Last Updated on September 3, 2026 by Dr. Bhagat
Nature Sustainability’s 2025 Journal Impact Factor is 32.1, reported in the 2026 Journal Citation Reports release. The journal is placed in Q1 in its relevant category and is indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection. This page combines the current JIF with the publisher’s 2025 journal metrics, historical context and practical publication guidance.
2026 data update
Journal Impact Factor year: 2025 · JCR release year: 2026 · Current JIF: 32.1 · Quartile: Q1
Nature Sustainability metrics at a glance
| Metric | Current value |
|---|---|
| 2025 Journal Impact Factor | 32.1 |
| 5-year Journal Impact Factor | 35.4 |
| JCR category | Environmental Sciences; Environmental Studies; Green & Sustainable Science & Technology |
| Best JCR quartile | Q1 |
| Web of Science coverage | SCIE and SSCI |
| SCImago Journal Rank (2025) | 7.896 |
| Median submission to first editorial decision | 14 days |
| Median submission to acceptance | 241 days |
| Publishing model | hybrid journal offering subscription publication and an optional gold open-access route for eligible research articles |
Source: Nature Sustainability’s official journal-metrics page. Citation metrics and editorial-speed figures are labelled for 2025 by the publisher.
About Nature Sustainability
Nature Sustainability is a Nature Portfolio journal covering sustainability research across natural, social and engineering sciences, including climate, food, cities, energy, biodiversity, policy and equity. Its value to readers comes from editorially selected work that connects major developments, evidence and open questions across the field.
The journal-level metrics on this page describe the publication as a whole. They do not predict the citation count, methodological quality or practical importance of an individual paper.
What is Nature Sustainability’s Impact Factor in 2025?
The 2025 Journal Impact Factor is 32.1. This is the current value displayed by Nature Portfolio. The corresponding five-year Journal Impact Factor is 35.4, which uses a longer citation window and can be useful for fields in which citations accumulate gradually.
Why the 2025 JIF appears in JCR 2026
The metric is named for the citation year, while Journal Citation Reports releases it in the following year. Therefore, “2025 Journal Impact Factor” and “2026 JCR release” refer to the same current reporting cycle.
Is Nature Sustainability a Q1 and SCIE-indexed journal?
Yes. Nature Sustainability is placed in Q1 in its relevant Journal Citation Reports category and is covered by the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE). It is also covered in the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), reflecting its cross-disciplinary scope.
Quartiles are category-specific. A Q1 result means the journal sits in the highest quartile under the relevant category ranking; it should not be used as a universal comparison between unrelated disciplines.
Nature Sustainability Impact Factor trend, 2017–2025
| Impact Factor year | Journal Impact Factor | Year-on-year change |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Not reported | — |
| 2018 | Not reported | — |
| 2019 | 12.08 | — |
| 2020 | 19.346 | +60.1% |
| 2021 | 27.157 | +40.4% |
| 2022 | 27.6 | +1.6% |
| 2023 | 25.7 | -6.9% |
| 2024 | 27.1 | +5.4% |
| 2025 | 32.1 | +18.5% |
The latest movement is from 27.1 in 2024 to 32.1 in 2025 (+18.5%). “Not reported” is used where the journal did not yet have a Journal Impact Factor; no value has been invented for those years.
Scope and readership
The journal focuses on sustainability research across natural, social and engineering sciences, including climate, food, cities, energy, biodiversity, policy and equity. Prospective authors should compare the specific question, audience and article type with the journal’s current aims and scope rather than relying on the Impact Factor alone.
Because Nature Portfolio journals serve international audiences, manuscripts and proposals should explain why the topic matters now, what evidence is being synthesized or presented, and which readers outside the narrowest specialty will benefit.
Article types and editorial model
Nature Sustainability considers original research and other content that addresses important sustainability questions across disciplines. Authors should use the current journal instructions to choose an article type and verify format, data, ethics and reporting requirements. A strong submission must connect the evidence to a consequential sustainability problem and explain relevance beyond one narrow discipline.
Article-type names and requirements can change. Authors should use the current journal website, not an old third-party checklist, for word limits, figure limits, reporting standards and proposal instructions.
Editorial decision and publication time
The publisher reports a 2025 median of 14 days from submission to the first editorial decision and 241 days from submission to acceptance. These medians are descriptive journal-level statistics, not promised turnaround times.
Submission-to-acceptance time can include editorial assessment, external review, author revision and further checks. The duration for a particular manuscript can be shorter or longer.
Acceptance rate
Nature Sustainability does not publish a dependable current acceptance-rate percentage on its public journal-metrics page. This article therefore does not provide an estimated or third-party acceptance rate. For review journals, the commissioned editorial model also makes a simple acceptance-rate comparison with ordinary research journals potentially misleading.
Open access and publication fees
The journal uses a hybrid publishing model. Eligible authors can publish through the subscription route or choose gold open access. Open-access charges, taxes, waivers and institutional agreements can change, so the current amount should be checked on the journal’s official publishing-options page before budgeting.
Do not treat a fee shown by an aggregator as authoritative. Confirm the applicable route, currency, taxes, funder rules and institutional agreements directly with the publisher before submission.
How to judge whether the journal fits your work
- Read the current aims and scope and several recently published articles.
- Confirm that your proposed article type is actually accepted by the journal.
- Explain the topic’s importance, timeliness and relevance to the journal’s readership.
- Check data, ethics, reporting and competing-interest requirements.
- Verify the latest access route, licence and any applicable publication charge.
How to interpret the Impact Factor responsibly
A JIF of 32.1 indicates strong recent citation activity at journal level. It does not mean that every paper will receive 32.1 citations. Citation distributions are uneven, and review articles often accumulate citations differently from original research.
For submission and evaluation decisions, use the JIF together with scope, editorial fit, peer-review practices, article-level evidence, openness, cost and the needs of the intended audience.
Frequently asked questions
What is Nature Sustainability’s 2025 Impact Factor?
The current 2025 Journal Impact Factor is 32.1, reported in the 2026 JCR release.
What is the five-year Impact Factor?
Nature Portfolio reports a 2025 five-year Journal Impact Factor of 35.4.
Is Nature Sustainability Q1?
Yes. It is placed in Q1 in its relevant Journal Citation Reports category.
Is the journal indexed in SCIE?
Yes. Nature Sustainability is covered by the Science Citation Index Expanded. It also has SSCI coverage.
How fast is the first editorial decision?
The 2025 publisher-reported median is 14 days. This is a median, not a guarantee for an individual submission.
What is the acceptance rate?
No dependable current percentage is published on the official metrics page, so this article does not present an unofficial estimate as fact.
Sources and data notes
- Nature Sustainability: official journal metrics
- Nature Portfolio editorial policies
- Clarivate Journal Citation Reports
Data checked: 3 September 2026. Current metrics were checked against Nature Portfolio’s journal-metrics pages. Historical values are labelled by metric year. Fees and operational metrics can change, so readers should confirm them with the journal.
