Sustainability Annual Report 2025

The year 2025 represented a landmark period for Sustainability, with the journal achieving an Impact Factor of 3.3 and a CiteScore of 7.7. Notably, it ranked among the top 10% in the category of Geography, Planning and Development, reflecting its increasing influence. By adhering to rigorous peer review and upholding high standards of scientific integrity, the journal demonstrates its commitment to publishing high-quality manuscripts.

The journal’s global readership continued to expand in 2025, with a total of 165,997,858 paper views. This growth reflects the increasing relevance of sustainability research to academics, policymakers, and practitioners worldwide. Beyond readership and citation impact, Sustainability remains steadfast in its commitment to advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2025, our published research contributed substantially to multiple SDGs, including, but not limited to, Climate Action (SDG 13), Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12), Life Below Water (SDG 14), Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7), and Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11) (data source: Web of Science; publication title: Sustainability; publication dates: 2025-01-01–2025-12-31; document types: Article, Review Article).

The credibility of Sustainability is strongly attributed to the dedication of our Editorial Board. In the fourth quarter of 2025, we were delighted to appoint three distinguished scholars to key leadership roles: Prof. Dr. Jan Hopmans (Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California Davis, USA), whose research focuses on irrigation water management, soil hydrology, soil physics, and agricultural sustainability, was appointed Associate Editor; Prof. Dr. Jun Hou, whose research focuses on water quality improvement technology, water environment protection and bioremediation, coupling of biofilms and active substrata, ecological engineering, nanomaterials for environmental remediation, environmental behaviors of nanomaterials, and toxicity of manufactured nanoparticles, was appointed Section Editor-in-Chief of the “Sustainable Water Management” section; and Prof. Dr. Stephen Morse (Centre for Environment and Sustainability, University of Surrey, UK), whose research interests include sustainability assessment, sustainability indicators, natural resource management, earth observation, and participatory research methods, was appointed Section Editor-in-Chief of the “Social Ecology and Sustainability” section.

We extend our sincere gratitude to the Section Editors-in-Chief and Editorial Board Members who made exceptional contributions to Sustainability in 2025. These include, but are not limited to, Firoz Alam, Sajid Anwar, Jungho Baek, Hossein Bonakdari, Mark A. Bonn, Antonio Caggiano, Jianming Cai, Harry Coccossis, Fabrizio D’Ascenzo, David González-Gómez, Tim Gray, Antonio P. Gutierrez de Blume, Jan Hopmans, Jun Hou, Jacob Arie Jordaan, Grigorios L. Kyriakopoulos, Giada La Scalia, Jun (Justin) Li, Lin Lu, Elżbieta Macioszek, Bruce Morley, Stephen Morse, Mirco Peron, Irene Petrosillo, Cristina Raluca Gh. Popescu, Alan Randall, and Maria Rosa Trovato, in addition to all other board members who dedicated their time and expertise to pursuing the journal’s mission. To engage outstanding early career scholars in editorial work, we also launched the Early Career Editorial Board (ECEB) in August (https://www.mdpi.com/about/announcements/12831, accessed on 1 February 2026).

In 2025, Sustainability sponsored 19 conferences and presented at 40 conference booths; these conferences included the 2025 AAG (American Association of Geographers) Annual Meeting, the 33rd European Biomass Conference and Exhibition (EUBCE 2025), the 2025 Science and Technology Annual Meeting of the Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences, and the 11th World Sustainability Forum (WSF 11) (organized by MDPI and Sustainability; https://sciforum.net/event/WSF-11, accessed on 1 February 2026). The 12th World Sustainability Forum will take place on 21–24 August 2026 in Hong Kong, China (https://sciforum.net/event/WSF-12, accessed on 1 February 2026).

Finally, we would like to highlight our two year-end online meetings with the Editor-in-Chief and Section Editors-in-Chief. The discussions at these meetings provided valuable feedback that will help shape the journal’s direction. Specifically, in the coming year, Sustainability will focus on:

(1)

Enhancing editorial and reviewer quality through clear guidelines, targeted training, and greater recognition;

(2)

Strengthening Special Issues by prioritizing distinctive topics and engaging high-profile Editorial Board Members and Guest Editors;

(3)

Increasing the journal’s visibility and reputation through strategic social media promotion, expanded participation in academic events, and more targeted regional outreach.

Alongside these goals for the coming year, we will pursue the following initiatives: First, the journal will launch a survey aimed at Editorial Board Members to enhance their role in guiding the journal’s development and mission. This survey includes questions related to reviewer engagement and training initiatives, and invites feedback on whether journal activities or services should be refined, reduced, or discontinued in order to tighten the journal’s focus and increase its impact.

In 2025, Sustainability presented five annual journal awards. The journal has also launched an Editor of Distinction Award (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability/awards/3732, accessed on 1 February 2026) to acknowledge Editorial Board Members’ exceptional contributions in maintaining the journal’s high international standards. We plan to inform our Editorial Board Members of this award through multiple channels, including our newsletter and seasonal communications, and by incorporating it into the Editorial Board survey.

Currently, the journal is taking steps to establish a new Special Issue Mentor Program, which will aim to promote outstanding early career researchers (postdoc researchers, new faculty members) and set them on a path towards editorial services and contributions. This program will allow early career researchers to propose novel ideas for new Special Issues and co-edit them under the mentorship of our experienced Editorial Board Members or other experienced scientists. Ultimately, this will help achieve our long-term goal of securing strategically targeted Special Issues that address current and emerging topics in sustainability science and practices, and that are approved and managed by Section Editors.

Finally, the journal is considering launching a Reviewer Club webinar series to support the reviewer community by sharing best practices in peer review (e.g., high-quality review reports, ethical reviewing, AI usage, and case-based discussions).