About the Journal

Mission and Scope

Finisterra – Revista Portuguesa de Geografia is an open access, peer-reviewed journal whose mission is to promote and disseminate scientific research and updates in the fields of Geography and related sciences. It publishes original theoretical and empirical works in a variety of formats (research articles, review articles, commentaries, book reviews, among others) dedicated to Physical and Human Geography, Landscape Studies, Environmental Risks and Change, Urban and Regional Studies, Development, Regional and Local Planning, Land Use Planning, Spatial Modelling, and Geographic Information Science.

Founded in 1966 by Orlando Ribeiro, Finisterra is one of the oldest continuously published scientific journals in Portugal. Since its inception, it has been a non-commercial publication of the Centro de Estudos Geográficos of the University of Lisbon (currently integrated into the Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning of this university), and does not charge publication fees.

Finisterra follows a rigorous and transparent quality control policy. Manuscript submissions are made through the journal platform hosted on RCAAP – Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal, where the entire peer review process is managed. Scientific evaluation is overseen by the Director, Deputy Director, the Executive Editorial Board, and at least two anonymous peer reviewers. Since 2024, the editing and formatting of accepted texts have been professionalised.

Although committed to advancing geographic knowledge in Portuguese, Finisterra is an international journal, engaging with contemporary debates and state-of-the-art research in territorial sciences. The journal has no specific regional focus but pays particular attention to the Lusophone and Ibero-American worlds.

Finisterra encourages multilingualism. It accepts articles in Portuguese, English, French, and Spanish. All articles include an English version of titles, abstracts, keywords, as well as figure and table captions.

The journal’s visual identity was renewed in 2003. Since then, its covers have been illustrated by visual artist Pedro Calapez, reinterpreting the armillary sphere from the original 1960s Finisterra logo.

Until 2013, Finisterra was published exclusively in print format, with two issues per year, and in 2016 it moved from a biannual to a four-monthly publication frequency.

With its inclusion in RCAAP in 2013, the journal also adopted digital publication and obtained an electronic ISSN, making all articles published since the first issue available online. Articles were initially made available in PDF format and, from 2021 onwards, also in HTML format.

Since 2024, Finisterra has published articles on a continuous basis, making them available online as Ahead of Print as soon as the peer-review process is completed and the manuscripts are accepted for publication.

In 2026, the journal entered a new phase, being published in a single annual volume and exclusively in digital format, thus accelerating the availability of articles to its readership.

  • Average time to first decision (e.g., immediate editor rejection or first reviewer invitation): 3 weeks
  • Total review time (submission to acceptance): 20 weeks
  • Time between acceptance and publication: 3 weeks
  • Rejection rate (2022–2024): 67% (47% at first decision; 20% after peer review)

Indexing and Metrics

Finisterra is indexed in the following scientific databases: Clarivate / Web of Science (Emerging Sources Citation Index – ESCI); SCOPUS; SciELO Citation Index e SciELO – Scientific Electronic Library;  SCImago Journal Rank; WebQualis (Capes); ERIH PLUS (European Reference Index for the Humanities and the Social Sciences); EBSCO (Academic Search Complete); DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals); Latindex (Sistema Regional de Información en Línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina, el Caribe, España y Portugal); Dialnet; REDIB (Red Iberoamericana de Innovación y Conocimiento Científico); Sherpa/ROMEO (Journals database).

  • Journal Citation Indicator Web of Science (JCI): 0.14 (2023)
  • SCOPUS CiteScore: 0.9 (2024)
  • SCImago Journal Rank (SJR): 0.162 (2024)
  • CAPES: A1 in the field of Geography

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate and free open access to its content, based on the principle that making scientific knowledge freely available promotes greater democratisation of knowledge, recognition, and visibility for Geography.

Journal Details

ISSN (print): 0430-5027
ISSN (online): 2182-2905
Legal deposit no.: 1956/83
ICS: 124607
Frequency: Annual (continuous publication)
Ownership: Centro de Estudos Geográficos, Instituto de Geografia e Ordenamento do Território, Universidade de Lisboa

Funding

FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

Edition funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology through projects no. UIDP/00295/2020, UIDB/00295/2020 and UID/00295/2025.