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Earth Science · 588 journals ranked · top 40 listed

Best open-access journals for Earth Science

The top 40 of 588 Earth Science journals, open-access only, ranked with primary-Earth Science journals first, then by Scimago quartile and OpenAlex cites/paper (2-year window), drawn from a 17,782-venue index. Predatory venues are excluded; the FAQ below gives the exact ranking rule. These are field-wide rankings — for a shortlist matched to your specific paper, paste your title and abstract into the Journal Finder (a free account starts with 25 welcome credits).

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AllBest open-access journals
  1. 1
    The Lancet Planetary Health
    10.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  2. 2
    Earth system science data
    10.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Copernicus Publications
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  3. 3
    Environment International
    9.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  4. 4
    The ISME Journal
    9.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Nature
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  5. 5
    The Innovation
    9.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  6. 6
    Ecological Indicators
    8.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  7. 7
    Case Studies in Chemical and Environmental Engineering
    8.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
    Open AccessDOAJScopusPubMed
  8. 8
    npj Climate and Atmospheric Science
    7.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  9. 9
    Environmental Health Perspectives
    7.4 cites/paper · Q1 · National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  10. 10
    Communications Earth & Environment
    7.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  11. 11
    Ecological Informatics
    7.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  12. 12
    Environmental Sciences Europe
    7.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Science+Business Media
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  13. 13
    Earth s Future
    7.0 cites/paper · Q1 · American Geophysical Union
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  14. 14
    Hydrology and earth system sciences
    6.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Copernicus Publications
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  15. 15
    Geoderma
    6.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  16. 16
    Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety
    6.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  17. 17
    Water Resources Research
    6.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  18. 18
    Applied Water Science
    6.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Nature
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  19. 19
    Resources
    5.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  20. 20
    Environmental Technology & Innovation
    5.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  21. 21
    Environmental Health
    5.5 cites/paper · Q1 · BioMed Central
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  22. 22
    International Journal of Digital Earth
    5.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Taylor & Francis
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  23. 23
    Natural hazards and earth system sciences
    5.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Copernicus Publications
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  24. 24
    Records of the Australian Museum
    5.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Australian Museum
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  25. 25
    FEMS Microbiology Ecology
    5.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Oxford University Press
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  26. 26
    GIScience & Remote Sensing
    4.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Taylor & Francis
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  27. 27
    Atmospheric chemistry and physics
    4.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Copernicus Publications
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  28. 28
    Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances
    4.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  29. 29
    Sustainability
    4.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
    Open AccessScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  30. 30
    Toxics
    4.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  31. 31
    International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation
    4.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  32. 32
    Environmental Challenges
    4.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
    Open AccessDOAJScopusPubMed
  33. 33
    Conservation Letters
    4.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  34. 34
    IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
    4.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  35. 35
    Remote Sensing
    4.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  36. 36
    Advances in Climate Change Research
    4.3 cites/paper · Q1 · KeAi
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  37. 37
    Ecography
    4.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  38. 38
    Geoscientific model development
    4.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Copernicus Publications
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  39. 39
    Frontiers in Environmental Science
    4.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Frontiers Media
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  40. 40
    Environmental Research Letters
    4.2 cites/paper · Q1 · IOP Publishing
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb 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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Frequently asked

The Lancet Planetary Health, Earth system science data, Environment International, The ISME Journal, The Innovation lead this list, drawn from a 17,782-venue index. The top 40 of 588 ranked venues are listed on this page; all 40 are Scimago Q1. Journals whose primary OpenAlex field is Earth Science are ranked first, by Scimago quartile (Q1 → Q4, then journals without one) and then by OpenAlex cites/paper over a 2-year window; journals that list Earth Science only as a secondary field come after them. Only open-access venues are included. Cites/paper is a transparent citation rate, not a licensed Impact Factor, and journals flagged as predatory are excluded. For a match to your specific paper use the Journal Finder (15 credits; free account starts with 25).

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