovation and significant findings of original research, and should contain at least 4 figures and tablesLength not stated
- review articleContributions falling into the following categories will be considered for publication: Research Papers should report on innovation and significant findings of …Length not stated
- review articlesReview Articles should distill most recent progress and achievements and discuss trends in a particular scientific research field.Length not stated
- short communicationContributions falling into the following categories will be considered for publication: Research Papers should report on innovation and significant findings of …main text ≤ 2,000 words
- short communicationsShort Communications should be complete and should not exceed 2000 words (abstract should not exceed 150 words) and include no more than 15 references, and shou…Length not stated
- short reviewContributions falling into the following categories will be considered for publication: Research Papers should report on innovation and significant findings of …Length not stated
- short reviewsShort Reviews should provide a succinct summary and comment of a particular scientific research topic.Length not stated
- smart articlesSmart Articles give smart insights into a particular topic with smart paper style and smart editing process.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- Authorship Changes to authorship
The editors of this journal generally will not consider changes to authorship once a manuscript has been submitted. It is important that authors carefully consider the authorship list and order of authors and provide a definitive author list at original submission. The policy of this journal around authorship changes: All authors must be listed in the manuscript and their details entered into the …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Declaration of competing interest
From 2025, 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 Adv…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright
This journal is a peer-reviewed, fully open access journal owned by KeAi, who retains copyright of the overall compiled journal and the compiled issues. For the single article, Authors will retain copyright alongside scholarly usage rights, and KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. will be granted non-exclusive publishing and distribution rights.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access 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
This journal operates a single blind review process. All contributions will be initially assessed by the editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then typically sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The Editor is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. The Editor's dec…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprint posting on SSRN
In support of Open Science, this journal offers its authors a free preprint posting service. Preprints provide early registration and dissemination of your research, which facilitates early citations and collaboration.<P>During submission to Editorial Manager, you can choose to release your manuscript publicly as a preprint on the preprint server SSRN once it enters peer-review with the journal. Y…
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 Communications Co., Ltd.
- Country or region
- China
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2666-4453
- 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 Water Cycle
What CAS zone is Water Cycle in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Water Cycle is in Zone 4 of Environmental Science & Ecology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Water Resources. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Environmental Science & Ecology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Water Cycle?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 7.9; this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 11.2, h-index 28.
How long does peer review take at Water Cycle?
Authors report an average review time of about 8 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 Water Cycle?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Reference style: Numbered, in order of citation; Graphical abstract: 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 Water Cycle based?
Of the 39 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 16 (about 41%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (16), United States (5) and Japan (4). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Water Cycle?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Water Cycle is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Water Cycle open access, and what is the APC?
Water Cycle is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 700.
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: .