Journal selection

Journals for Green Finance, Fintech and Sustainable Investment Research: SSCI, ABDC, Scopus and EI Options, With and Without Article Charges

Journal and conference list verified as on October 2026.

Finance is the one field in this series where the wrong venue choice is usually made at the top rather than the bottom. Authors aim at the elite finance journals because those are the names they know, and the elite finance journals reject green finance papers on identification grounds before anyone reads the sustainability argument. Three questions about your own paper settle the shortlist faster than any ranking does.

1. What is your dependent variable?

Market prices, returns or spreads point at the finance journals, where the bar is causal identification. Firm disclosure scores, ESG ratings or sustainability outcomes point at the management and finance and business ethics titles instead, where the bar is theory. A paper regressing a green bond spread on a rating is a finance paper. A paper explaining why firms issue green bonds is not.

2. Is the contribution the method or the setting?

A new estimator, a new instrument or a new dataset can carry a paper to a senior title. A familiar model applied to a new country cannot, however good the country argument is, and that is the single most common rejection we see in this subject.

3. Which list does your school count?

In business schools the ABDC grade often outranks both Scopus and Web of Science, and a strong open access fintech journal with no ABDC entry can count for nothing internally. Ask before you submit, not after.

With that answered, the tables below run from the conference route upward through Scopus to the Web of Science titles at the end.

How to read a quartile before you read the list

Three systems matter here. The Scopus quartile comes from Scimago, inside a Scopus subject category. The JCR quartile comes from Clarivate, inside a Web of Science category, using the impact factor. The ABDC list is a separate grading of business journals, and in this field it carries more internal weight than either.

The index tier still matters more than any quartile. An ESCI journal shows an impact factor and a quartile that look exactly like an SSCI one on screen, so an ESCI Q1 will not satisfy a rule asking for SSCI. Where the tier is not recorded, the tables say so rather than guess. Settling this before the cover letter is the first step in Journal Submission Preparation.

Indexed conference routes in green finance and fintech

Finance is unusual in that its conference circuit is built on working papers rather than indexed proceedings. Presenting at a finance conference is valuable for feedback and networks, but it rarely produces an indexed output, and the series that do index in this space sit on the business technology and information systems side.

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

7journals here charge nothing (Diamond open access)
21subscription titles, also no APC
550 USDlowest published charge on this page
3,450 USDhighest published charge on this page

What is on this page

Tap a block to filter every table below to that group.

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Conference or proceedings seriesIndex statusISSN or publisherCoverage and subjectOur note
Lecture Notes in Business Information ProcessingEI Compendex book seriesSpringerBusiness and international management, management information systemsThe best fit here for a fintech systems paper, and a recognised Springer series.
ICSBT International Conference on Smart Business TechnologiesEI Compendex book seriesScience and Technology PublicationsBusiness management, computer networks, computer science applicationsDigital finance and business technology work. Check the specific volume before paying.
IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering ManagementEI Compendex book seriesIEEE Computer SocietyBusiness management, industrial engineering, risk and reliabilityQuantitative and risk-focused work fits. A policy paper will not.
International Conference on Information and Knowledge ManagementEI Compendex book seriesAssociation for Computing MachineryBusiness management, decision sciencesData and knowledge systems. Suitable for machine learning applied to financial data.

If none of those fit, the journal route is the only real one in this field, which is what the rest of this page covers.

Deadline planner

Move the slider to the number of months you have before your deadline. The lanes show which route in this field still fits.

Scopus-indexed options, Q3, where a first paper usually lands

A small band in finance, because the subject is dominated by long-established titles. Every one of these charges no APC. Planning two or three papers rather than one submission is the Mentorship Program.

JournalISSNPublisherWeb of Science index and JCR quartileScopus quartileAccess model and article chargeJournal linkOur note
Investment Analysts Journal1029-3523, 2077-0227Taylor and Francis Ltd.Web of Science listed, tier to verify by ISSN, Q2, JIF 2.2Q3No APC, subscription
Subscription or hybrid, no APC
Verify on the publisher pageA Web of Science Q2 sitting at Scopus Q3, which is the clearest quartile mismatch on this page.
Journal of Emerging Market Finance0972-6527, 0973-0710Sage Publications IndiaWeb of Science listed, tier to verify by ISSN, Q3, JIF 1.2Q3No APC, subscription
Subscription or hybrid, no APC
Verify on the publisher pageEmerging market data is the point of the journal rather than a limitation to excuse.
International Journal of Managerial and Financial Accounting1753-6715, 1753-6723InderscienceWeb of Science listed, tier to verify by ISSN, Q3, JIF 1.4Q3No APC, subscription
Subscription or hybrid, no APC
Verify on the publisher pageAccounting framing required. Green disclosure work fits better than market studies.
Financial Planning Review2573-8615John Wiley and Sons IncNo Web of Science tier recordedQ3No APC, subscription
Subscription or hybrid, no APC
Verify on the publisher pageHousehold and adviser behaviour. Retail sustainable investing studies belong here.

Scopus-indexed options, Q1 and Q2

These carry a Scopus Q1 with either no Web of Science tier recorded or a lower one, which is exactly the gap the quartile section warns about. The AI Journal Finder matches an abstract against them in seconds.

JournalISSNPublisherWeb of Science index and JCR quartileScopus quartileAccess model and article chargeJournal linkOur note
Journal of Climate Finance2949-7280Elsevier B.V.No Web of Science tier recordedQ1No APC, subscription
Subscription or hybrid, no APC
Verify on the publisher pageNamed for exactly this subject, Scopus Q1, and nothing to pay. Start here.
Review of Corporate Finance Studies2046-9128, 2046-9136Oxford University PressWeb of Science listed, tier to verify by ISSN, Q2, JIF 2.2Q1No APC, subscription
Subscription or hybrid, no APC
Verify on the publisher pageCorporate finance with a serious identification bar. Green bond work lands here when the design is clean.
Journal of Financial Econometrics1479-8409, 1479-8417Oxford University PressWeb of Science listed, tier to verify by ISSN, Q2, JIF 2.2Q1No APC, subscription
Subscription or hybrid, no APC
Verify on the publisher pageThe method is the contribution. A climate risk application needs new econometrics to fit.
Journal of Money, Credit and Banking0022-2879, 1538-4616Wiley-BlackwellWeb of Science listed, tier to verify by ISSN, Q2, JIF 1.6Q1No APC, subscription
Subscription or hybrid, no APC
Verify on the publisher pageMonetary and banking. Green central banking and prudential policy work fits well.
Financial Markets, Institutions and Instruments0963-8008, 1468-0416Wiley-Blackwell Publishing LtdNo Web of Science tier recordedQ1No APC, subscription
Subscription or hybrid, no APC
Verify on the publisher pageInstitutional detail welcome. A useful route for market microstructure in sustainable assets.
Foundations and Trends in Finance1567-2395, 1567-2409Now Publishers IncNo Web of Science tier recordedQ1No APC, subscription
Subscription or hybrid, no APC
Verify on the publisher pageCommissioned survey monographs. Approach the editors rather than submitting cold.

EI Compendex indexed journals

One match in this subject, and it is the crossover title between finance and data science.

JournalISSNPublisherWeb of Science index and JCR quartileScopus quartileAccess model and article chargeJournal linkOur note
Journal of Finance and Data Science2405-9188KeAi Communications Co.ESCI, Q1, JIF 3.9Q2
550 USD
www.keaipublishing.com/en/journals/the-journalThe cheapest indexed paid option on this page, with a Web of Science listing attached. Machine learning on financial data fits.

Diamond open access: finance journals that charge nothing

A small but genuinely useful free tier, mostly run by central bank institutes and university presses. None of these is an elite finance journal, and all of them are indexed.

JournalISSNPublisherWeb of Science index and JCR quartileScopus quartileAccess model and article chargeJournal linkOur note
Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Science2077-1886, 2218-0648ESAN UniversityESCI, Q2, JIF 1.9Q2No APC, Diamond OA
No article charge (Diamond OA)
www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/jefasWeb of Science listed and free. The strongest no-fee option here.
Journal of Capital Markets Studies2514-4774Emerald PublishingNo Web of Science tier recordedQ2No APC, Diamond OA
No article charge (Diamond OA)
www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/jcmsCapital markets scope at Scopus Q2 with no charge. An underused route.
Journal of Islamic Monetary Economics and Finance2460-6146, 2460-6618Bank Indonesia InstituteNo Web of Science tier recordedQ2No APC, Diamond OA
No article charge (Diamond OA)
jimf-bi.org/index.php/JIMFIslamic finance and green sukuk work. Run by a central bank institute, free at every stage.
Journal of Financial Management, Markets and Institutions2282-717XWorld ScientificNo Web of Science tier recordedQ2No APC, Diamond OA
No article charge (Diamond OA)
www.worldscientific.com/worldscinet/jfmmiInstitutions and regulation. A commercial publisher running a no-fee title, which is rare.
Buletin Ekonomi Moneter dan Perbankan1410-8046, 2460-9196Bank Indonesia InstituteNo Web of Science tier recordedQ3No APC, Diamond OA
No article charge (Diamond OA)
bulletin.bmeb-bi.orgMonetary and banking economics, Scopus indexed, no fee. Indonesian and regional data welcome.
Journal of Central Banking Law and Institutions2809-9885, 2827-7775Bank Indonesia InstituteNo Web of Science tier recordedQ3No APC, Diamond OA
No article charge (Diamond OA)
jcli-bi.org/index.php/jcliLaw and institutions. The natural free home for green taxonomy and disclosure regulation papers.
Journal of Financial Therapy1944-9771, 1945-7774Kansas State UniversityNo Web of Science tier recordedQ3No APC, Diamond OA
No article charge (Diamond OA)
jftonline.org/Financial behaviour and wellbeing. Narrow, but uncontested if your work is behavioural.

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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Gold open access journals for green finance and fintech

Charges published in advance, running from about 1,260 to 3,450 US dollars. Two of these are SSCI Q1, which is unusual for open access in finance.

JournalISSNPublisherWeb of Science index and JCR quartileScopus quartileAccess model and article chargeJournal linkOur note
FinTech2674-1032Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)No Web of Science tier recordedQ1
About 1,260 USD (billed as 1,000 CHF)
www.mdpi.com/journal/fintechFast and on topic, though no Web of Science tier is recorded for it yet.
Latin American Journal of Central Banking2666-1438Elsevier B.V.Web of Science listed, tier to verify by ISSN, Q3, JIF 1.3Q2
1,450 USD
www.journals.elsevier.com/latin-american-journCentral banking with a regional remit. A good fit for green monetary policy work.
Financial Innovation2199-4730SpringerOpenSSCI, Q1, JIF 7.2Q1
1,750 USD
jfin-swufe.springeropen.com/SSCI Q1, open access, fintech focused. The strongest paid option on this page.
International Review of Economics and Finance1059-0560, 1873-8036Elsevier Inc.SSCI, Q1, JIF 5.6Q1
1,930 USD
www.sciencedirect.com/journal/international-reBroad and heavily submitted. Green finance papers appear in it regularly.
Cogent Economics and Finance2332-2039Taylor and Francis Ltd.ESCI, Q1, JIF 2.5Q2
2,195 USD
www.tandfonline.com/journals/oaefBroad remit and quick decisions. Check what your rule makes of an ESCI listing at this price.
International Journal of Financial Studies2227-7072Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)Web of Science listed, tier to verify by ISSN, Q2, JIF 2.2Q2
About 2,270 USD (billed as 1,800 CHF)
www.mdpi.com/journal/ijfsCarries an impact factor. Confirm the tier by ISSN before you commit the fee.
Finance and Society2059-5999Cambridge University PressNo Web of Science tier recordedQ1
3,450 USD
www.cambridge.org/core/journals/finance-and-soCritical and social studies of finance. The highest fee here, from a university press.

Web of Science options: SSCI and ESCI

The elite finance journals sit at the top of this table. They publish green finance work, but only where the identification would survive in any finance paper, and none of them charges a fee to publish.

JournalISSNPublisherWeb of Science index and JCR quartileScopus quartileAccess model and article chargeJournal linkOur note
Journal of Financial Economics0304-405XElsevier B.V.SSCI, Q1, JIF 12.0Q1No APC, subscription
Subscription or hybrid, no APC
Verify on the publisher pageIdentification first, topic second. A sustainability angle earns no discount on the method.
Journal of Finance0022-1082, 1540-6261Wiley-Blackwell Publishing LtdSSCI, Q1, JIF 9.5Q1No APC, subscription
Subscription or hybrid, no APC
Verify on the publisher pageThe discipline's flagship, with single-digit acceptance. A multi-year target at best.
Review of Finance1572-3097, 1573-692XOxford University PressSSCI, Q1, JIF 8.4Q1No APC, subscription
Subscription or hybrid, no APC
Verify on the publisher pageEuropean counterpart to the US top three, and slightly more open to institutional settings.
China Finance Review International2044-1398, 2044-1401Emerald Group Publishing Ltd.ESCI, Q1, JIF 7.6Q1No APC, subscription
Subscription or hybrid, no APC
Verify on the publisher pageChinese green finance data is welcome here rather than treated as narrow. An impact factor of 7.6 on an ESCI listing.
Review of Financial Studies0893-9454, 1465-7368Oxford University PressSSCI, Q1, JIF 5.4Q1No APC, subscription
Subscription or hybrid, no APC
Verify on the publisher pageTheory and empirics both welcome, at the same identification bar as the others above.
Annual Review of Financial Economics1941-1367, 1941-1375Annual Reviews Inc.SSCI, Q1, JIF 5.2Q1No APC, subscription
Subscription or hybrid, no APC
Verify on the publisher pageInvited reviews only. Useful to read, not to submit to cold.
Journal of Risk Finance1526-5943, 2331-2947Emerald PublishingESCI, Q1, JIF 4.7Q2No APC, subscription
Subscription or hybrid, no APC
Verify on the publisher pageRisk framing, and one of the more reachable Web of Science titles for climate risk work.
Journal of Sustainable Finance and Investment2043-0795, 2043-0809Taylor and Francis Ltd.ESCI, Q1, JIF 4.3Q1No APC, subscription
Subscription or hybrid, no APC
Verify on the publisher pageThe title closest to this subject by name, and a realistic target for most readers here.
Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis0022-1090, 1756-6916Cambridge University PressSSCI, Q1, JIF 2.8Q1No APC, subscription
Subscription or hybrid, no APC
Verify on the publisher pageQuantitative methods expected throughout. The impact factor understates its standing.
Journal of Financial Regulation2053-4833, 2053-4841Oxford University PressESCI, Q1, JIF 2.5Q1No APC, subscription
Subscription or hybrid, no APC
Verify on the publisher pageRegulatory analysis, including taxonomy and disclosure rules. Legal method is accepted.
Journal of World Investment and Trade1660-7112, 2211-9000Brill Academic PublishersESCI, Q1, JIF 2.1Q1No APC, subscription
Subscription or hybrid, no APC
Verify on the publisher pageInvestment law and treaty work. Relevant for sustainable investment governance papers.

Preprints in finance: the working paper question

Finance runs on working papers more than any other field in this series. A paper circulates on SSRN or a university series for a year or more before submission, and senior scholars expect to have seen it. That creates a question no other subject on this site faces in the same way.

  1. Posting first is normal and allowed. Every journal in the Web of Science table above accepts submissions that already exist as working papers. Nobody in finance treats an SSRN posting as prior publication.
  2. Declare it at submission anyway. Name the series, the number and the date in the cover letter. Failing to declare looks like concealment when the reviewer finds it, and the reviewer will.
  3. Double blind review makes it awkward, not forbidden. Several titles here run anonymous review while the working paper carries your name. That is the journal's problem to manage, not a reason to withhold the paper, but do not cite your own working paper in a way that identifies you in the manuscript.
  4. Update the posted version after acceptance. Replace the working paper with the accepted version or a link to it, and check the publisher's rule on which version may stay online. Elsevier, Wiley and Oxford differ on this.
  5. Open access journals are more relaxed, not less. The gold titles above generally allow the preprint to stay up unchanged, which is one practical advantage of that route.

Getting the cover letter and the declaration right before submission is part of Manuscript Preparation Support, and the round that follows is Review & Response Support.

What gets accepted in this field, and what gets rejected

Likely accepted

  • A shock you did not choose. A regulatory change, an index reconstitution, a rating methodology revision, used for identification.
  • Ratings disagreement handled. Two providers, results shown both ways, divergence discussed rather than hidden.
  • Standard asset pricing controls. Size, value, momentum, profitability, industry, so the result is not a known factor in disguise.
  • Economic magnitude stated. Basis points, not only stars on a coefficient.
  • Data provenance in full. Vendor, version, filters, survivorship treatment, sample period.
  • Placebo and falsification tests. Where the effect should not appear, shown not appearing.

Likely rejected

  • ESG score on firm performance, fixed effects, one country. The most submitted design in this subject and the most rejected.
  • Greenwashing asserted, not measured. The word used as a finding with no construct behind it.
  • Event study with no clean window. Overlapping events, no benchmark model, no robustness on the window.
  • A fintech adoption survey. Technology acceptance constructs relabelled for a new app.
  • Cherry-picked sample periods. A window ending where the result stops holding.
  • Endogeneity in a footnote. Acknowledged once, addressed nowhere.
Manuscript Health CheckerFind the design and scope problems that cause desk rejections.

What is a hijacked journal, and how do I spot a cloned finance journal site?

A hijacked journal is a fake website that copies a real journal's title, ISSN, cover and editorial board, then collects submissions and fees that never reach the genuine publisher. As on October 2026 the reliable test is the route you arrive by: open the journal from the publisher's own domain or from the index record, never from a link in an invitation email.

Finance is a favourite target because the journal names are long and formulaic, and because authors here are used to paying nothing, so an unexpected invoice does not always raise an alarm. A request to pay a personal bank account, an editorial contact on a free email service, or a domain one character different from the publisher's own settles it.

Is this green finance journal predatory?

Judge it on four checks rather than a feeling: is the ISSN in the live Scopus source list or the Web of Science Master Journal List, is the fee published before submission, are the editorial board members real people with verifiable affiliations, and does the journal describe a realistic review process. Failing two or more is enough to walk away.

In this subject there is a fifth signal. A journal claiming to be a finance journal with no finance academics on its board, or with a board drawn entirely from unrelated fields, is not running finance peer review whatever else is true about it.

Why does this journal claim an impact factor that is not in JCR?

Because anyone can invent a metric and call it an impact factor. The Journal Impact Factor is a Clarivate product published once a year in Journal Citation Reports, so if a journal's number is not in JCR then it is not a Journal Impact Factor whatever the website calls it.

Check the ISSN in JCR or the Master Journal List. If the journal is not there, the number on its homepage came from somewhere else, and in finance that somewhere is usually a commercial metric service.

What is SJIF, and is it a real impact factor?

SJIF, along with Global Impact Factor, Cosmos Impact Factor and similar names, is a commercial metric sold by a private company, not a Clarivate product. It is not the Journal Impact Factor and no business school promotion committee we have worked with accepts it as one.

Treat a prominent SJIF badge as a warning rather than a credential. Journals with a genuine JCR impact factor display that instead, because it is worth more.

Which green finance journals charge no article processing fee and are still indexed?

As on October 2026 the no-fee indexed options here include the Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Science, the Journal of Capital Markets Studies, the Journal of Islamic Monetary Economics and Finance, the Journal of Financial Management, Markets and Institutions, Buletin Ekonomi Moneter dan Perbankan, the Journal of Central Banking Law and Institutions and the Journal of Financial Therapy.

Beyond those, every title in the Web of Science table also charges no APC, because they are subscription journals. In finance, paying is genuinely optional.

How do I check whether a green finance journal is still indexed today?

Take the ISSN from a published article and search it on the live Scopus source list and the Web of Science Master Journal List, then check the discontinued and on-hold files as well as the active ones. Do it on the day you submit, because a list from last quarter is not evidence about today.

In this field add a third check: the ABDC list, if your school uses it. A journal can be Scopus indexed and carry no ABDC entry at all, which is a different question from whether it is indexed.

The UGC CARE list was discontinued, so how do I verify a finance 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 Web of Science Master Journal List and your own institution's parameters.

For Indian authors in finance specifically, the practical stack is Scopus or Web of Science for indexing, ABDC if the school uses it, and the institution's own recognised list where one exists. An archived CARE entry proves nothing today.

Can I publish a green finance paper without an institutional affiliation?

Yes. Journals in this field publish independent researchers, and the standard practice is to write "Independent Researcher" with your city and country in the affiliation field rather than leaving it blank or borrowing a former employer's name.

Two things get harder. Paying an article charge is one, because waiver schemes check an institutional country, and data access is the other, since most finance databases are licensed to institutions. Both are solvable by choosing a no-fee title and public data, and central bank and exchange data are more openly available in this field than in most.

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 finance a fourth check is common, because working paper versions of the same manuscript inflate the overlap score. Declare the working paper, run your own check first with the Plagiarism & AI Similarity Checker, and settle the language and formatting through Manuscript Editing.

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. Where a paper needs a co-author with database access or a second market, that is Collaboration Matching, and past work is on our Case Studies page.

Questions we are asked about indexing status

How do I check a journal is still indexed today?

Search the ISSN on the live Scopus source list and the Web of Science Master Journal List, and check the discontinued and on-hold files as well as the active ones. Do it on the day you submit, and take a dated screenshot of what you find.

What does "on hold" in Web of Science mean for me?

Clarivate has paused coverage while it re-evaluates the journal, usually over editorial or citation concerns. Articles already published stay indexed, but new ones may or may not be covered depending on the outcome, so an on-hold title is a poor bet while your paper is the one in the queue.

My journal was delisted after acceptance, what now?

If your article was published while the journal was still covered, it stays in the database and remains an indexed paper. If it has not appeared yet, withdrawing before publication is cleaner than arguing the point with a promotion committee later. Thesis, funding and authorship questions sit 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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发送摘要,即可获得按检索类型分层的期刊清单。

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。

What the charged journals cost

Every stated article charge on this page, converted to US dollars. Tap a bar for the journal and its index tier.

Select a bar to see the detail.