Publication Guide
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is the definitive publisher in civil engineering. Founded in 1852, it is the oldest national engineering society in the United States, representing more than 160,000 members worldwide from its headquarters in Reston, Virginia. ASCE publishes roughly 35 peer-reviewed journals - every one of them in civil engineering or one of its sub-fields - through the ASCE Library, the world's largest full-text database of civil engineering research with over 240,000 technical and professional papers.
If your research touches structures, geotechnics, water, transportation, construction, materials, or infrastructure systems, an ASCE journal is very likely on your shortlist. This guide covers how to pick the right title, what open access costs, how peer review works, and how to submit.
Which ASCE journal fits your paper?
ASCE's portfolio is organized by civil-engineering sub-discipline, so journal choice usually follows your topic directly. The table below maps common paper types to flagship venues.
| Your paper is about... | Consider this journal |
|---|---|
| Structural analysis, design, loads, seismic performance | Journal of Structural Engineering - ASCE's flagship structures title, publishing since the 19th-century Transactions era |
| Construction management, scheduling, productivity, project delivery | Journal of Construction Engineering and Management - the leading venue for construction research |
| Open-channel flow, sediment transport, river mechanics | Journal of Hydraulic Engineering |
| Soil mechanics, foundations, earthquakes, ground improvement | Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering |
| Water supply systems, reservoir operations, water policy | Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management |
| Treatment processes, environmental remediation, air and water quality | Journal of Environmental Engineering |
| Concrete, asphalt, steel, and other construction materials | Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering |
| Bridge design, inspection, rehabilitation | Journal of Bridge Engineering |
| Multidisciplinary or convergence civil-engineering research needing Gold OA | ASCE OPEN: Multidisciplinary Journal of Civil Engineering - ASCE's first fully open-access journal, launched January 2023 |
What ASCE publishes
- ~35 peer-reviewed journals spanning every civil-engineering sub-field: structures, geotechnics, hydraulics, water resources, environment, transportation, construction, materials, infrastructure systems, engineering mechanics, and management.
- ASCE OPEN, the society's Gold open-access, multidisciplinary journal (launched 2023) for convergence research on the built and natural environment.
- Standards, Manuals of Practice, and conference proceedings hosted on the ASCE Library alongside the journals - including widely used standards such as ASCE 7 (minimum design loads).
ASCE journals use the ASCE author-date citation style, and SciSpace hosts formatting templates for ASCE titles so you can draft in the correct layout from the start.
Open access and APCs
ASCE runs a hybrid-first model with one fully-OA title. Three routes:
- Gold OA (ASCE OPEN) - the society's fully open-access journal. Authors retain copyright under a Creative Commons license.
- Hybrid OA - every ASCE specialty journal offers an open-access option on accepted papers.
- Green OA (self-archiving) - ASCE permits self-archiving; check the current rights and permissions page for version and embargo details.
| Route | APC (USD) | License |
|---|---|---|
| ASCE OPEN (Gold OA) | $2,000 | CC BY (author retains copyright) |
| Hybrid OA in specialty journals | $3,000 | CC BY |
| Hybrid OA in specialty journals | $2,750 | CC BY-NC-ND |
| Subscription publication | $0 | Traditional copyright transfer |
ASCE operates an APC-waiver program, prioritized first by the author's geographic location and second by lack of access to other funding. A growing number of institutions also have read-and-publish agreements with ASCE that cover APCs for affiliated corresponding authors (new pilots began in 2026) - ask your library before paying out of pocket. Prices are revised periodically, so always confirm on the ASCE Library's open-access page before submission.
Peer review process
- Model: single-anonymized peer review across the portfolio - reviewers know author identities, authors do not know reviewers.
- Editors: each journal is run by an academic editor-in-chief with associate editors by specialty area.
- Turnaround: varies by journal and sub-field; expect a few months to first decision for most titles. Check recent editorials or the journal's Editorial Manager page for current statistics.
How to submit
- Pick the journal. Match your sub-field using the journal scopes on the ASCE Library's Author Center.
- Read the author guidelines. ASCE maintains a central Author Center at ascelibrary.org/page/authors plus journal-specific scope pages.
- Prepare your manuscript. Use the ASCE template on SciSpace or ASCE's Overleaf LaTeX template; follow ASCE author-date citation style. If submitting PDF, embed all fonts.
- Submit via Editorial Manager. Every ASCE journal uses Editorial Manager; the submission link is on the journal's home page in the ASCE Library. Email or mail submissions are not reviewed.
- Handle fees through ChronosHub. ASCE processes author fees and OA options through ChronosHub after acceptance.
Ethics and integrity
ASCE is a member of COPE, OASPA, and STM. Manuscripts must be original, not under consideration elsewhere, and free of plagiarism; permissions are the author's responsibility for any previously published figures or tables. Retractions and corrections follow COPE-aligned procedures, and the society's code of ethics extends to its publishing program.
