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Aims and scope

There is a significant need for European futures research as European countries face numerous substantial problems; at the same time they seek to make a contribution to solving global challenges. European regions “share” common experiences, divisions and conflicts – which altogether build a rich resource for critical examination as well as forward-looking renewal.

European integration after World War II has reshaped political, economic and social relations in Europe and beyond. Therefore, the future of Europe will also depend on the further development of the European Union in its wider transnational and global contexts. Consequently, the journal seeks to foster thorough analysis of key European policies, such as those for research and education.

Nonetheless, topics addressed in the journal are not limited to the (development of the) European Union; we invite articles that raise questions about European futures more generally. Interdisciplinary research is as welcome as are disciplinary studies, ranging from the social sciences and humanities to the natural sciences and engineering.

Besides its empirical focus the journal promotes discussions about European traditions and perspectives in futures research. Another objective is to advance the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of futures studies.

Possible fields of research and topics include but are not limited to:

Society: demographic change; migration; gender and social relations; welfare society; inclusion and exclusion

Politics: economic, financial, and political integration in the European Union; political participation and citizenship; European identity building; EU research, innovation, and (higher) education policies;

Economy and Business Sectors: futures of work and labour, production and consumption; competitiveness and technological innovations; growth and sustainable development; social environment and entrepreneurship; futures of leisure, sports and tourism;

Science and Technology: technology foresight and technology assessment; technoscience; radical technologies; logistics, transport and mobility; media and telecommunication; human enhancement; young generations and new technologies; European citizens and the broadband society;

X-cutting Issues: gender-specific and diversity perspectives; sustainability; environmental challenges and the greening of Europe; climate change policies;

Methodology and Methods: futures studies in comparative perspective; new research methods; integration of qualitative and quantitative methods; future-related uncertainties, risks, and ignorance;

Philosophy of Science: epistemological and ontological questions; theory of futures studies; “new” forms of knowledge; post-positivist research approaches; ethical questions.

Benefits of publishing with SpringerOpen

High visibility

European Journal of Futures Research's open access policy allows maximum visibility of articles published in the journal as they are available to a wide, global audience. 

Speed of publication

European Journal of Futures Research offers a fast publication schedule whilst maintaining rigorous peer review; all articles must be submitted online, and peer review is managed fully electronically (articles are distributed in PDF form, which is automatically generated from the submitted files). Articles will be published with their final citation after acceptance, in both fully browsable web form, and as a formatted PDF; the article will then be available through European Journal of Futures Research and SpringerOpen.

Flexibility

Online publication in European Journal of Futures Research gives you the opportunity to publish large datasets, large numbers of color illustrations and moving pictures, to display data in a form that can be read directly by other software packages so as to allow readers to manipulate the data for themselves, and to create all relevant links (for example, to PubMed, to sequence and other databases, and to other articles).

Promotion and press coverage

Articles published in European Journal of Futures Research are included in article alerts and regular email updates. 
In addition, articles published in European Journal of Futures Research may be promoted by press releases to the general or scientific press. These activities increase the exposure and number of accesses for articles published in European Journal of Futures Research

Copyright

Authors of articles published in European Journal of Futures Research retain the copyright of their articles and are free to reproduce and disseminate their work (for further details, see the copyright and license agreement).

For further information about the advantages of publishing in a journal from SpringerOpen, please click here.

Open access

All articles published by the European Journal of Futures Research are made freely and permanently accessible online immediately upon publication, without subscription charges or registration barriers. Further information about open access can be found here.

As authors of articles published in the European Journal of Futures Research you are the copyright holders of your article and have granted to any third party, in advance and in perpetuity, the right to use, reproduce or disseminate your article, according to the SpringerOpen copyright and license agreement.

For those of you who are US government employees or are prevented from being copyright holders for similar reasons, SpringerOpen can accommodate non-standard copyright lines. Please contact us if further information is needed.

Article processing charges (APC)

Authors who publish open access in European Journal of Futures Research are required to pay an article processing charge (APC). The APC price will be determined from the date on which the article is accepted for publication.

The current APC, subject to VAT or local taxes where applicable, is: £1090.00/$1690.00/€1390.00

Visit our open access support portal and our Journal Pricing FAQs for further information.

Open access funding

Visit Springer Nature’s open access funding & support services for information about research funders and institutions that provide funding for APCs.

Springer Nature offers agreements that enable institutions to cover open access publishing costs. Learn more about our open access agreements to check your eligibility and discover whether this journal is included.

Springer Nature offers APC waivers and discounts for articles published in our fully open access journals whose corresponding authors are based in the world’s lowest income countries (see our APC waivers and discounts policy for further information). Requests for APC waivers and discounts from other authors will be considered on a case-by-case basis, and may be granted in cases of financial need (see our open access policies for journals for more information). All applications for discretionary APC waivers and discounts should be made at the point of manuscript submission; requests made during the review process or after acceptance are unable to be considered.

Indexing services

All articles published in European Journal of Futures Research are included in:

  • Social Science Citation Index
  • Journal Citation Reports/Social Sciences Edition
  • Google Scholar
  • ABI/INFORM
  • Current Contents / Social & Behavioral Sciences
  • DOAJ
  • EBSCO Academic Search
  • EBSCO Discovery Service
  • EBSCO TOC Premier
  • INIS Atomindex
  • OCLC
  • ProQuest Business Premium Collection
  • ProQuest Central
  • ProQuest Social Science Collection
  • Summon by ProQuest

The full text of all articles is deposited in digital archives around the world to guarantee long-term digital preservation. You can also access all articles published by SpringerOpen on SpringerLink

Peer-review policy

Peer-review is the system used to assess the quality of a manuscript before it is published. Independent researchers in the relevant research area assess submitted manuscripts for originality, validity and significance to help editors determine whether the manuscript should be published in their journal. You can read more about the peer-review process here.

European Journal of Futures Research operates a double-blind peer-review system, where the reviewers do not know the names or affiliations of the authors and the reviewer reports provided to the authors are anonymous. 

Submitted manuscripts will generally be reviewed by two to three experts who will be asked to evaluate whether the manuscript is scientifically sound and coherent, whether it duplicates already published work, and whether or not the manuscript is sufficiently clear for publication. Reviewers will also be asked to indicate how interesting and significant the research is. The Editors will reach a decision based on these reports and, where necessary, they will consult with members of the Editorial Board.

Citing articles in European Journal of Futures Research

Articles in European Journal of Futures Research should be cited in the same way as articles in a traditional journal. Because articles are not printed, they do not have page numbers; instead, they are given a unique article number.

Article citations follow this format:

Authors: Title. Eur J Futures Res [year], [volume number]:[article number].

e.g. Roberts LD, Hassall DG, Winegar DA, Haselden JN, Nicholls AW, Griffin JL: Increased hepatic oxidative metabolism distinguishes the action of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor delta from Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor gamma in the Ob/Ob mouse. Eur J Futures Res 2009, 1:115.

1:115 refers to article 115 from Volume 1 of the journal.

Editorial policies

All manuscripts submitted to European Journal of Futures Research should adhere to SpringerOpen's editorial policies.

Once your article is accepted, it will be processed by production and published shortly afterwards. In some cases, articles may be held for a short period of time prior to publication. If you have any concerns or particular requirements please contact the Journal.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Appeals and complaints

Authors who wish to appeal a rejection or make a complaint should follow the procedure outlined in the BMC Editorial Policies.

Affiliated with

Annual Journal Metrics

  • 2022 Citation Impact
    2.2 - 2-year Impact Factor
    2.1 - 5-year Impact Factor
    0.961 - SNIP (Source Normalized Impact per Paper)
    0.402 - SJR (SCImago Journal Rank)

    2023 Speed
    18 days submission to first editorial decision for all manuscripts (Median)
    189 days submission to accept (Median)

    2023 Usage
    375,789 downloads
    94 Altmetric mentions

Need help with APC funding?

We offer a free open access support service to make it easier for you to discover and apply for article-processing charge (APC) funding. 

New Content ItemWe are pleased to announce that European Journal of Futures Research is indexed in Scopus, the world's largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature.

This journal is indexed in:

    • Scopus
    • Social Science Citation Index
    • Journal Citation Reports/Social Sciences Edition
    • Google Scholar
    • ABI/INFORM
    • Current Contents / Social & Behavioral Sciences
    • DOAJ
    • EBSCO Academic Search
    • EBSCO Discovery Service
    • EBSCO TOC Premier
    • INIS Atomindex
    • OCLC
    • ProQuest Business Premium Collection
    • ProQuest Central
    • ProQuest Social Science Collection
    • Summon by ProQuest