Graphical Abstract
New measures in 2022 to improve CREST
Since established in 1970, Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology (CREST) journal has served as an international forum to publish timely critical reviews in environmental science and technology, and to promote advancements in elucidating and solving important environmental problems.
Different from journals under the Elsevier publishing umbrella, besides online version, CREST publishes hard copies of accepted manuscripts with a fixed annual volume. To accommodate a substantial increase in manuscript submissions, CREST increased its publishing volume by 38% in 2022 compared to 2021. Though the journal still publishes 24 issues a year, the number of articles in each issue has increased from 2 − 4 in 2021 to 4 − 6 in 2022.
Over the years, CREST has established itself as a major international journal with its 2020 impact factor of 12.6 and Cite Score of 14.7. Based on the Web of Science, CREST is classified as a Quartile-1 journal and ranked 5/274 journals in Environmental Sciences. Based on Academic-Accelerator.Com, CREST is ranked as a Quartile-1 journal in four areas including Environmental Engineering, Pollution, Waste Management and Disposal, and Water Science and Technology, with a Real-Time IF of 16.9.
Professor Lena Q. Ma at Zhejiang University has been the Editor-in-Chief (EIC) for CREST since 2021. The editorial board, consisting of 5 EIC/co-EICs, 16 associated editors, 25 editorial board members, and 19 young editorial board members, has worked hard to improve journal’s speed in publication. On average, it takes 6 days from submission to first decision, 35 days from submission to first post-review decision, and 22 days from acceptance to online publication, with current acceptance rate at 17%.
Besides, CREST has improved its service in publication thanks to the efforts of its editorial office. Since 2020, Mr. Matthew Whittle has been the Portfolio Manager for CREST who provides strong supports to improve CREST. While Ms. Jaclyn Martin ([email protected]) checks submitted papers to ensure that they all follow the guidelines, Ms. Laxmi Dharmapuri ([email protected]) handles the publication of accepted papers.
Working with the editorial board and editorial office, Professor Ma has led the development and implementation of many new measures to increase CREST’s reputation, quality and impacts, which are detailed below.
Measures to Improve Manuscript Quality
Excellent Paper Award: To encourage the submission of quality papers, CREST has established the Excellent Paper Award, which is based on the most-cited and most-read papers during the past two years as well as the overall quality of the papers (Ma et al., Citation2021).
While two papers received the honor for 2021 (Amarasiri et al., Citation2020; Harder et al., Citation2019), four papers are selected for this year (Bandara et al., Citation2020; Callegari et al., Citation2020; Liu et al., Citation2021; Xu et al., Citation2020). The Excellent Paper Award will be announced on the journal homepage. Further, the four Excellent Papers will enjoy free access for a year.
Invited reviews: To improve its quality, CREST seeks contributions from well-established scientists. Invitations are based on researchers’ accomplishments and reputation in their fields of expertise. All invited papers will be reviewed to ensure their novelty and quality, and will be published as “Invited Review” if accepted.
Author guidelines: All reviews must follow the updated guidelines to make papers more concise and consistent. The updated guidelines are available at taylorandfrancis.com/style_BEST.pdf.
Tight spec format: Tight spec is used for papers published online after June 2021, adding 180 extra words per page. CREST looks different from the past, with a smaller font, tighter spacing and smaller margins.
Supplemental information: CREST discourages lengthy papers with long tables. All papers should contain <10,000 words including figures and tables (300 − 600 words each), with <150 numbered references. Most tables should be published in the Supplementary Information.
Citation style: All references with > 2 authors are cited using et al. in the manuscript.
Graphical abstract: A graphical abstract has been added to all papers published in print and online, which should be in color and 4″×3″ (W × H) in size.
Current issues: Current issues are now published two months ahead, improved from one month in 2021.
Submission portal: There are three selections during manuscript submission, including 1) Review, 2) Invited Review, and 3) Letter to the editor.
Measures to Improve Review Quality
Excellent Reviewer Award: To show our appreciation for hard-working reviewers, CREST has established the Excellent Reviewer Award, which is based on the quantity, quality and speed of the reviews performed. To recognize their efforts and starting 2022, award recipients are invited to serve as Young/Editorial Board Members.
Co-EICs/Associate editors (AEs): CREST aims to send out for reviews within 1 week and make decisions within 8 − 12 weeks. To improve review quality, CREST recruits responsible AEs on an annual basis.
Add handling AE/co-EIC’s names to publications: To show our appreciation to handling editors, their names are added to the papers they handle.
Three reviews: To increase journal’s quality, all submissions will receive at least 3 reviews.
Measures to Promote CREST Articles
Published the first Editorial to highlight CREST improvements and awards (Ma et al., Citation2021), which is available at https://doi.org/10.1080/10643389.2021.1927430.
Published 3 Virtual Special Issues on biochar, nanotechnology, and arsenic/selenium (Bradford et al., Citation2021; Guan et al., Citation2021; Ok et al., Citation2021), which are a collection of 10–30 articles on a given topic and is available at tandfonline.com/journals/best20/collections.
Established WeChat Media Platform for CREST, with ∼4,000 followers.
Promoted 100 CREST articles via WeChat postings, averaging 1,467 reads per article, with highest being 8,285 reads for our 2021 Editorial.
Measures to Recognize Editorial Board
Excellent Associate Editor Award: To show our appreciation to diligent Associate Editors, we have established Excellent Associate Editor Award, which is based on the number of papers handled, and review quality and speed.
Excellent Editorial Board Member Award: To show our appreciation to editorial board members, we have established the Excellent Editorial Board Member (EBM) Award, which is based on their contributions to CREST, including reviewing, publishing, and promoting CREST articles as well as making suggestions to improve CREST.
Excellent Young Editorial Advisory Board Award: To encourage participation of more young scientists to promote CREST journal, we have established the Excellent Young EBM Award, which is based on their contributions to CREST, similar to the Excellent EBM Award and will be implemented next year.
Various awards for CREST
Four Excellent Associate Editors Based on 2021
Dr. Frederic Coulon, Cranfield University, UK
Dr. Daniel Tsang, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China
Dr. Amit Bhatnagar, LUT University, Finland
Dr. Eakalak Khan, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA
Four Excellent Papers Based on 2020 − 2021
Liu, X, Ma, R, Zhuang, L, Hu, B, Chen, J, Liu, X, Wang, X. 2021. Recent developments of doped g-C3N4 photocatalysts for the degradation of organic pollutants. 51:751–790.
Xu, B, Liu, F, Cryder, Z, Huang, D, Lu, Z, He, Y, Wang, H, Lu, Z, Brookes, PC, Tang, C, Gan, J; Xu, J. 2020. Microplastics in the soil environment: occurrence, risks, interactions and fate - a review. 50: 2175–2222.
Bandara, T, Franks, A, Xu, J, Bolan, N, Wang, H, Tang, C. 2020. Chemical and biological immobilization mechanisms of potentially toxic elements in biochar-amended soils. 50:903–978.
Callegari, A, Bolognesi, S, Cecconet, D, Capodaglio, AG. 2020. Production technologies, current role, and future prospects of biofuels feedstocks: a state-of-the-art review. 50: 384–436.
Six Excellent Reviewers Based on 2021
Dr. Laura Bulgariu, Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iasi, Romania.
Dr. Season Chen, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China
Dr. Veysel Tura, Bingöl University, Turkey.
Dr. Peng Gao, Stanford University, USA.
Dr. John J. Kilbane, Illinois Institute of Technology, USA
Dr. Xue Liu, Southwest Forestry University, China
Two Excellent Editorial Board Members Based on 2021
Dr. Michael Komárek, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Czech Republic
Dr. Yong-Guan Zhu, Institute of Urban Environment, China
References
- Amarasiri, M., Sano, D., & Suzuki, S. (2020). Understanding human health risks caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARG) in water environments: Current knowledge and question to be answered. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 50(19), 2016–2059. https://doi.org/10.1080/10643389.2019.1692611
- Bandara, T., Franks, A., Xu, J., Bolan, N., Wang, H., & Tang, C. (2020). Chemical and biological immobilization mechanisms of potentially toxic elements in biochar-amended soils. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 50(9), 903–978. https://doi.org/10.1080/10643389.2019.1642832
- Bradford, S. A., Shen, C., Kim, H., Letcher, R. J., Rinklebe, J., Ok, Y. S., & Ma, L. Q. (2021). Environmental applications and risks of nanomaterials: An introduction to CREST publications during 2018–2021. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/10643389.2021.2020425
- Callegari, A., Bolognesi, S., Cecconet, D., & Capodaglio, A. G. (2020). Production technologies, current role, and future prospects of biofuels feedstocks: a state-of-the-art review. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 50, 384–436. 10.1080/10643389.2019.1629801
- Guan, D. X., Dai, Z. H., Sun, H. J., & Ma, L. Q. (2021). Arsenic and selenium in the plant-soil-human ecosystem: CREST publications during 2018–2021. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1080/10643389.2021.2010836
- Harder, R., Wielemaker, R., Larsen, T. A., Zeeman, G., & Oberg, G. (2019). Recycling nutrients contained in human excreta to agriculture: Pathways, processes and products. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 49(8), 695–743. https://doi.org/10.1080/10643389.2018.1558889
- Liu, X., Ma, R., Zhuang, L., Hu, B., Chen, J., Liu, X., & Wang, X. (2021). Recent developments of doped g-C3N4 photocatalysts for the degradation of organic pollutants. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 51(8), 751–790. https://doi.org/10.1080/10643389.2020.1734433
- Ma, L. Q., Letcher, R. J., Coulon, F., Juhasz, A., Rinklebe, J., Ok, Y. S., & Bradford, S. (2021). New measures in 2021 to increase the quality and reputation of the Critical Review in Environmental Science and Technology (CREST) journal. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 51(13), 1303–1305. https://doi.org/10.1080/10643389.2021.1927430
- Ok, Y. S., Palansooriya, K. N., Yuan, X., & Rinklebe, J. (2021). Special issue on biochar technologies, production, and environmental applications in Critical Reviews in Environmental Science & Technology during 2017–2021. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/10643389.2021.1990446
- Xu, B., Liu, F., Cryder, Z., Huang, D., Lu, Z., He, Y., Wang, H., Lu, Z., Brookes, P. C., Tang, C., Gan, J., & Xu, J. (2020). Microplastics in the soil environment: occurrence, risks, interactions and fate - a review. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 50, 2175–2222. 10.1080/10643389.2019.1694822