This page contains a list of full open access journals in which energy research and energy modeling software can be published. The information here (including publication fees and article lengths) refers to full-length articles based on original research.
Most journals require a publication fee (also known as an article processing charge or APC) to be paid by the submitter on acceptance. The fee can be as high as €1800, but some journals have a waiver policy for non-funded authors. To apply for a partial or full exemption, you will need to submit the institutional affiliations of the authors, the details of your project, and any sources of funding you receive. You also need to apply prior to or at the time of submission.
Some conventional journals allow authors to buy out their restricted access. These are known as hybrid open access journals and their APCs tends to be higher, in line with their better impact factors.
Only two journals, the Journal of Open Research Software and the Journal of Open Source Software, are dedicated to software and cover all areas of science. Only two support energy economics. The remainder are either oriented towards engineering topics or broad in scope.
The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) maintains a directory of open access journals.
Note: Feel free to shift journals between the established and less known categories or remove them altogether, particularly if you know something of their reputation.
Overview
Established journals
Energies
- Overview
- Energies is an open access journal of related scientific research, technology development, and policy and management studies. Its aim is to encourage scientists to publish their experimental and theoretical results in as much detail as possible. The full experimental details must be provided so that the results can be reproduced. The publisher's keywords comprise: energy sources, energy saving, and energy efficiency.
- Website
- https://www.mdpi.com/journal/energies
- Summary
- established in 2008
- engineering oriented
- Length
- no restrictions
- LaTeX and MS Word templates available
- Based
- Switzerland
- ISSN
- 1996-1073
- DOAJ listing
- https://doaj.org/toc/1996-1073
- Wikipedia
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energies (journal)
- License
- CC BY 4.0
- Publication fee
- CHF1800 / ~€1500 (as of February 2019)
- Personal experience
- from submission to publication: very fast (<2 month)
- few rejections
- reputation: average (it is recognizable that reviewers need to respond fast)
Energy and Policy Research
- Overview
- This journal has ceased (2018).
- Energy and Policy Research publishes articles on engineering, science, technology, policy, and management related to energy systems. Topics include: advanced power cycles, governmental policies on energy, carbon mitigation technologies including clean coal and carbon capture, hydrogen and fuel cells, energy generation, conversion, storage, and transmission, market-based energy planning, economic, social, and environmental aspects of energy policies, micro- and nano-energy systems, energy supply security, nuclear energy, renewable energy including wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, and biomass, and thermal and fluid design of energy systems.
- Website
- https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/uetp21/current
- Summary
- broad coverage, including public energy policy and market-based energy planning
- Length
- 8000 words (inclusive recommended length)
- LaTeX and MS Word support
- Publisher
- Taylor & Francis Group
- Based
- USA
- ISSN
- 2381-5639
- DOAJ listing
- https://doaj.org/toc/2381-5639
- License
- CC BY-NC
- Notes
- previously known as Energy Technology & Policy: An Open Access Journal
- Publication fee
- US$1500 / €1400 (in 2016)
- membership and offset discounts can apply
- fee may be partially or fully waived for non-funded authors
Energy Reports
- Overview
- Energy Reports is an online multidisciplinary open access journal which focuses on publishing new research in the area of energy with a rapid review and publication time. Energy Reports will be open to direct submissions and also to submissions from other Elsevier energy journals, whose editors have determined that Energy Reports would be a better fit.
-
- Direct submissions to the journal can be on any aspect of energy research, either from a technical engineering viewpoint or from a social research aspect. All energy subject areas will be considered (for example, renewables, fossil, nuclear).
- Website
- https://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy-reports/
- Summary
- first published in November 2015
- energy research including engineering and social aspects
- Length
- 4000 words (excluding references)
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Based
- United Kingdom
- ISSN
- 2352-4847
- DOAJ listing
- https://doaj.org/toc/2352-4847
- License
- CC BY or CC BY-NC-ND (author's choice)
- Publication fee
- US$1500 / ~€1300 (as of February 2019)
- waiver policy for developing countries
- Personal experience
- from submission to publication: fast (~3 month)
Energy Science & Engineering
- Overview
- Energy Science & Engineering is a peer reviewed, open access journal dedicated to fundamental and applied research on energy and supply and use. The journal is published as a co-operative venture of Wiley and SCI (Society of Chemical Industry). Topics include, but are not limited to the following areas:
- general energy: impact of production of electricity, heat and fuels, efficiency: built environment, industry and transport, systems, policy, legislation and planning, and cycle analysis
- fossil fuels: carbon capture and storage (CCS) and reduction of other pollutants (NOx, SOx, etc)
- energy storage: thermal energy storage and chemical energy storage
- nuclear energy: nuclear reprocessing and breeder reactors, subcritical reactors, waste reduction/management, safety
- renewable energy: solar energy and photovoltaics, hydrogen, batteries and fuel cells, wind energy, marine energy and hydropower, geothermal energy, and other renewables
- power engineering: electric power systems, electric power electronics, cogeneration and combined heat and power, distributed power generation, microgeneration, power distribution and grid modernisation, and power management and modelling
- Website
- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)2050-0505
- Summary
- first published in April 2013
- engineering oriented
- Length
- no restriction
- preferred formats are MS Word and RTF, limited support for LaTeX
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Based
- United Kingdom
- ISSN
- 2050-0505
- DOAJ listing
- https://doaj.org/toc/2050-0505
- License
- CC BY 3.0
- Publication fee
- €1429 / US$1900 / £1216 (as of February 2019)
- Personal experience
- from submission to publication: average (~6 month)
- processing interrupted without information about the reason, continued after triggering continuation (payment status was pending but not indicated in the submission system)
Energy Strategy Reviews
- Overview
- Energy Strategy Reviews is a peer-reviewed platform for publishing research related to the planning and implementation of energy strategies, ideally through quantitative studies that advance the use of energy systems models. The types of papers published by this journal include analyses, methodologies, case studies and reviews. Report reviews and viewpoints are published only by invitation.
- Website
- https://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy-strategy-reviews/
- Summary
- the first volume was published in March 2012
- became a gold open access journal in January 2019
- Length
- 10-12 pp for analysis and methodology articles
- 4 pp for case study articles
- 1-5 pp for short reviews or report reviews
- 2-4 pp for viewpoint or energy vision
- LaTeX template available
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Based
- Amsterdam, Netherlands
- ISSN
- 2211-467X
- DOAJ listing
- none
- License
- CC BY or CC BY-NC-ND (author's choice)
- Publication fee
- US$1250 /~€1100 for articles submitted before 31 December 2019
- US$2500 /~€2200 for articles submitted after 31 December 2019
- Personal experience
- from submission to publication: very slow (>1 year)
Energy, Sustainability and Society
- Overview
- This journal offers a forum for discourse on systemic challenges at the intersection of energy, sustainability and society for natural scientists, engineers, social and political scientists and industry experts. It is the particular aim of this journal to publish inter‐ and cross‐disciplinary papers that provide a substantial contribution to the holistic innovation of sustainable energy systems.
-
- The scope of the journal encompasses the whole innovation process, ranging from scientific research to both innovative approaches for technology implementation and the analysis of economic, social and environmental impacts of sustainable energy systems. Papers that integrate at least two dimensions of the energy, sustainability and society nexus and contribute to new holistic system solutions for the development of novel future energy are welcomed. The journal strives to publish early scientific opinions on issues, which are just emerging and require crosscutting and creative thinking.
- Website
- https://energsustainsoc.biomedcentral.com/
- Summary
- publication opened up in 2011
- interdisciplinary focus on complex issues concerning science, environment, technology, and society
- Length
- no restriction
- Publisher
- Springer
- Based
- Germany
- ISSN
- 2192-0567
- DOAJ listing
- https://doaj.org/toc/2192-0567
- License
- CC BY 4.0
- Notes
- SpringerOpen Copyright and License Agreement applies
- Publication fee
- €1180 / US$1390 / £990 (as of February 2019)
- Personal experience
- from submission to publication: average (~9 month)
Frontiers in Energy Research
- Overview
- This section of the open access journal FRONTIERS welcomes the submission of studies that examine the characteristics of new energy sources in a systemic way, such as the energy yield, the economic return, the pollution effects, and the sustainability of the system in terms of the natural resources that must be engaged.
- Website
- https://journal.frontiersin.org/journal/energy-research
- https://journal.frontiersin.org/journal/energy-research/section/energy-systems-and-policy
- Summary
- energy systems and policy (one of twelve sections)
- Length
- 12 000 words
- MS Word and LaTeX templates available
- Based
- Switzerland
- ISSN
- 2296-598X
- DOAJ listing
- https://doaj.org/toc/2296-598X
- License
- CC BY (version not specified)
- Publication fee
- US$1900 (€1800 in 2016)
- fee may be partially or fully waived for non-funded authors
- Personal experience
- from submission to publication: average (~9 month)
- review forum allows ansychronous editing and responding on questions raised by reviewers, however reviewers tend to conventionally respond based on documents
International Journal of Energy and Environmental Engineering (IJEEE)
- Overview
- The journal provides a focus for activities concerning the development, assessment and management of energy and environmental engineering related programs. The following topical areas are covered: input-output analyses relating to energy-consuming systems, careful resource or reserve assessments of all types, energy conservation measures and their implementations, incisive evaluation of energy- system management, environmental- impact assessments, and policy alternatives stressing economic implications, bio- reactions and bio-engineering, geothermal energy, marine and hydroelectric energy, nuclear energy, solar energy, wind energy, energy conversion, energy efficient buildings, energy storage, power distribution, and renewable energy resource assessment and transportation.
- Website
- https://www.springer.com/engineering/energy+technology/journal/40095
- Summary
- energy and environmental engineering
- Length
- no restriction
- MS Word and LaTeX (if using mathematics) support
- Publisher
- Springer
- Based
- Germany
- ISSN
- 2008-9163
- DOAJ listing
- https://doaj.org/toc/2008-9163
- License
- CC BY 4.0
- Publication fee
- Publication costs are covered by Islamic Azad University, Iran
International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy (IJEEP)
- Overview
- The journal seeks articles in the areas of energy economics, energy policy and related disciplines. Topics include, but are not limited to: energy consumption, electricity consumption, economic growth and energy, energy policy, energy planning, energy forecasting, energy pricing, energy politics, energy financing, energy efficiency, energy modelling, energy use, energy and the environment, energy systems, and renewable energy.
- Website
- https://www.econjournals.com/index.php/ijeep/
- Summary
- energy economics and energy policy
- Length
- no restriction
- LibreOffice, MS Word, RTF, and WordPerfect (but not LaTeX) support
- Publisher
- EconJournals
- Based
- Turkey
- ISSN
- 2146-4553
- DOAJ listing
- https://doaj.org/toc/2146-4553
- License
- CC BY 4.0
- Publication fee
- US$300 (€280 in 2016)
International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management
- Overview
- The journal is an international interdisciplinary journal in sustainable energy planning and management combining engineering and social science within energy system analysis, feasibility studies and public regulation. The journal focuses on the following three areas:
- energy system analysis including theories, methodologies, data handling and software tools as well as specific models and analyses at local, regional, country and/or global level
- economics, socio-economics and feasibility studies including theories and methodologies of institutional economics as well as specific feasibility studies and analyses
- public regulation and management including theories and methodologies as well as specific analyses and proposals in the light of the implementation and transition into sustainable energy systems
- The journal is sponsor-financed with open access for both readers and authors.
- Website
- https://journals.aau.dk/index.php/sepm
- Summary
- sustainable energy system analysis combining engineering and social science
- Length
- 5000–8000 words (in total, including references)
- Publisher
- Aalborg University Press
- Based
- Denmark
- ISSN
- 2246-2929
- DOAJ listing
- https://doaj.org/toc/2246-2929
- License
- CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 (although the license notice is absent in downloaded PDFs)
- Publication fee
- none (see above)
Journal of Open Research Software
- Overview
- The open access Journal of Open Research Software (JORS) is dedicated to publishing open source research software. It is therefore a useful outlet in which to publish software source code, and then be able to cite the software from other articles.
- The journal features peer reviewed software metapapers describing research software with high reuse potential. We are working with a number of specialist and institutional repositories to ensure that the associated software is professionally archived, preserved, and is openly available. Equally importantly, the software and the papers will be citable, and reuse will be tracked.
- JORS also publishes full-length research papers that cover different aspects of creating, maintaining and evaluating open source research software. The aim of the section is to promote the dissemination of best practice and experience related to the development and maintenance of reusable, sustainable research software.
- JORS believes that only the CC BY license meets the requirements for true open access for books and journals, and strongly prefers CC0 for open research data.
- Website
- https://openresearchsoftware.metajnl.com/
- Summary
- principally for short peer reviews of software and associated code, research papers are not common
- reviewers will download, test, and assess the associated code
- Length
- software reviews are short
- research papers are limited to 4000 words and few references
- Based
- United Kingdom
- ISSN
- 2049-9647
- DOAJ listing
- https://doaj.org/toc/2049-9647
- License
- CC BY 4.0 (text)
- CC0 (public domain, strongly preferred for data)
- Publication fee
- £100 (€120 in 2016) for software reviews
- £300 (€360 in 2016) for research papers
- fee may be partially or fully waived for non-funded authors
Journal of Open Source Software
- Overview
- The Journal of Open Source Software (JOSS) is dedicated to publishing open source research software. The formal peer-review process aims to 'improve the quality of the software submitted'. JOSS was established to allow researchers who have spent time and effort writing a software package to publish their work and make their package citable, without requiring them to spend additional time and effort writing a paper about the software. Each paper published by JOSS will receive a Crossref DOI and be available in the JOSS website. The submission process is characterised as being 'developer friendly', with a simple workflow and extensive documentation to aid in the process.
- Website
- https://joss.theoj.org/
- Summary
- submitted software must be open source, feature-complete, maintainable and have a clearly-defined research application with a significant contribution
- minor 'utility' packages are not accepted
- paper submissions (in markdown format with BiBTeX and figures) must be hosted in a Git-based repository
- open peer-review takes place in GitHub
- accepted papers are published immediately
- authors and reviewers must adhere to the code of conduct
- Based
- United States
- ISSN
- 2475-9066
- DOAJ listing
- https://doaj.org/toc/2475-9066
- License
- CC BY 4.0 (text and any use of the JOSS logo)
- MIT License (code snippets within the paper, regardless of the license used by the software package which has been submitted for review)
- Publication fee
- None
Sustainability
- Overview
Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050; CODEN: SUSTDE) is an international, cross-disciplinary, scholarly, peer-reviewed, and open-access journal of environmental, cultural, economic, and social sustainability of human beings. It provides an advanced forum for studies related to sustainability and sustainable development and is published semimonthly online by MDPI. The Society for Urban Ecology (SURE), Canadian Urban Transit Research & Innovation Consortium (CUTRIC), and International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB) are affiliated with Sustainability and their members receive discounts on the article processing charge.
- Website
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability
- Summary
Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050) is an international and cross-disciplinary scholarly, open-access journal of environmental, cultural, economic, and social sustainability of human beings, which provides an advanced forum for studies related to sustainability and sustainable development. It publishes reviews, regular research papers, communications, and short notes, and there is no restriction on the length of the papers.
- Publisher
MDPI AG
- Based
MDPI St. Alban-Anlage 66 CH-4052 Basel Switzerland
- ISSN
2071-1050
- DOAJ listing
https://doaj.org/toc/2071-1050
- Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability_(journal)
- License
Articles published in Sustainability will be Open-Access articles distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The copyright is retained by the author(s). MDPI will insert the following note at the end of the published text: © 2021 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
- Publication fee
- CHF1900 (March 2021)
- Personal experience
- from submission to publication: fast(~3 month)
- similar reputation as Energies
Journal of Modern Power Systems and Clean Energy
- Overview
- Journal of Modern Power Systems and Clean Energy is dedicated to presenting top-level academic achievements in the fields of modern power systems and clean energy by international researchers and engineers, and is endeavoured to serve as a bridge between Chinese and global researchers in the power industry.
- Website
- https://www.springer.com/energy/systems,+storage+and+harvesting/journal/40565
- Summary
- —
- Length
- not specified
- Publisher
- Springer
- Based
- China
- ISSN
- 2196-5420
- DOAJ listing
- https://doaj.org/toc/2196-5420
- Wikipedia
- —
- License
- CC BY
- Publication fee
- none
- Publication costs are covered by State Grid Electric Power Research Institute, China.
- Co-publication with State Grid Electric Power Research Institute.
IEEE Access
- Overview
- IEEE Access is a multidisciplinary, all-electronic archival journal, continuously presenting the results of original research or development across all of IEEE’s fields of interest. Supported by author publication fees, its hallmarks are a rapid peer review and publication process with open access to all readers.
- Website
- https://ieeeaccess.ieee.org/learn-more-about-ieee-access/
- Summary
- Started in 2013
- Word and Latex Template
- Length
- not specified
- Publisher
- IEEE
- Based
- US
- ISSN
- 2169-3536
- DOAJ listing
- https://doaj.org/toc/2169-3536
- Wikipedia
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_Access
- License
- CC BY
- Publication fee
- 1750$ + Taxes
IET Generation, Transmission & Distribution
- Overview
- IET Generation, Transmission & Distribution ET Generation, Transmission & Distribution is intended as a forum for the publication and discussion of current practice and future developments in electric power generation, transmission and distribution. Practical papers in which examples of good present practice can be described and disseminated are particularly sought. Papers of high technical merit relying on mathematical arguments and computation will be considered, but authors are asked to relegate, as far as possible, the details of analysis to an appendix.
- Website
- https://digital-library.theiet.org/content/journals/iet-gtd
- Summary
- Started in 1994, the whole journal (like all journals of IET) moved Open Access at end of 2020.
- Length
- not specified
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Based
- New Jersey, US
- ISSN
- 1751-8695
- DOAJ listing
- -
- Wikipedia
- -
- License
- CC BY
- Publication fee
- 2800$
Less known journals
An appearance here does not imply an endorsement. You will need to make your own determination as to the quality of each journal listed.
International Journal of Energy and Environment (IJEE)
- Summary
- all areas of energy and the environment
- DOAJ listing
- https://doaj.org/toc/2076-2909
- Based
- Iraq
International Journal of Renewable Energy Development (IJRED)
- Summary
- renewable energy research and development
- DOAJ listing
- https://doaj.org/toc/2252-4940
- Based
- Indonesia
Journal of Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (JSDEWES)
- Summary
- methods, policies and technologies for increasing the sustainability of development by de-coupling growth from natural resources and replacing them with a knowledge-based economy
- Link
- https://www.sdewes.org/jsdewes/index.php
- DOAJ listing
- https://doaj.org/toc/1848-9257
- Fee
- 50€-250€ +VAT(25%)
- Based
- Croatia
Conferences and Workshops
ACM e-Energy
- Overview
- International Conference on Future Energy Systems (ACM e-Energy) is an international conference on future energy covering topics such as monitoring and control, energy efficient computing, electric vehicle routing and topics tackling problems in the future and todays power grid.
- Website
- https://www.sigcomm.org/events/eenergy-conference
- Summary
- established in 2010
- engineering oriented
- Length
- restrictions changing
- LaTeX and MS Word templates available
- ISBN
- [1]
D-A-CH+ Conference on Energy Informatics
- Overview
- D-A-CH+ Conference on Energy Informatics is a future energy conference meant for the knowledge exchange in the German-Austrian-Swiss region. However, the conference becomes more and more international.
- Summary
- established in 2012
- broad coverage
- Length
- check every year
- LaTeX and MS Word templates available
Future Technologies Conference
- Overview
- Future Technologies Conference (FTC) is an international conference in the areas of Computing, Electronics, AI, Robotics, Security and Communications.
- Summary
- established in 2016 (?)
- broad coverage
- Length
- check every year
- LaTeX and MS Word templates available