An International Journal for Scientific Research into the Environment and its Relationship with Humankind

Science of the Total Environment is an international multi-disciplinary natural science journal for publication of novel, hypothesis-driven and high-impact research on the total environment, which interfaces the atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and anthroposphere.

STOTEN's Aims & Scope are updated regularly to reflect advances in the field - we invite contributions of original and high quality interdisciplinary environmental research papers of broad impact. Studies significantly advancing fundamental understanding and that focus on the interconnection of multiple spheres will be given primary consideration. Field studies have preference, while papers describing laboratory experiments must demonstrate significant advances in methodology or mechanistic understanding with a clear connection to the environment. Descriptive, repetitive, incremental or regional-scale studies with limited novelty will not be considered.

1) Subject areas may include, but are not limited to:
• Air quality, atmospheric conditions, and new understanding of their role in environmental outcomes
• Atmospheric biogeochemistry
• Ecosystem services and assessment of anthropogenic effects on those services
• Ecotoxicology and risk assessment
• Eco-hydrology in the context of environmental science
• Wildlife and contaminants
• Environmental impacts of climate change, agriculture, forestry, and land uses
• Environmental impacts of waste or wastewater treatment
• Drinking water contaminants and environmental implications
• Environmental remediation of soil and groundwater
• Global change-induced extreme events and their environmental impacts
• Groundwater contamination and hydrogeochemistry
• Environmental impacts of nanomaterials, microplastics, and other emerging contaminants
• Novel contaminant (bio)monitoring and risk assessment approaches
• Remote sensing and big data applications in environmental science
• Stress ecology in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems
• Trace metals and organics in biogeochemical cycles
• Environmental effects on water quality and security

2) Types of submissions not to be considered:
• Papers not contributing significant new knowledge to the field of study
• Treatment/technology/engineering studies that do not demonstrate direct environmental effects or benefits
• Papers of social science in nature on economics, sociology, psychology, political science, policy, planning and/or management
• Disciplinary studies not related to environmental science
• Local or regional scale case studies lacking international relevance
• Soil, agricultural, aquacultural or plant science studies without environmental implications
• Laboratory batch experiments without an application component, e.g., batch sorption experiments, preparation, and evaluation of sorbents or catalysts for contaminant removal, or controlled laboratory experiments not using environmentally relevant concentrations
• Manuscripts that are primarily data reports without a substantial hypothesis, e.g., monitoring of common contaminants
• Modelling studies without calibration and data validation
• Toxicology and ecotoxicology studies testing single chemicals in bench-scale assays
• Papers covering exposures, health effects, and control measures in occupational settings
• Analytical method papers on common contaminants
• Bibliometric analysis-based papers
• Papers that describe data analysis methods including machine learning that do not provide new scientific insights into the system from which the data were collected.
• Development and/or implementation of renewable energy (e.g., wind, solar) that do not directly affect an environmental system.

Please DO NOT ask the Editors-in-Chief for permission before submitting a manuscript. Kindly check the guidelines to determine whether your manuscript is within the scope of the journal; if yes, please go ahead and submit it.

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