Is Construction and Building Materials a Good Journal? Reputation, Fit and Who Should Submit

Is Construction and Building Materials legitimate?

Yes. Absolutely.

Construction and Building Materials is published by Elsevier, indexed in Web of Science and Scopus, has a 2024 Impact Factor of 8.0, and maintains editorial integrity with genuine peer review. There is no question of legitimacy.

If you're asking because you've heard concerns about journal predatoriness or quality: Construction and Building Materials is nowhere near that category. It's a premium venue with high standards.

Reputation assessment

In construction engineering and materials science

Reputation: Excellent. Construction and Building Materials is one of the top three journals in its category, competing only with Cement and Concrete Composites and Journal of Building Engineering.

In the construction and building materials community, publication here is considered prestigious. Papers get immediate credibility and readership from practicing engineers, researchers, and industry professionals.

In broader materials science

Reputation: Solid/respected. IF 8.0 places it above many general materials journals, but below elite venues like Nature Materials (IF 38-40) or Advanced Materials (IF 32-35).

Materials scientists outside construction engineering recognize an 8.0 IF journal as selective and credible, but probably aren't familiar with Construction and Building Materials specifically unless their work touches construction applications.

For grants and job applications

A Construction and Building Materials publication on your CV:

• Helps significantly for civil engineering and construction materials positions
• Helps moderately for materials science positions
• Is treated neutrally for pure chemistry or physics positions (where the Q1 IF matters more than the journal name)

Academic hiring committees and grant reviewers see IF and quartile first. The journal name is secondary. An IF 8.0 paper from Construction and Building Materials signals: "This is published in a selective, peer-reviewed venue with good citation impact."

Who should submit to this journal

✓ Submit if:

• Your research demonstrates long-term durability of a new or modified construction material (concrete, steel, composites, wood, masonry, etc.)
• You've conducted accelerated durability testing (freeze-thaw cycles, wet-dry cycles, salt spray, or standards-based aging)
• Your material or process solves a real construction problem: durability, cost, structural performance, sustainability, or maintenance
• You've compared your material with conventional alternatives including cost analysis
• Your work is complete: no preliminary stages, all key experiments finished, results are final
• Your material is scalable to construction use with standard equipment and methods

✗ Don't submit if:

• Your work is purely material characterization without construction application context
• You have no durability testing data or only short-term mechanical property tests
• Your research is theoretical or computational without experimental validation
• Your material is at lab scale only without discussion of construction-scale feasibility
• You haven't addressed cost and economic competitiveness with existing materials
• Your work is incomplete or preliminary (save it for a faster journal after more work)
• Construction relevance is indirect or tangential (pure chemistry or physics)

How it compares to alternative journals

Decision framework: Should you submit?

Ask yourself these four questions:

1. Does my research demonstrate durability of a construction material or process? (Yes = continue; No = choose different journal)
2. Have I conducted accelerated durability testing with experimental data? (Yes = continue; No = conduct testing first, then submit)
3. Can I clearly explain how this solves a construction problem (durability, cost, structural performance, sustainability)? (Yes = continue; No = reframe your work)
4. Is my work complete with all key experiments finished? (Yes = prepare to submit; No = finish experiments, then submit)

If you answered "Yes" to all four, Construction and Building Materials is an excellent fit.

Realistic expectations after submission

Best case: Minor revisions requested, accepted in 5-7 months, published online 2 months later = 7-9 months total

Typical case: Major revisions with additional experiments, 9-13 months to acceptance

Worst case: Rejected after major round, revise and resubmit elsewhere

Construction and Building Materials is selective (30-35% acceptance) for good reason: it publishes high-quality, complete research with genuine construction impact. That selectivity means rejection risk is real. Have a backup journal in mind.

Final assessment: Construction and Building Materials is a genuinely good journal—legitimate, selective, well-respected. But it's good specifically for construction materials research with durability data and construction application. If your work fits that category, it's an excellent target. If it doesn't, find a better fit elsewhere.