Blue-Green Systems is due to receive its first Impact Factor later this year. This is great news for the journal and its staff and authors.

To discuss this further and shed light on this success, it’s our pleasure to introduce Professor Jiuhui Qu and Ana Deletic, Editors-in-Chief of Blue-Green Systems.

High Impact Factor

What’s Blue-Green Systems’ Impact Factor journey been like up to now?

AD: BGS was the first journal to cover our field which is very new and had no journal dedicated to it prior to the launch of BGS. At the end of 2023 we received Scopus Citation, which placed the journal in the top quarter (Q1) of all journals in water resources category within Scopus.

JQ: It has been an enjoyable journey since the very first day. I would not call it Impact Factor journey, but a fruitful journey on blue-green research community and enjoyable journey with friends and colleagues on the editorial board. BGS attracts much attention when launching during the Tokyo water congress in 2018. It is somehow a pity that there has been little promotion of the journal because of the pandemic shortly after the launching of the journal, but as you can see, the journal is welcomed by the community.

How does it feel to have led this journal from its first issue in 2019 to now receiving a first Impact Factor?

AD: It was an amazing journey! As a new field, we had to publish in very general water or environmental engineering journals, and sometimes our papers would not fit their scope. From the very start, we approached the best researchers in the field and asked for their submissions. Our colleagues were very keen to put their best work in BGS since they could see it as ‘their’ journal. So making BGS ‘our’ journal was the key to its success.

JQ: It feels like watched a plant put out the first leaf. Some moments you see it growing bigger, but it is just the very beginning.

How can other journals replicate this success?

AD: Many new journals have been launched in the past decade. I believe that the key to success of a new journal is that its scope covers a new emerging field that does not have a dedicated journal. Secondly, the editors have to be very active in the first few years of an journal's existence to attract the best researchers in the field to submit their papers (even before the journal has an IF). Promoting the journal to the best research groups is key! Editorial boards must be very selective and accept only high quality papers -  as a long-serving editor for Water Research, I can state that BGS papers are of the same quality as papers published in Water Research (which has been number one in the broad field of water resources for decades with a current Impact Factor of 13.4).

JQ: I think it is a bit early to say success, but if you really want to have good journals, I agree that the name and positioning of a journal are very important for it to make a figure among the numerous journals.

A Successful Journal

What are the highlights of working on Blue-Green Systems?

AD: I love working with our Managing Editors (Kefeng, Peter and Gang) who are all outstanding researchers in their own right. They have very high standards and diligently manage the day to day review of submitted papers. 

JQ: Blue-Green Systems is a IWA journal targeting on water related sustainable solutions, including making the water system more sustainable. The highlights of working on Blue-Green Systems are promoting greener solutions and offering good platform for these high-quality work for the community. There is also a special section focusing on practices and cases of BGSs.  

What research stands out in Blue-Green Systems?

AD: BGS focuses on Nature Based Solutions (NBS) for protecting our water resources. We publish highly interdisciplinary papers that span between engineering, science, social science, urban planning, landscape architecture, and economics. I personally love papers that focus on novel NBS technologies, but I am biased since I am an engineer!

JQ: As mentioned above, the research on green solutions for constructing climate neutral society stands out in Blue-Green Systems. This is right the scope of the journal, including nature-based water system, low-impact development et al.

As Blue-Green Systems approaches its 4th birthday in July, where do you see this publication five years from now?

AD: In less than 4 years, BGS became a Q1 journal and is in fact in the top percentage of all water resources journals in the world. That is an amazing outcome for such a young journal. However I would love it if we got into the top 10 in the world while increasing the journal's volume – I am hoping for a huge increase in the number of papers that we publish. Our field is booming so I am sure that we can do it.

JQ: The academic world is very dynamic and keep changing rapidly. But we can see the theme is becoming increasingly important. The research field is entering its “highway” with full of excellent ideas and innovative thoughts. I am very confident, the journal would keep on the successful work and going into a new level.

Inviting Submissions

What do you have to say to authors who want to submit to the journal?

AD: Please submit your best work. BGS is the only specialised journal in NBS field and therefore should be the first choice for all of us who focus on this emerging field. BGS is already doing well, but this is only the start and I am sure we will grow very quickly in size and quality.

JQ: Seeing its promising development, I would encourage the researchers in BGSs fields joining their efforts with us making BGSs a greater platform for researchers, engineers, and governors. As the submissions increasing, which we already noticed recently, both the quality and competition would be high. Of course, in the new development phase, this is very beneficial to both authors and readers.

Publish Your Work in Open Access

It’s also worth noting that Blue-Green Systems is an open access journal. Papers get more visibility.

Some institutions ask researchers to publish in open access to secure funding.

You can submit to the journal by accessing the Blue-Green Systems webpage and clicking ‘Submit to Blue-Green Systems’ in the top-right corner.