What are the best journals for Earth Science?

From an 88,000-venue index, the highest-ranked Earth Science journals (by Scimago quartile then OpenAlex cites/paper) include Nature Reviews Microbiology, Environmental Chemistry Letters, Nature Sustainability, Reviews of Geophysics, Nature Microbiology. Predatory venues are excluded. The full ranked list with open-access and indexing details is on this page; for a shortlist matched to your specific paper, use the free Journal Recommender.

How were these Earth Science journals ranked?

By Scimago quartile first (Q1 → Q4), then by OpenAlex cites/paper over a 2-year window. Cites/paper is a transparent citation rate, not a licensed Impact Factor. We exclude journals flagged as predatory.

Why don't all Earth Science journals show a quartile?

Scimago doesn't cover every journal — many strong regional and open-access venues are absent from it. We show "no Scimago quartile" for those rather than hide them; it's a coverage gap, not a quality judgement.

How do I find the best journal for my specific Earth Science paper?

Paste your title and abstract into the free Journal Recommender — it returns a shortlist matched to your paper's topic from the same index, with acceptance-fit signals, open-access status, and predatory flags. No signup required.

Earth Science · 1,784 journals indexed

Best journals for Earth Science

The top Earth Science journals ranked by Scimago quartile, then cites/paper (OpenAlex, 2-year window), drawn from an 88,000-venue index. Predatory venues are excluded. These are field-wide rankings — for a shortlist matched to your specific paper, paste your title and abstract into the free Journal Finder.

Match journals to your paper →

All Best open-access journals Highest-impact journals

1
Nature Reviews Microbiology
26.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
2
Environmental Chemistry Letters
24.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Science+Business Media
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
3
Nature Sustainability
18.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
4
Reviews of Geophysics
14.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
5
Nature Microbiology
13.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
6
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
13.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
7
Renewable energy focus
11.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of Science
8
Microbiome
11.5 cites/paper · Q1 · BioMed Central
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
9
Sustainable Cities and Society
11.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
10
Nature Climate Change
10.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
11
Journal of Cleaner Production
10.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
12
Nature Geoscience
10.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
13
Science Advances
10.4 cites/paper · Q1 · American Association for the Advancement of Science
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
14
Nature Food
10.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
15
Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology
10.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Taylor & Francis
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
16
Water Research
10.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
17
Sustainable Production and Consumption
10.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
18
Energy Strategy Reviews
10.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
19
Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry
10.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
20
Soil Biology and Biochemistry
10.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
21
Petroleum Exploration and Development
9.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
22
Nature Ecology & Evolution
9.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
23
FEMS Microbiology Reviews
9.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Oxford University Press
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
24
The Science of The Total Environment
9.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusPubMed
25
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
9.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Royal Society
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
26
Earth system science data
8.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Copernicus Publications
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
27
Remote Sensing of Environment
8.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
28
Biological reviews/Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society
8.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
29
Desalination
8.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
30
The Lancet Planetary Health
8.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
31
Environmental Science & Technology
8.6 cites/paper · Q1 · American Chemical Society
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
32
Environment International
8.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
33
Earth-Science Reviews
8.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
34
Journal of Hazardous Materials
8.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
35
Computers and Electronics in Agriculture
8.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
36
Landscape and Urban Planning
8.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
37
Resources Conservation and Recycling
8.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
38
ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing
8.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
39
Chemosphere
8.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusPubMed
40
Global Change Biology
8.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed

“Cites/paper” is the OpenAlex 2-year citation rate — a transparent signal, not a licensed Impact Factor. Many regional and open-access journals are strong but aren’t covered by Scimago, so they show “no Scimago quartile”; that’s a coverage gap, not a quality judgement.

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