Journal selection

ESG and Corporate Sustainability Performance: Indexed Journal and Conference List with APC and No-APC Options

Journal and conference list verified as on October 2026.

A manuscript on board-level ESG disclosure can be sound, well written, and back in your inbox in four days with no reviewer comment attached. The usual reason is scope. A sustainability science title may want biophysical systems work and will not send out a panel regression on listed firms. The method decides the desk, not the theme, and that is the most common reason management and finance submissions never reach review.

Below are indexed venues for ESG research by index, by quartile and by what the author pays. Every table is dated, and the date is the limit of what we can vouch for.

How to read a quartile: Scopus quartile and JCR quartile are separate systems

Two quartiles are in play and they are not the same thing. The Scopus quartile comes from Scimago and is worked out inside a Scopus subject category. The JCR quartile comes from Clarivate and is worked out inside a Web of Science category, using the impact factor. The same journal can be Q1 on one and Q2 on the other, and neither is wrong. Find out which one your university counts before a quartile decides anything.

The second trap is the index tier. An ESCI journal shows an impact factor and a quartile that look exactly like an SSCI or SCIE one on screen, so an ESCI Q1 will not satisfy a rule that asks for SSCI. Where the tier is not recorded, the table says so instead of guessing, and those titles need an ISSN check on the Master Journal List. Getting this right first is why it sits at the front of Journal Submission Preparation.

Which journals in ESG research charge no article processing fee and are still indexed?

As on October 2026, the journals below charge the author nothing and every one of them carries a Scopus quartile, with two also listed in Web of Science. Diamond open access means a university press, a society or a government body pays the bill, so the reader and the author both pay nothing. The trade is a narrower scope and a longer wait, not a lower standard.

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

Not sure whether the journal you picked is still indexed? Run it through the Predatory Journal Checker at ai.researchramp.com, or send us the title on WhatsApp or WeChat for a same-day check. Two minutes to spare instead? Try the Smart Quiz.

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Web of Science options for ESG research: SCIE, SSCI, AHCI and ESCI

Most ESG papers are sent here, and most desk rejections happen here too. Where the tier says it needs checking, the impact factor is real but the index family still has to be confirmed by ISSN. The AI Journal Finder matches an abstract to the right row in seconds.

Scopus-indexed options for ESG research, Q1 and Q2

These have a Scopus quartile but no Web of Science tier recorded. For a Scopus requirement they do the job, and several decide faster than the names above.

Scopus-indexed options, Q3 and Q4, the realistic first-publication tier

For a first paper, a Q3 acceptance in twelve weeks beats a Q1 rejection in nine months, as long as your institution counts the index and not the quartile. PhD scholars planning two or three papers usually start with the Mentorship Program.

EI Compendex indexed journals for ESG research

EI Compendex is an engineering index, so ESG work gets in through the environmental or materials side. If your data are firm disclosures, this is not your route.

Gold open access journals for ESG research

Gold open access means the article is free to read and the author or the funder pays. Hybrid titles often show no charge until the licence step, so check the article-charge page on the publisher's own site before you submit, and save a dated screenshot of it.

Indexed conference routes for ESG research, and when a conference beats a journal

A conference is the better choice when the deadline is fixed and you have a first result rather than a finished study. It is the wrong choice when your rule counts journal articles only. Indexing is decided one volume at a time, so a series covered in 2024 may not be covered for the next edition.

How do I check whether an ESG research journal is still indexed today?

Take the ISSN from the published article and search it on the live Scopus source list and on the Web of Science Master Journal List, because those two records are the only ones that count. Check the discontinued and on-hold files as well as the active list, since a title can be listed and removed inside the same year.

Search by ISSN rather than by name, because near-identical names exist, and compare the publisher web address letter by letter with the address in any email you were sent.

Is a journal still indexed in Scopus in 2026?

Indexing is a live status, so no list, including this one, answers that for today. These tables were checked in October 2026, and only the Scopus source list on the day you look is current.

Which ESG research journals were discontinued by Scopus recently?

Scopus keeps discontinued titles in a separate file from the active source list, and this page lists active titles only, so there is no delisted list here. Download the discontinued sources file from Elsevier and search your ISSN in it, because a removed journal can still advertise coverage on its own site.

What happens to my paper if the journal is delisted after acceptance?

An article published before the delisting date usually stays in the database and keeps its indexed status, and articles published after it are not covered. Ask your university in writing which date it applies, acceptance or publication, because internal rules differ on this point.

Is ABDC A the same as Scopus Q1 for ESG research?

No. ABDC is a list from the Australian Business Deans Council grading business journals A*, A, B and C, while a Scopus quartile is a citation ranking inside a Scopus subject category. A journal can hold ABDC A and sit in Scopus Q2, or hold Scopus Q1 with no ABDC grade at all.

Does my business school accept a Scopus Q1 that is not ABDC ranked?

Many do and many do not, because the rule is written locally rather than nationally. In a school that assesses on ABDC, a Scopus Q1 with no ABDC grade can count for nothing in a promotion case even while it counts for graduation.

The UGC CARE list was discontinued, so how do I verify an ESG research journal now?

The UGC discontinued the CARE list in a public notice dated 11 February 2025, following its decision of 3 October 2024, and published the final list only as a reference resource with no endorsement attached. Verification now runs through the live Scopus source list, the Master Journal List and your own institution's parameters.

A methods note for ESG research: which study designs editors reject on sight

In this field the study design, not the writing, decides the first screen. Four designs come back again and again.

1. One country, one panel, no identification strategy. An ESG score regressed on profitability with fixed effects, then described as an effect, reads as correlation. Editors want a policy shock, an instrument or a staggered adoption design, and a second country often supplies one, which is where Collaboration Matching helps.
2. A survey that measures what managers think, not what firms do. Perception treated as conduct is a common desk rejection at the SSCI titles above, and bias tests do not save it.
3. One ratings provider treated as the truth. The agencies disagree with each other, so a score from a single provider with no second source invites the reviewer comment that costs a whole revision round, and answering those well is Review & Response Support.
4. A review with no protocol. Without a stated search method, inclusion rules and a count of what was kept and dropped, most Q1 titles here return it unread.

If your study sits in one of those four, fix the design first. That is Manuscript Preparation Support.

What gets accepted in this field, and what gets rejected

Three mistakes we see in ESG research submissions

Scope mismatch. The word sustainability in a title says nothing about the method a journal accepts. Read the last ten articles it published, not the aims paragraph.

A cloned website. A clone copies the real journal's ISSN, cover and editorial board onto a lookalike address and collects the fee. Reach the journal from the publisher's own site, never from a link in an invitation email, and run anything doubtful through the Predatory Journal Checker.

A charge discovered late. Check the article-charge page before submission and keep the dated screenshot.

Before a paper reaches a reviewer, the editorial office checks the English, the structure and the similarity report. Papers are turned back at that stage every week, and getting a manuscript past it is what Manuscript Editing is for.

What editors screen before a reviewer sees your paper

The editorial office checks whether the English is clear enough to review, whether the structure and reference style match the journal, and what the similarity report says. In ESG research a further check is common: whether the ratings provider, the sample filters and the identification strategy are stated in the methods. Run your own overlap check first with the Plagiarism & AI Similarity Checker, and use the AI Journal Finder to confirm the journal's scope matches your abstract before you submit.

Where Research Ramp comes in

We match a finished abstract against live indexing, tell you plainly when a design will not survive the first screen, and prepare the submission so the editorial office has no reason to bounce it on formatting. Subject-matched PhD editors, milestone payments, and the author stays the author throughout. You can see how that has played out on our Case Studies page.

Questions we are asked about ESG submissions

A thesis chapter, a funding statement or an authorship question sits under Other Academic Support.

Send us the abstract, we will send back the shortlist

Send us your abstract and we will return a shortlist that separates SCIE, SSCI, AHCI, Scopus and EI options, with the access model marked against each. Tap the WhatsApp icon, or scan the WeChat code. To hand over the whole route from venue choice to acceptance, that is the Full Publication Package.

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Disclaimer. Every table on this page is correct as on October 2026 and no later. Article charges shown in US dollars are approximate conversions at October 2026 rates, and journals bill in their own currency. Indexing, quartile, access model and charges change through the year, and journals can be added to or removed from Scopus and Web of Science at any time. This page is general information only. Research Ramp Private Limited accepts no responsibility or liability for any decision made on the basis of it, including the choice of journal, any charge paid, or the outcome of any submission. Every detail must be independently verified by the author with the journal's own website and the live Scopus source list and Web of Science Master Journal List before submitting. If you would like an informal second check, send us the title and we will look at it for you.

本页所有列表数据截至 2026 年 10 月，仅供一般参考。Research Ramp 不对任何依据本页作出的选刊、付费或投稿结果承担责任。投稿前请务必通过期刊官网及 Scopus、Web of Science 实时数据自行核实收录情况与费用。