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Water Science and Technology · 54 journals ranked · top 40 listed

Best open-access journals for Water Science and Technology

The top 40 of 54 Water Science and Technology journals, open-access only, ranked by Scimago quartile, then by whether OpenAlex and Scimago agree on the subject and how central Water Science and Technology is to each journal, then OpenAlex cites/paper (2-year window), leaving out journals both place in another discipline, 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
    Applied Water Science
    6.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Nature
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  2. 2
    Water
    3.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
    Open AccessScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  3. 3
    Frontiers in Water
    3.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Frontiers Media
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  4. 4
    Chemical Engineering Journal Advances
    3.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  5. 5
    Case Studies in Chemical and Environmental Engineering
    8.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
    Open AccessDOAJScopusPubMed
  6. 6
    Environmental Technology & Innovation
    5.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  7. 7
    Desalination and Water Treatment
    7.6 cites/paper · Q2 · Taylor & Francis
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  8. 8
    Water Science & Technology
    3.7 cites/paper · Q2 · Pergamon Press
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  9. 9
    Water Practice & Technology
    3.1 cites/paper · Q2 · UWA Publishing
    Open AccessScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  10. 10
    Journal of Water and Health
    3.0 cites/paper · Q2 · UWA Publishing
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  11. 11
    Water Science & Technology Water Supply
    2.7 cites/paper · Q2 · IWA Publishing
    Open AccessScopusPubMed
  12. 12
    U.S. Geological Survey Circular
    1.8 cites/paper · Q2 · United States Geological Survey
    Open AccessScopus
  13. 13
    Journal of Water and Land Development
    1.0 cites/paper · Q2 · De Gruyter Open
    Open AccessDOAJScopus
  14. 14
    Environmental Engineering Research
    3.2 cites/paper · Q2 · Korean Society of Environmental Engineering
    Open AccessScopusWeb of Science
  15. 15
    Journal of Ecological Engineering
    1.5 cites/paper · Q2 · Polish Society of Ecological Engineering
    Open AccessScopusWeb of Science
  16. 16
    Revista Brasileira de Recursos Hídricos
    1.1 cites/paper · Q3 · Brazilian Association of Water Resources
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  17. 17
    Water SA
    0.9 cites/paper · Q3 · Water Research Commission
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  18. 18
    Ambiente e Agua - An Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Science
    0.7 cites/paper · Q3 · Instituto de Pesquisas Ambientais em Bacias Hidrográficas (IPABHi)
    Open AccessDOAJScopus
  19. 19
    Polish Journal of Environmental Studies
    1.4 cites/paper · Q3 · HARD Publishing Company
    Open AccessScopusWeb of Science
  20. 20
    Nature Environment and Pollution Technology
    1.3 cites/paper · Q3
    Open AccessDOAJScopus
  21. 21
    Antarctica A Keystone in a Changing World
    1.1 cites/paper · Q3 · United States Department of the Interior
    Open AccessScopus
  22. 22
    Physicochemical Problems of Mineral Processing
    1.0 cites/paper · Q3 · Oficyna Wydawnicza Politechniki Wroclawsjiej
    Open AccessScopusWeb of Science
  23. 23
    Anuário do Instituto de Geociências
    0.5 cites/paper · Q4 · Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
    Open AccessDOAJScopus
  24. 24
    Revista Brasileira de Geografia Física
    0.4 cites/paper · Q4 · Federal University of Pernambuco
    Open AccessScopus
  25. 25
    Fact sheet
    0.4 cites/paper · Q4 · United States Geological Survey
    Open AccessScopus
  26. 26
    Acta Scientiarum. Technology
    0.5 cites/paper · Q4 · Editora da Universidade Estadual de Maringá (Eduem)
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  27. 27
    Revista Brasileira de Cartografia
    0.3 cites/paper · Q4 · Federal University of Uberlândia
    Open AccessDOAJScopus
  28. 28
    Raega - O Espaço Geográfico em Análise
    0.3 cites/paper · Q4 · Universidade Federal do Paraná
    Open AccessScopus
  29. 29
    Engenharia Sanitaria e Ambiental
    0.6 cites/paper · Q4 · Brazilian Association of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering
    Open AccessScopusWeb of Science
  30. 30
    Environmental Engineering and Management Journal
    0.6 cites/paper · Q4 · Polytechnic Institute of Iasi
    Open AccessScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  31. 31
    International Journal of Environmental Science and Development
    0.2 cites/paper · Q4
    Open AccessScopus
  32. 32
    Current World Environment
    1.4 cites/paper · no Scimago quartile · Enviro Research Publishers
    Open Access
  33. 33
    Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
    0.9 cites/paper · no Scimago quartile · Korean Society of Environmental Engineering
    Open AccessDOAJ
  34. 34
    Sociedade & natureza
    0.4 cites/paper · no Scimago quartile · EDUFU
    Open AccessDOAJ
  35. 35
    Journal of applied science and environmental management
    0.4 cites/paper · no Scimago quartile
    Open AccessDOAJ
  36. 36
    Ciência e Natura
    0.3 cites/paper · no Scimago quartile · Universidade Federal de Santa Maria
    Open Access
  37. 37
    Revista Geonorte
    0.2 cites/paper · no Scimago quartile · Universidade Federal do Amazonas
    Open AccessDOAJ
  38. 38
    Caminhos de Geografia
    0.2 cites/paper · no Scimago quartile · Federal University of Uberlândia
    Open AccessDOAJ
  39. 39
    Journal of Applied Sciences and Environmental Management
    0.0 cites/paper · no Scimago quartile · African Journals OnLine
    Open Access
  40. 40
    Hydrology and earth system sciences
    6.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Copernicus Publications
    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

Applied Water Science, Water, Frontiers in Water, Chemical Engineering Journal Advances, Case Studies in Chemical and Environmental Engineering lead this list, drawn from a 17,782-venue index. The top 40 of 54 ranked venues are listed on this page; 7 are Scimago Q1, 9 Q2, 7 Q3, 9 Q4 and 8 have no Scimago quartile. Journals are placed by two independent classifications, OpenAlex's and Scimago's, plus any documented corrections. A journal both place under Water Science and Technology ranks ahead, within its Scimago quartile, of one only OpenAlex places there — because Scimago does not cover it, files it as Multidisciplinary, or files it under a neighbouring subject or only under a broad “(miscellaneous)” category (which counts as agreement when Water Science and Technology is the journal's main OpenAlex subfield). 3 journals OpenAlex files under Water Science and Technology are left out because OpenAlex's main field for them and Scimago's categories both place them in another discipline. By Scimago quartile first (Q1 → Q4, then venues without one). Within a quartile, journals both sources place under Water Science and Technology come first, then venues whose main OpenAlex subfield is Water Science and Technology come before those that list it second or third, and ties go to OpenAlex cites/paper over a 2-year window. A venue whose main subfield is unrelated to Water Science and Technology — fewer than a quarter of the venues filed under that subfield (or fewer than five) are also filed under Water Science and Technology — is listed after all the others. 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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