We are delighted to announce that on 12 March 2026, Digital Economy and Sustainable Development (DESD) was officially notified of its inclusion in the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI). All articles published from 1 January 2023 onward will be indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection.
ESCI, operated by Clarivate, is an integral component of the Web of Science Core Collection and serves as the global gateway for high-potential journals entering the international citation system. Inclusion signifies that DESD has met Clarivate's rigorous editorial selection criteria — covering editorial quality, peer-review standards, content originality, and international diversity — and that the journal's academic value and growth trajectory have been recognized by the international scholarly community.
From this point forward, every DESD article will be searchable, trackable, and citable through Web of Science, substantially expanding the global visibility of our authors' work. ESCI inclusion also serves as the foundation for the journal's continued evaluation toward SSCI and SCIE, and we will work to meet the criteria for these flagship indexes in the coming evaluation cycles.
This milestone belongs to our entire scholarly community. The Editorial Office and I, on behalf of the editorial board, would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to every author who has trusted DESD with their research, every reviewer who has invested time and expertise in our manuscripts, every board member whose guidance has shaped our editorial direction, and our publishing partner Springer Nature for its sustained support. Your collective commitment has carried the journal from launch to this international recognition in just three years. We look forward to continuing this journey with you and to making DESD an ever stronger platform for advancing scholarship at the frontier of the digital economy and sustainable development.
Call for Papers
To mark this milestone, DESD invites submissions from researchers worldwide. Anchored in the journal's core theme — "Digital Economy and Sustainable Development" — we particularly welcome submissions in the following five thematic areas:
Ⅰ. Digital Economy and Green Transition
l Digital Technologies Empowering the Green Economy and Pathways to Low-Carbon Transition
l The Impact of Digitalization on Carbon Emission Efficiency and Resource Allocation
l Mechanisms Through Which the Digital Economy Promotes the Circular Economy and Green Industrial Upgrading
l Digital Infrastructure Development and Regional Sustainable Development
Ⅱ. Digital Trade and Global Sustainable Development
l Digital Trade Rules and Innovation in Global Governance
l Cross-Border E-Commerce and Sustainable Growth in Developing Countries
l The Digital Platform Economy and the Restructuring of Global Value Chains
l The Digital Silk Road and Inclusive Development
Ⅲ. Digital Finance and Inclusive Growth
l Fintech, Financial Inclusion, and Income Inequality
l Digital Payments, Digital Currencies, and Economic Sustainability
l Regulation of Digital Financial Risks and Green Finance Innovation
l Digital Credit and the Sustainable Development of SMEs
Ⅳ. AI and Big-Data-Driven Sustainable Governance
l Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Environmental Governance and Public Policy
l Big Data Analytics for Urban Sustainable Development
l Smart Cities and Innovation in Digital Public Services
l Digital Technologies and the Modernization of Social Governance
Ⅴ. Digital Transformation and Sustainable Industrial Upgrading
l Corporate Digital Transformation and Green Innovation Performance
l Digital Transformation in Manufacturing and High-Quality Development
l The Platform Economy and the Restructuring of Industrial Ecosystems
l The Digital Economy's Impact on Employment Structure and Social Inequality
About the Journal
Digital Economy and Sustainable Development is sponsored by Liaoning University and administered by the Li Anmin Institute of Economic Research, with Professor Shujie Yao, Dean of the Institute, serving as Editor-in-Chief and Professor Yu You, Vice Dean, as Executive Editor. The journal is published by Springer Nature.
DESD aims to be a leading international platform for scholars, policymakers, and industry professionals to share cutting-edge research at the intersection of the digital economy and sustainable development. Its scope includes — but is not limited to — the digital economy, the internet economy, digital trade, e-commerce, the platform economy, digital transformation, digital finance, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence, and how these domains intersect with the green economy, inclusive growth, and the reduction of inequality. Interdisciplinary research on the digital economy and high-quality development is a particular focus.
Journal homepage: https://link.springer.com/journal/44265
How to Submit
l No Article Processing Charges (APCs): the journal is currently free to publish.
l Step 1. Visit the journal homepage and review the Submission Guidelines.
l Step 2. Click *Submit Manuscript* on the homepage to access the editorial system.
We look forward to receiving your work.