European Transport Studies: Scopus Indexing, Scope, Metrics & Submission Guide

Key Takeaways

• Publisher: Elsevier, in collaboration with the European Platform of Transport Sciences (EPTS).
• Identifier: Online ISSN 2950-2985; supplied Scopus Source ID 21101392306.
• Indexing: The ISSN Portal lists Scopus among covering sources; DOAJ also lists the journal.
• Scope: European transport across all modes and sectors, including passenger and freight research.
• Peer review: DOAJ records double-anonymous peer review and plagiarism checking.
• Open access: Elsevier identifies the journal as open access; current APC information should be reconfirmed because authoritative records conflict after the 2025 waiver period.
• Metric: Elsevier’s 2026 call-for-papers page displays CiteScore 0.5; current SJR, SNIP and quartile should be checked on the live Scopus source profile.
• Best submission strategy: Demonstrate explicit fit with Europe-focused transport questions and follow the current Elsevier Guide for Authors rather than relying on generic journal-format assumptions.

European Transport Studies: Journal Information at a Glance

What This Page Covers

• Journal identity and publisher
• Aims, scope and topics
• Scopus and DOAJ visibility
• Metrics and quartile cautions
• Open access and APC
• Peer-review process
• Manuscript-fit assessment
• Submission-readiness steps
• Ethics and authorship

Methodology and Source Note

This profile was prepared by cross-checking the supplied Scopus Source Record ID with authoritative journal information from Elsevier/ScienceDirect, the ISSN International Centre and DOAJ. Current Elsevier information was also used for journal scope, editorial leadership, publishing timelines and the displayed CiteScore. Where authoritative records conflict—most notably the 2026 APC position—the conflict is stated rather than resolved by assumption.

What Is European Transport Studies?

European Transport Studies is part of Elsevier’s family of regionally focused transport journals. It gives European transport research a dedicated venue while keeping a deliberately broad disciplinary frame. Rather than limiting itself to one mode or one methodology, the journal connects transport planning, geography, economics, management, technology, behaviour, logistics, infrastructure and policy.

The journal began publishing in 2024 and is online-only according to the ISSN record. Its co-editors-in-chief are listed by Elsevier as Ádám Török of Budapest University of Technology and Economics and Jonas De Vos of University College London. The editorial positioning emphasizes a European research context and dialogue among scientists, policymakers and practitioners.

Journal Aims and Scope

Elsevier describes ETS as focusing on European transport issues across all modes and sectors. It welcomes research that produces theoretical insight, practical application or policy-relevant findings. This combination matters for journal selection: a technically sound paper may still be weakly aligned if it never explains why its problem, evidence or implications matter to European transport scholarship or decision-making.

Topics explicitly named by the journal include active travel, public transport, transport planning, accessibility, travel behaviour, transport economics, intelligent transport systems, transport innovations, logistics and freight. The scope also accommodates research emerging from European collaborative programs such as Horizon Europe and Interreg, comparative work linking Europe with other global regions, and city or country profile papers that illuminate specific transport systems.

Editorially, this suggests room for quantitative, qualitative, modelling, policy, behavioural and interdisciplinary approaches. A manuscript on automation, electrification, micromobility, rail competition, demand-responsive transport, traffic dynamics, transport resilience or mobility equity can plausibly fit when the European relevance is substantive rather than decorative.

Topics likely to fit well

• European urban and regional mobility, accessibility and transport planning.
• Public transport, rail, aviation, roads, cycling, walking, micromobility and multimodal systems.
• Passenger behaviour, mode choice, demand management and mobility transitions.
• Freight, logistics, supply chains and transport-system efficiency.
• Transport economics, market liberalisation, pricing, competition and financial sustainability.
• Intelligent transport systems, automation, electrification, digital mobility and transport innovation.
• Climate, sustainability, resilience, equity, safety and transport policy.
• Comparative research involving European countries, cities or European versus non-European settings.

Manuscripts that may be harder to align

Research with no meaningful transport component, purely local studies outside Europe without a convincing European comparative or author-context rationale, and manuscripts that do not connect findings to the journal’s transport audience may face a fit problem. This is an editorial interpretation based on the stated scope, not a published rejection rule.

Scopus Indexing and Scholarly Visibility

The supplied source record identifies Scopus Source ID 21101392306. Independently, the ISSN Portal record for ISSN 2950-2985 lists Scopus among the databases covering European Transport Studies. The same record also lists Crossref and DOAJ, while DOAJ provides a detailed open-access profile for the journal.

For authors, Scopus visibility can matter for discovery, institutional assessment and doctoral requirements. However, “Scopus indexed” is not identical to “meets my university rule.” Some institutions require a specific quartile, active coverage on a particular date, an accepted document type, or publication within a defined assessment period. Verify those conditions separately.

Journal Metrics: CiteScore, SJR, SNIP and Impact Factor

Elsevier’s current calls-for-papers directory displays a CiteScore of 0.5 for European Transport Studies. The journal is young, so early citation metrics should be interpreted in that context; short publication history can make year-to-year changes relatively large.

A current SJR, SNIP and Scopus quartile were not verified from an authoritative source accessible for this article, so they are not invented here. Likewise, the Elsevier journal-insights snapshot reviewed for this guide shows a dash rather than a Journal Impact Factor. Researchers specifically required to publish in a JCR-listed or Impact-Factor journal should verify Clarivate’s live records before treating ETS as eligible.

Recent Publications and What They Suggest About Fit

Recent ETS papers illustrate the breadth of the journal in practice. Elsevier lists work on high-speed rail competition and financial sustainability, Icelandic mobility provisioning, automation and electrification in metropolitan mode choice, vehicle-sensor comparisons with self-assessed mobility, shared e-scooter access to transit, airport slot allocation, motorway traffic patterns and travel recovery after a major railway accident. A 2026 paper examines willingness to pay and trading behaviour under mobility-credit policies.

These examples reinforce the official scope: ETS is not confined to engineering design or transport economics. It publishes behavioural, policy, sustainability, technology, infrastructure and market-oriented research, provided the work contributes to transport scholarship with a meaningful European connection.

Article Types and Manuscript Positioning

The journal’s public article list prominently shows research articles, and its aims explicitly welcomes city and country profile papers. Special issues may offer dedicated article-type selections. Because Elsevier can revise article categories and submission menus, authors should use the live Guide for Authors as the final authority on permitted article types and required files.

As a practical publication-readiness step, decide what your manuscript is claiming to contribute before selecting ETS. Is the contribution theoretical, empirical, methodological, applied, comparative or policy-oriented? Then state explicitly how the evidence advances understanding of European transport rather than leaving editors to infer the connection.

Peer Review and Editorial Process

DOAJ records double-anonymous peer review for European Transport Studies and states that the journal checks for plagiarism. Double anonymity means authors should pay close attention to the current instructions for separating author-identifying information from the review manuscript. Do not assume that the title page, acknowledgements, self-citations, file properties or supplementary material can be handled exactly as in another Elsevier journal.

Elsevier’s journal-insights snapshot reports approximately 3 days to first decision and 143 days from submission to acceptance. DOAJ reports an average of roughly 25 weeks from submission to publication. These figures are descriptive indicators, not deadlines or guarantees; desk screening, reviewer availability, revision rounds and production requirements can change the time substantially.

Open Access, Copyright and Publication Fees

European Transport Studies is presented by Elsevier as an open-access journal, and DOAJ records open-access publication beginning in 2024. DOAJ lists CC BY, CC BY-NC and CC BY-NC-ND as licences used by the journal. Authors should confirm the licence available to their article, especially where funder rules require CC BY.

There is an important fee discrepancy. Elsevier’s journal page states a standard APC of USD 1,160 excluding taxes and notes that a launch discount making the APC free was valid only for submissions through the end of 2025. DOAJ’s record updated in April 2026 says there are no publication fees. Since both are authoritative but inconsistent snapshots, the safe action is to check the live Elsevier open-access page and the fee shown in the submission/publishing workflow. Institutional read-and-publish or open-access agreements may also change the amount an individual author pays.

How to Decide Whether ETS Fits Your Manuscript

Practical Manuscript-Readiness Examples

Submission Preparation: A Researcher-Friendly Workflow

1. Confirm journal identity. Use the official ScienceDirect page, ISSN 2950-2985 and Scopus Source ID 21101392306.
2. Read the current aims and scope. Map your research question, geography, method and contribution to the journal’s stated transport remit.
3. Review recent papers. Compare how ETS authors frame contributions, methods, European relevance and discussion sections.
4. Check the Guide for Authors. Verify article type, anonymous-review preparation, title-page requirements, abstract/keyword rules, figures, tables, references, declarations and supplementary files.
5. Verify fee and licence. Check the live APC, tax treatment, institutional agreement, waiver possibility and funder-required licence.
6. Prepare ethical declarations. Ensure authorship, conflicts, funding, data availability, permissions and AI-tool disclosures follow current Elsevier policy where applicable.
7. Run a final consistency check. Make sure the title, abstract, keywords, methods, results and conclusion all describe the same contribution and that references, figures and tables are complete.
8. Submit only through the official system. Use the journal’s Elsevier submission portal and retain submission confirmation and version records.

Manuscript and Submission Requirements

Detailed formatting requirements should be taken from the live Elsevier Guide for Authors. This article intentionally does not invent a word limit, reference style, figure limit, abstract length or mandatory section structure where the current journal-specific instruction was not independently verified. Elsevier submission systems commonly request manuscript files and structured metadata, but authors should follow ETS-specific prompts rather than extrapolating from another journal.

For double-anonymous review, inspect the journal’s current anonymisation instructions carefully. A strong submission package also normally requires accurate author details, affiliations, corresponding-author contact information, funding and conflict declarations, and any required data or ethics statements. Again, these should be aligned with the live journal instructions at the time of submission.

Publication Ethics and Responsible Research Practice

Elsevier maintains publisher-wide publishing-ethics policies that apply to its journals. Researchers should ensure genuine authorship contribution, accurate citation, originality, appropriate permissions, transparent conflict and funding declarations, and honest presentation of methods and results. If human participants, personal data, animals or sensitive data are involved, obtain and report the approvals or consent required by the study design and applicable rules.

Do not manipulate similarity reports to conceal copied text, fabricate references, purchase authorship, submit the same manuscript simultaneously to multiple journals, or use third parties that promise guaranteed acceptance. Publication readiness is legitimate when it improves clarity, structure, formatting and compliance without misrepresenting who did the research or what the evidence shows.

Common Reasons a Manuscript May Be Unsuitable

• Weak or superficial connection to European transport issues.
• A contribution that is generic and does not advance transport knowledge, practice or policy.
• Mismatch between research question, method and claimed conclusions.
• Insufficient engagement with current transport literature, including relevant European work.
• Unclear originality or contribution relative to recent papers.
• Incomplete ethics, data, funding, authorship or conflict disclosures.
• Failure to anonymise the review manuscript where required.
• Submission to the wrong article type or failure to follow current author instructions.

How Contentxprtz Can Support Publication Readiness

Contentxprtz can help researchers improve the presentation and submission readiness of a manuscript intended for European Transport Studies or another appropriate journal. Support may include academic editing, ESL language polishing, manuscript structure review, reference and citation formatting, journal-format checks, cover-letter editing, reviewer-response editing and thesis-to-article preparation.

The ethical boundary is important: editing can improve clarity and compliance, but it cannot change an unsupported result into a valid one or guarantee an editorial outcome. Journal selection also remains a research and institutional decision. Authors should independently confirm the journal’s scope, indexing, metrics, fees and policy requirements before submission.