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Journal rankings · indicator year 2025

Choose a field to open its ranking, or a journal to find its row in its subfield’s list.

Subfield ranking · 2025

Ecology journal rankings 2025

285 ranked journals · Subfield in Environmental Science

Ecology has 285 ranked journals in 2025. The median journal has an OJR of 0.67, below the world average of 1.00, up 0.02 on 2024; Q1 starts at OJR 1.04. No journal’s likely rank range stays within the top 3, so the intro names none.

Ranks and citation indicators: 2025. Journal access status and listed APC: source snapshot September 23, 2026.

Ranked journals

Journals whose main subfield sits in this category and that published at least 30 citable documents (articles, reviews and conference papers) in 2022–2024, the window the 2025 score is computed on.

285
29% of Environmental Science
Median OJR

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.

0.67+0.02 vs 2024
This subfieldAll 0.78World 1.00
Open-access journals

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.

39%
All fields: 38%
Median listed APC

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.

$3,090
Median positive listed APC: $3,090 among 162 journals. Another 7 list $0; 116 have no known price. All fields: $3,200.

Subfields of Environmental Science (11)

285 ranked journals

Filters

Quartile

Quartiles split the ranked journals of the list you are viewing into four equal groups by OJR. Q1 is the top quarter and Q4 the bottom quarter.

They are computed within the list on screen, so a journal can be Q1 in its subfield and Q2 in the global ranking.

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APC (list price)
Loading every ranked journal in this list…
Ecology ranking, 2025

Rank is the position by OJR within the list on screen; 1 is the highest.

The small range under it is the likely rank range: in 95% of 1,000 resamples of the journal’s papers, it ranked inside that range. Journals whose ranges overlap are not clearly different.

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.

OJR

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 2024. This is OpenJournalRank’s own count, not Clarivate’s Journal Impact Factor.

Citable documents (articles, reviews and conference papers) published in 2022–2024, the window the 2025 OJR is computed on. A journal needs at least 30 to be ranked.

Share of the journal’s 2022–2024 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 2016 to 2025.

A label compares the 2022→2025 change with the median change of the journal’s field or domain. Rising needs a relative change of +10% or more that is at least 2 standard errors above zero; Falling needs -9.1% or less (rounded), at least 2 standard errors below zero. Sorting uses that relative change.

Compare
Rank 1; likely between #1 and #4 of 285Global Change BiologyWiley · United Kingdom
4.32Q111.98 0.21 up from 20241,49976%$4,550Rising vs field, 2022–25
Rank 2; likely between #1 and #5 of 285ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote SensingElsevier BV
4.29Q113.47 0.32 down from 202484534%$3,310
Rank 3; likely between #1 and #5 of 285Nature FoodNature Portfolio · United Kingdom
4.29Q111.85 1.36 up from 202459437%$12,690
Rank 4; likely between #1 and #5 of 285Global Food SecurityElsevier BV · Netherlands
4.08Q18.08 3.35 down from 202420672%$5,240
Rank 5; likely between #1 and #8 of 285npj BiodiversityOASpringer Science+Business Media
3.59Q19.54 2.77 up from 202468100%$2,050
Rank 6; likely between #5 and #8 of 285The ISME JournalOASpringer Nature · United Kingdom
3.19Q110.42 0.40 down from 2024646100%$4,153
Rank 7; likely between #5 and #11 of 285Journal of Remote SensingOAAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science · China
2.83Q110.12 2.69 up from 2024107100%—
Rank 8; likely between #7 and #14 of 285Conservation LettersOAWiley · United States
2.54Q15.87 0.25 down from 2024198100%$3,550
Rank 9; likely between #6 and #14 of 285Methods in Ecology and EvolutionOAWiley · United States
2.53Q15.75 1.21 down from 2024628100%$3,500
Rank 10; likely between #5 and #26 of 285Cambridge Prisms ExtinctionOACambridge University Press
2.50Q14.94 0.10 up from 202449100%$3,893
Rank 11; likely between #8 and #12 of 285Ecological InformaticsOAElsevier BV · Netherlands
2.46Q19.08 0.43 up from 20241,316100%$2,770
Rank 12; likely between #9 and #15 of 285GIScience & Remote SensingOATaylor & Francis · United States
2.29Q17.16 0.70 down from 2024320100%$2,390
Rank 13; likely between #10 and #19 of 285ISME CommunicationsOASpringer Nature · United Kingdom
2.15Q16.52 0.27 down from 2024434100%$2,611
Rank 14; likely between #10 and #21 of 285Environmental MicrobiomeOABioMed Central · United Kingdom
2.12Q16.63 0.19 up from 2024250100%$2,590
Rank 15; likely between #12 and #20 of 285Journal of Applied EcologyWiley · United Kingdom
2.06Q15.06 0.08 up from 202468778%$3,610
Rank 16; likely between #12 and #22 of 285Conservation BiologyWiley · United States
2.01Q15.01 0.23 up from 202451782%$3,400
Rank 17; likely between #14 and #22 of 285Biological ConservationElsevier BV · United Kingdom
1.97Q15.32 0.41 up from 20241,16868%$3,830Falling vs field, 2022–25
Rank 18; likely between #15 and #24 of 285Ecological ApplicationsWiley · United States
1.91Q14.61 0.11 down from 202448969%$3,970
Rank 19; likely between #14 and #25 of 285Environmental DNAOAWiley · United States
1.90Q15.53 0.28 up from 2024349100%$2,880
Rank 20; likely between #13 and #27 of 285Molecular Ecology ResourcesWiley · United Kingdom
1.88Q15.59 0.18 down from 202444882%$5,250
Rank 21; likely between #13 and #27 of 285Remote Sensing in Ecology and ConservationOAWiley · United Kingdom
1.88Q15.82 1.09 up from 2024164100%$3,590
Rank 22; likely between #12 and #33 of 285Mammal ReviewWiley · United Kingdom
1.83Q13.80 0.85 down from 20248957%$4,100
Rank 23; likely between #19 and #27 of 285EcologyWiley · United States
1.78Q13.64 0.46 down from 202479171%$3,970
Rank 24; likely between #14 and #35 of 285Frontiers in Ecology and the EnvironmentWiley · United States
1.74Q13.99 0.08 up from 202431165%$3,970
Rank 25; likely between #19 and #31 of 285Movement EcologyOABioMed Central · United Kingdom
1.67Q14.05 0.24 down from 2024209100%$2,790
Rank 26; likely between #16 and #44 of 285Annals of MicrobiologyOABioMed Central · Germany
1.62Q15.54 1.47 up from 2024125100%$2,290Rising vs field, 2022–25
Rank 27; likely between #23 and #32 of 285Journal of Animal EcologyWiley · United Kingdom
1.60Q13.62 0.21 down from 202453780%$3,610
Rank 28; likely between #25 and #38 of 285Microbial EcologySpringer Science+Business Media · United States
1.48Q14.61 0.35 up from 2024540100%$4,590Rising vs field, 2022–25
Rank 29; likely between #26 and #38 of 285Biodiversity and ConservationSpringer Science+Business Media · Netherlands
1.47Q13.80 0.39 up from 202463757%$3,990
Rank 30; likely between #28 and #42 of 285Ecological EngineeringElsevier BV · Netherlands
1.40Q14.30 0.54 down from 202469134%$3,910Rising vs field, 2022–25
Rank 31; likely between #21 and #72 of 285Metabarcoding and MetagenomicsOAPensoft Publishers · Bulgaria
1.40Q13.67 0.21 up from 202465100%$701
Rank 32; likely between #12 and #139 of 285Journal of Avian BiologyOAWiley · Denmark
1.35Q12.83 0.46 down from 2024170100%$2,860
Rank 33; likely between #27 and #54 of 285BiogeochemistrySpringer Science+Business Media · Netherlands
1.34Q14.50 0.37 up from 2024288100%$3,390
Rank 34; likely between #29 and #53 of 285Biological reviews/Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical SocietyWiley · United Kingdom
1.33Q112.00 1.55 down from 202433175%$5,390
Rank 35; likely between #31 and #45 of 285Global Ecology and ConservationOAElsevier BV · Netherlands
1.33Q13.23 0.50 down from 20241,378100%$2,980Falling vs field, 2022–25
Rank 36; likely between #29 and #57 of 285Ecological Solutions and EvidenceOAWiley · United States
1.32Q13.21 0.18 up from 2024267100%$2,330
Rank 37; likely between #15 and #126 of 285Integrative ConservationWiley
1.32Q13.54 0.54 up from 20246590%$0 listed
Rank 38; likely between #26 and #77 of 285Animal BiotelemetryOABioMed Central · United Kingdom
1.29Q13.61 1.01 up from 2024119100%$2,390
Rank 39; likely between #26 and #83 of 285Carbon FootprintsPublisher not listed
1.28Q14.36 1.63 up from 20245180%—
Rank 40; likely between #30 and #63 of 285Coral ReefsSpringer Science+Business Media · Germany
1.26Q13.78 0.72 up from 202437364%$4,190
Rank 41; likely between #37 and #55 of 285EcosphereOAWiley · United States
1.23Q13.16 0.03 down from 20241,133100%$2,430
Rank 42; likely between #23 and #105 of 285Food EthicsSpringer Science+Business Media · Switzerland
1.23Q12.36 0.15 up from 20245868%$2,490
Rank 43; likely between #35 and #61 of 285FEMS Microbiology EcologyOAOxford University Press · Netherlands
1.23Q14.27 0.71 up from 2024469100%$3,297
Rank 44; likely between #37 and #56 of 285Royal Society Open ScienceOARoyal Society · United Kingdom
1.23Q13.26 0.12 down from 20241,803100%$1,471
Rank 45; likely between #34 and #67 of 285International Journal of Sediment ResearchOAElsevier BV · Netherlands
1.22Q13.48 0.37 up from 2024218100%$1,400
Rank 46; likely between #27 and #92 of 285GeomaticsOAMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute · Switzerland
1.22Q14.08 0.29 up from 202479100%$1,207
Rank 47; likely between #34 and #67 of 285EcosystemsSpringer Science+Business Media · United States
1.21Q13.21 0.40 down from 202420655%$4,790
Rank 48; likely between #28 and #95 of 285ConservationOAMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute · Switzerland
1.19Q12.66 0.13 down from 2024131100%$1,207
Rank 49; likely between #22 and #109 of 285Environmental EvidenceOABioMed Central · United Kingdom
1.19Q17.36 0.88 up from 202495100%$2,690
Rank 50; likely between #31 and #84 of 285Water Biology and SecurityOAElsevier BV · China
1.18Q13.98 0.59 down from 2024160100%$0 listed

The endpoints below each rank show its likely range. How rank ranges are calculated

Citations made in 2025. Corpus-wide, 84.3% of core-journal articles and reviews published that year have at least one matched reference; the share varies by journal and field.

44 additional Ecology journals with metrics are unranked under this release’s eligibility rules: a journal needs at least 30 citable documents in 2022–2024, 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.

Rising journals

At a glance

Indicator year: 2025. Publication window: 2022–2024. How these summaries are calculated

Ranked journals
285
Window papers (baseline)
146,313 +18.9% from indicator year 2022
Median OJR
0.67 +8.1% from indicator year 2022
Rising journals (2025)
18

Window papers are the baseline paper population: citable papers (articles, reviews and conference papers) from 2022–2024 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.

Category by indicator year
MeasureYear series20002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Ranked journals147164175182188194193205221232235248249258261273276274274269276279295296288285
Window papers (baseline)34,25441,68244,76249,08847,45550,63054,38360,22166,25272,12477,09382,20786,06790,05294,01798,12699,678101,371102,738106,059108,848114,234123,053131,302140,427146,313
Median OJR0.590.62920.6380.62890.610.6430.730.7360.750.7370.760.8090.8110.840.8050.800.790.8100.770.720.710.680.620.6420.650.67

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.