Sustainability Impact Factor 2026: Ranking, Quartile & What It Means
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Sustainability impact factor is 3.3 (JCR 2024, official Clarivate data). Q2 in Environmental Sciences, ranked 80/191. Five-year IF: 3.6. Published by MDPI. Gold open access. High-volume journal covering sustainability science, policy, and applied environmental research.
Sustainability has an impact factor of 3.3 in 2024, based on Clarivate's Journal Citation Reports. The five-year impact factor is 3.6.
The latest official data available in 2026 is the 2024 JCR release, published June 2025.
JIF Summary Table
Metric | Value |
|---|---|
JIF 2024 | 3.3 |
5-Year JIF | 3.6 |
Quartile | Q2 |
Category Rank | 80/191 (Environmental Sciences) |
Publisher | MDPI |
Access model | Gold open access |
Source: Clarivate JCR 2024.
IF Trend
Year | Impact Factor |
|---|---|
2019 | 2.6 |
2020 | 3.3 |
2021 | 3.9 |
2022 | 3.9 |
2023 | 3.4 |
2024 | 3.3 |
Sustainability's IF climbed through 2021 as the journal expanded and sustainability research gained citation momentum. It has stabilized in the 3.3-3.4 range, which reflects its actual citation base rather than a continued growth trajectory.
What the Number Means
A Q2 journal at IF 3.3 occupies a specific position in the sustainability research landscape. It's not a top-tier journal — journals like Nature Sustainability (IF 25.0), Environmental Science & Technology (IF 11.4), or Global Environmental Change (IF 8.6) sit substantially higher. It's also not a low-tier journal: Q2 at rank 80/191 puts it in the upper half of indexed environmental science journals.
For most practical academic purposes, Q2 JCR-indexed is the threshold for "counts" in hiring and promotion decisions. Sustainability meets that threshold. Whether it's the right target depends on the research.
Benchmarking Against Peers
Journal | IF (2024) | Quartile | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Nature Sustainability | 25.0 | Q1 | Elite, very selective |
Global Environmental Change | 8.6 | Q1 | High-profile policy-adjacent |
Environmental Science & Technology | 11.4 | Q1 | Top applied environmental |
Journal of Cleaner Production | 10.0 | Q1 | Applied sustainability, Elsevier |
Sustainability (MDPI) | 3.3 | Q2 | Broad scope, high volume |
Resources, Conservation & Recycling | 10.6 | Q1 | Circularity, waste, resources |
Applied Sciences (MDPI) | 2.7 | Q2 | Comparable MDPI sibling |
The honest comparison: if your work would be accepted at Journal of Cleaner Production or Resources, Conservation & Recycling, those are stronger publications for career purposes. Sustainability is an appropriate target for solid, well-executed work that may not meet the novelty bar of Q1 journals, for applied sustainability work in regions or sectors underrepresented in top journals, or when turnaround speed matters.
The MDPI Context
MDPI publishes Sustainability as part of a large portfolio of open-access journals. The business model is author-pays (APCs), and the journal publishes at very high volume — several thousand articles per year. Some researchers are skeptical of MDPI journals for this reason.
The academic reality: Sustainability is legitimately indexed in Web of Science and included in JCR. Clarivate applies its selection criteria to all journals, including MDPI titles. A paper in Sustainability is a peer-reviewed, indexed publication by any standard definition. The concern some researchers have is about prestige and citation weight relative to more selective journals, not about legitimacy per se.
Who Should Submit to Sustainability
Sustainability is appropriate if your work:
- Addresses sustainability science, policy, or applied environmental management
- Is technically sound and clearly within scope but may not reach the novelty bar for Q1 journals
- Covers regional or sector-specific sustainability issues where top journals have narrower scope
- Needs open-access publication and fast turnaround
It's probably not the right venue if:
- The work has a strong shot at Journal of Cleaner Production, Global Environmental Change, or Nature Sustainability
- Career context requires Q1 publication (tenure review, competitive grants)
- The research makes a conceptual advance that deserves a higher-prestige venue
Sources
- Clarivate Analytics, Journal Citation Reports 2024 (JIF 3.3, 5-Year JIF 3.6)
- MDPI, Sustainability journal information
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