Journal of Hazardous Materials Impact Factor 2026: Ranking, Quartile & What It Means

What Is Impact Factor?

Journal Impact Factor (JIF) is Clarivate's annual metric measuring the average citations received per article published in a journal over two years. For Journal of Hazardous Materials, the 11.3 JIF for 2024 means articles published in 2022-2023 accumulated an average of 11.3 citations by the end of 2024.

The practical meaning: An IF of 11.3 in environmental science indicates selective peer review, established readership, and research that generates citation impact. The metric reflects how frequently researchers in that field build on and cite the journal's work.

Journal of Hazardous Materials: The Numbers

2024 Impact Factor: 11.3

5-Year Impact Factor: 12.4 (shows longer-term stability)

Category Rank: 19 out of 374 journals in Environmental Sciences & Ecology

Quartile: Q1 (top 25%)

Publisher: Elsevier

Type: Peer-reviewed, full-text articles and reviews

The 5-year JIF of 12.4 indicates the journal has maintained strong citation impact consistently. The slight decline from 5-year to 1-year may reflect the addition of more niche content or competition from newer environmental safety outlets.

How Does 11.3 Compare?

For perspective on what an 11.3 IF means:

Higher: Science of the Total Environment (14.1), Environmental Science & Technology (9.8), Chemosphere (8.2), Ecological Engineering (5.7)

Comparable: Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering (~5.7), Environmental Research (~7.5), Water Research (~9.9)

The placement is clear: Journal of Hazardous Materials is in the upper tier of environmental and materials journals, particularly strong for hazardous substance research. The Q1 ranking confirms selectivity.

What Gets Published There

Journal of Hazardous Materials accepts research on:

• Characterization of hazardous materials (toxicity, persistence, bioavailability)
• Environmental transport and fate of pollutants
• Remediation technologies (sorption, degradation, chemical treatment)
• Industrial and occupational safety
• Risk assessment and exposure modeling
• Novel materials or additives and their environmental implications
• Heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), endocrine disruptors, nanomaterials

The broad scope within hazardous materials means it competes for papers across chemistry, environmental engineering, toxicology, and public health. The 11.3 IF reflects citation strength across these applied disciplines.

Acceptance Rate & Timeline

Journal of Hazardous Materials has a relatively selective process. Published acceptance rates are typically 25-35%, which is moderate for environmental science. This aligns with the Q1 status.

Time to first decision: 60-90 days for peer review (consistent with selective environmental journals)

Time to publication: 4-6 months after acceptance, depending on revision rounds

The timeline is reasonable but not fast. If you need quick publication, this may not be the ideal target unless the scope fit is very strong.

Should You Submit?

Submit if:

• Your research addresses hazardous materials characterization, environmental transport, or remediation
• Data are robust with clear environmental or industrial safety implications
• Scope aligns with the journal's established topics (toxicity, contamination, cleanup technologies)
• You're targeting an established, selective, Q1 journal in environmental science

Consider alternatives if:

• Your work is too applied or too preliminary (try Chemosphere, Journal of Hazardous Materials Letters)
• You need a faster decision (check Ecological Engineering or Environmental Research)
• The work is highly interdisciplinary but not directly on hazardous materials (consider broad environmental journals)

The Impact Factor Interpretation

An 11.3 IF doesn't mean every paper in Journal of Hazardous Materials will get 11 citations. Some papers in the journal may get very few citations; high-impact papers will get far more. The metric is an average, not a promise.

The Q1 ranking is more meaningful: it confirms the journal is among the top 25% by citation impact in its category, which usually correlates with rigorous peer review and established readership.

Citation Impact in Your Field

If you work in:

• Industrial safety or hazmat management: An 11.3 IF journal is top-tier, expect strong visibility
• Environmental remediation: Q1 status is significant; papers accumulate citations in this community
• Toxicology or risk assessment: The strong IF reflects active citation in safety literature
• Materials science (environmental angle): Strong but not the highest (Nature Materials, Advanced Materials are higher)

Citation behavior varies by subfield. Within hazardous materials and environmental safety, an 11.3 IF is genuinely selective.

What the Numbers Don't Tell You

Impact factor doesn't measure:

• Quality of individual papers: High-IF journals publish some weak papers; low-IF journals publish influential work
• Reproducibility: JIF counts citations, not whether cited findings hold up
• Clinical or practical relevance: Citation frequency ≠ real-world impact
• Review rigor: A high-IF journal may have high citation count without proportionally rigorous review (though selectivity often correlates with quality)

Use JIF as a signal of journal selectivity and citation reach, not as proof of paper quality.

Related Reading

• Journal of Hazardous Materials acceptance rate and submission guide
• Impact factor explained: what it is, what it isn't
• How to choose a journal for your research
• Desk rejection risk assessment

Source: Journal Citation Reports (JCR) 2024, published by Clarivate. Data reflects citations through December 2024 for articles published in 2022-2023.

Last updated: March 2026