Journal rankings · indicator year 2021
Choose a field to open its ranking, or a journal to find its row in its subfield’s list.
Field ranking · 2021
Environmental Science journal rankings 2021
945 ranked journals · Field in Physical Sciences
Environmental Science has 945 ranked journals in 2021. The median journal has an OJR of 0.80, below the world average of 1.00, down 0.03 on 2020; Q1 starts at OJR 1.43. The top three are Reviews of Geophysics, Nature Climate Change, and Nature Sustainability.
Ranks and citation indicators: 2021. Journal access status and listed APC: source snapshot September 23, 2026.
Journals whose main subfield sits in this category and that published at least 30 citable documents (articles, reviews and conference papers) in 2018–2020, the window the 2021 score is computed on.
The OpenJournalRank Indicator (OJR) is a free, publicly available metric of a journal’s field-normalized citation impact, computed from open OpenAlex citation data. It compares citations to a journal’s papers from the previous three years with the world average for papers of the same subfield, year and type, so 1.00 is the world average and values can be compared across fields. It is computed with the NCI3 method.
The middle OJR among ranked journals in this category: half score higher, half lower. 1.00 is the world average for papers of the same subfield, year and type.
The dot is this category, the solid tick is the median of all ranked journals and the dashed line is the world average.
Share of ranked journals in this category that are fully open access, so every paper is free to read. Hybrid journals, which sell subscriptions and open single papers for a fee, are not counted.
Median list price of the article processing charge, in US dollars, among ranked journals in this category that list a price above zero. Journals with a listed APC of $0 and journals with no known price are left out of this median. The At a glance table below gives a second median that includes the $0 prices.
Subfields in Environmental Science (11)
Up to Physical Sciences945 ranked journals
Filters
Rank is the position by OJR within the list on screen; 1 is the highest. | OJR is field-normalized 3-year citation impact: 1.00 is the world average for papers of the same subfield, year and type, so values compare across fields. The badge is the journal’s quartile in this list. | Citations per paper over a two-year window, counted from OpenAlex. It is not field-normalized, so compare it only between journals of the same field. ▲ or ▼ is the change from 2020. This is OpenJournalRank’s own count, not Clarivate’s Journal Impact Factor. | Citable documents (articles, reviews and conference papers) published in 2018–2020, the window the 2021 OJR is computed on. A journal needs at least 30 to be ranked. | Share of the journal’s 2018–2020 papers that are free to read in any open-access form. The green OA tag next to a title marks a fully open-access journal. | List price of the article processing charge in US dollars. “$0 listed” means the listed price is zero; a dash means no price is listed. | The line is the journal’s OJR from 2012 to 2021. | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1Reviews of GeophysicsWiley · United States | 10.50Q1 | 35.00 10.00 up from 2020 | 79 | 70% | $3,880 | ||
2Nature Climate ChangeNature Portfolio · United Kingdom | 7.27Q1 | 20.44 4.56 up from 2020 | 819 | 42% | $12,690 | ||
3Nature SustainabilityNature Portfolio · United Kingdom | 6.67Q1 | 20.80 8.05 up from 2020 | 636 | 39% | $12,690 | ||
4LandslidesSpringer Science+Business Media · Germany | 5.58Q1 | 7.35 1.16 up from 2020 | 612 | 34% | $4,590 | ||
5Global Food SecurityElsevier BV · Netherlands | 5.02Q1 | 11.53 1.46 up from 2020 | 254 | 73% | $5,240 | ||
6Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Climate ChangeWiley · United States | 4.88Q1 | 12.12 3.85 up from 2020 | 178 | 67% | $5,450 | ||
7Current Climate Change ReportsSpringer Science+Business Media · Germany | 4.85Q1 | 14.87 3.34 up from 2020 | 79 | 63% | $4,490 | ||
8Geography and sustainabilityOAElsevier BV · Netherlands | 4.80Q1 | 13.17no 2020 value | 36 | 100% | $1,700 | — | |
9Global TransitionsOAElsevier BV · China | 4.43Q1 | 12.25 6.70 up from 2020 | 52 | 100% | $900 | ||
10Resources Conservation and RecyclingElsevier BV · Netherlands | 4.40Q1 | 12.89 2.37 up from 2020 | 1,456 | 40% | $5,270 | ||
11Remote Sensing of EnvironmentElsevier BV · United States | 4.37Q1 | 15.44 3.61 up from 2020 | 1,506 | 73% | $4,450 | ||
12Nature FoodNature Portfolio · United Kingdom | 4.33Q1 | 10.04 2.16 down from 2020 | 195 | 34% | $12,690 | ||
13ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote SensingElsevier BV | 4.24Q1 | 13.69 3.09 up from 2020 | 746 | 43% | $3,310 | ||
14Global Change BiologyWiley · United Kingdom | 4.17Q1 | 13.69 2.81 up from 2020 | 1,295 | 62% | $4,550 | ||
15npj Clean WaterOANature Portfolio · United Kingdom | 4.04Q1 | 15.84 3.52 up from 2020 | 88 | 100% | $3,890 | ||
16Communications Earth & EnvironmentOANature Portfolio · United Kingdom | 4.02Q1 | 14.15no 2020 value | 65 | 100% | $3,490 | — | |
17Ecological MonographsWiley · United States | 4.00Q1 | 8.75 1.34 down from 2020 | 133 | 49% | $3,970 | ||
18Journal of Environmental PsychologyElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 3.88Q1 | 9.14 2.88 up from 2020 | 304 | 57% | $4,380 | ||
19Trends in Environmental Analytical ChemistryElsevier BV · Netherlands | 3.79Q1 | 12.70 3.30 up from 2020 | 58 | 23% | $4,430 | ||
20npj Climate and Atmospheric ScienceOANature Portfolio · United Kingdom | 3.68Q1 | 14.15 3.35 up from 2020 | 135 | 100% | $3,590 | ||
21Sustainability ScienceSpringer Science+Business Media · Japan | 3.66Q1 | 7.32 0.58 up from 2020 | 379 | 76% | $3,890 | ||
22The ISME JournalOASpringer Nature · United Kingdom | 3.62Q1 | 11.90 0.56 up from 2020 | 792 | 100% | $4,153 | ||
23Current Forestry ReportsSpringer Science+Business Media · Germany | 3.58Q1 | 11.39 3.04 up from 2020 | 58 | 90% | $4,990 | ||
24Reviews in Environmental Science and Bio/TechnologySpringer Science+Business Media · Netherlands | 3.49Q1 | 16.42 6.71 up from 2020 | 102 | 37% | $5,190 | ||
25Resources Conservation & Recycling XOAElsevier BV · Netherlands | 3.46Q1 | 10.64 5.86 up from 2020 | 36 | — | $3,500 | ||
26Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews WaterWiley · United States | 3.45Q1 | 9.87 3.13 up from 2020 | 210 | 62% | $4,200 | ||
27Reviews in Fisheries Science & AquacultureTaylor & Francis · United States | 3.44Q1 | 12.25 4.58 up from 2020 | 86 | 37% | — | ||
28Earth s FutureOAAmerican Geophysical Union · United States | 3.44Q1 | 11.41 2.29 up from 2020 | 349 | 100% | $3,180 | ||
29The Journal of Environmental EducationTaylor & Francis · United States | 3.39Q1 | 4.80 2.27 up from 2020 | 90 | 20% | — | ||
30Journal of Cleaner ProductionElsevier BV · Netherlands | 3.36Q1 | 11.31 1.03 up from 2020 | 13,505 | 24% | $4,660 | ||
31Engineering GeologyElsevier BV · Netherlands | 3.35Q1 | 7.06 0.79 up from 2020 | 1,062 | 24% | $4,210 | ||
32Conservation LettersOAWiley · United States | 3.32Q1 | 9.70 1.00 up from 2020 | 227 | 100% | $3,550 | ||
33Environmental Innovation and Societal TransitionsElsevier BV · Netherlands | 3.32Q1 | 10.53 0.86 up from 2020 | 201 | 70% | $3,610 | ||
34Methods in Ecology and EvolutionOAWiley · United States | 3.31Q1 | 8.52 0.32 up from 2020 | 549 | 73% | $3,500 | ||
35Global SustainabilityOACambridge University Press · United Kingdom | 3.29Q1 | 7.85 0.12 down from 2020 | 82 | 100% | $3,550 | ||
36One EarthElsevier BV · United States | 3.28Q1 | 8.83 3.11 up from 2020 | 288 | 96% | $9,170 | ||
37Sustainable Cities and SocietyElsevier BV · Netherlands | 3.25Q1 | 12.43 3.14 up from 2020 | 1,793 | 37% | $4,870 | ||
38Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth SystemsOAWiley · United States | 3.25Q1 | 14.01 5.55 up from 2020 | 625 | 100% | $2,650 | ||
39Habitat InternationalElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 3.18Q1 | 5.89 0.26 up from 2020 | 333 | 22% | $3,560 | ||
40Environmental Chemistry LettersSpringer Science+Business Media · Germany | 3.10Q1 | 14.94 5.15 up from 2020 | 433 | 31% | $3,190 | ||
41Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and TechnologyTaylor & Francis · United States | 3.07Q1 | 13.05 1.39 up from 2020 | 256 | 29% | — | ||
42Environment InternationalOAElsevier BV · United States | 3.06Q1 | 13.19 2.38 up from 2020 | 2,494 | 100% | $4,750 | ||
43Earth System GovernanceOAElsevier BV · Netherlands | 3.02Q1 | 9.23 2.66 down from 2020 | 39 | 100% | $2,180 | ||
44AGU AdvancesOAWiley · United States | 3.01Q1 | 9.41 9.41 up from 2020 | 32 | 100% | $3,460 | ||
45The Lancet Planetary HealthOAElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 3.00Q1 | 10.35 2.52 up from 2020 | 404 | 100% | $6,680 | ||
46Ecology and SocietyOAResilience Alliance · Canada | 2.98Q1 | 6.23no change | 467 | 100% | $975 | ||
47Environmental Education ResearchTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 2.98Q1 | 3.72 0.41 up from 2020 | 256 | 38% | — | ||
48Journal of Urban ManagementOAElsevier BV · Taiwan | 2.97Q1 | 5.98 1.20 up from 2020 | 95 | 100% | $1,200 | ||
49Environmental Science & Technology LettersAmerican Chemical Society · United States | 2.87Q1 | 12.53 3.81 up from 2020 | 414 | 32% | $4,500 | ||
50Climate Risk ManagementOAElsevier BV · Netherlands | 2.86Q1 | 6.55 2.00 up from 2020 | 114 | 100% | $3,130 |
Subfields of Environmental Science, compared.
- Ecology279
- Global and Planetary Change221
- Water Science and Technology101
- Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis93
- Pollution58
- Nature and Landscape Conservation57
- Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law52
- Environmental Engineering47
- Waste Management and Disposal22
- Environmental Chemistry8
- Ecological Modeling7
Journals
Citations made in 2021. Corpus-wide, 87.7% of core-journal articles and reviews published that year have at least one matched reference; the share varies by journal and field.
270 additional Environmental Science journals with metrics are unranked under this release’s eligibility rules: a journal needs at least 30 citable documents in 2018–2020, at least 80% of them with a subfield, and a positive world-average expectation. Ranks are within the whole category; filters hide rows without re-ranking. OJR excludes self-citations.
At a glance
Indicator year: 2021. Publication window: 2018–2020. How these summaries are calculated
- Ranked journals
- 945
- Window papers (baseline)
- 681,372 +13.0% from indicator year 2018
- Median OJR
- 0.80 -3.6% from indicator year 2018
- Rising journals (2025)
- 67Comparison-group list (67)
Window papers are the baseline paper population: citable papers (articles, reviews and conference papers) from 2018–2020 in all journals of the world-average baseline, including non-core journals, counted by each paper’s own subfield. They are not the papers of the ranked journals alone.
| Measure | Year series | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranked journals | 429 | 465 | 498 | 528 | 542 | 555 | 565 | 584 | 621 | 658 | 691 | 730 | 752 | 781 | 816 | 854 | 879 | 894 | 910 | 907 | 926 | 945 | 982 | 992 | 992 | 998 | |
| Window papers (baseline) | 177,914 | 208,192 | 224,441 | 245,259 | 251,131 | 272,523 | 295,719 | 323,264 | 355,145 | 387,726 | 421,450 | 454,259 | 488,219 | 520,283 | 555,752 | 588,865 | 606,383 | 609,229 | 603,145 | 613,842 | 636,773 | 681,372 | 729,009 | 768,184 | 799,466 | 839,315 | |
| Median OJR | 0.68 | 0.73 | 0.763 | 0.755 | 0.753 | 0.7599 | 0.820 | 0.814 | 0.84 | 0.832 | 0.85 | 0.885 | 0.916 | 0.917 | 0.90 | 0.879 | 0.89 | 0.86 | 0.829 | 0.815 | 0.824 | 0.80 | 0.757 | 0.7602 | 0.77 | 0.79 |
| Measure | Category statistic | Eligible population |
|---|---|---|
| Journal self-citation share | Median: 4.0% | 780 journals |
| Retracted papers per 1,000 | Pooled rate: 1.062 per 1,000 | 688 journals |
| Output growth | Median: -2.4% | 896 journals |
| Open access share | Median: 79.2% | 998 journals |
| Listed APC (USD) | Median including $0 listed prices: $3,120 | 607 ranked journals with a known listed price, including $0 listed prices |
| International collaboration share | Median: 30.3% | 956 journals |
| Review share | Median: 0.0% | 998 journals |
| Articles-only OJR | Median: 0.80 | 989 journals |
| Uncited share | Median: 26.5% | 998 journals |
| Citation concentration | Median: 41.9% | 995 journals |
How to read these rankings
- OJR, the OpenJournalRank Indicator
- A field-normalized 3-year citation impact, computed from OpenAlex with the NCI3 method. It divides the citations a journal’s papers received by the world average for papers of the same subfield, year and type, so 1.00 is the world average and 2.00 means twice as many citations as expected. Because it is normalized, it can be compared across fields. Read the methodology
- Quartiles
- Q1 to Q4 split the ranked journals of the list you are viewing into four equal groups by OJR. A journal’s quartile depends on the list: the same journal can be Q1 in its subfield and Q2 among all journals.
- Impact factor (2-year)
- Citations per paper over a two-year window, counted from OpenAlex. It is easy to compare with familiar impact factors but is not field-normalized, so compare it only within a field. It is not Clarivate’s Journal Impact Factor. Why it differs from the Journal Impact Factor
- Rank ranges
- Each rank in the latest year carries a likely range from 1,000 resamples of the journal’s papers. Where two journals’ ranges overlap, the data cannot tell them apart, so treat neighbouring ranks as ties.