Journal profile · Multiple
Annals of GIS
ISSN 1947-5683 · eISSN 1947-5691 · Taylor & Francis · United Kingdom
Annals of GIS: CAS Zone 3 · Earth Sciences (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 4.8 (journal website); JCR Q1 (journal website); fully open access; APC about USD 1,680; median 220 days to acceptance (68 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 31% (journal website); 35 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Annals of GIS is published by Taylor & Francis and is in Zone 3 of Earth Sciences in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Geographic Information Systems Studies, Land Use and Ecosystem Services and Data Management and Algorithms, together about 35% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Annals of GIS is an open access journal that publishes interdisciplinary research on theory, methods, development and applications in geo-information science. The journal aims to connect researchers in the region to one another and to the wider, international scientific community. Annals of GIS accepts submissions on the following topics and their applications in natural resource, ecosystem, urban management, and other humanities and social science areas: Remote sensing and data acquisition Geographic Information Systems Geo-visualization and virtual geographic environments (VGE) Spatial analysis and modeling Uncertainty modelling The journal welcomes original research papers, reviews, data notes and method articles covering the latest developments in the topics outlined above. The journal operates a double-anonymized peer review policy. Corresponding authors who are members of the CPGIS are eligible for a 20% discount off the article publishing charge (APC) for Annals of GIS. Please email Prof. Zhu with your CPGIS membership number before submission of your article to Annals of GIS and you will be provided with a discount code. Please note that discounts must be applied at the Charges stage of the submission process when the APC quote is confirmed and may not be considered after submission.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Multiple
Editor-in-chief Hui LinPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 7 in mainland China (about 41%); most named Mainland China 7, United States 6, Hong Kong, China 1, United Kingdom 1, Germany 1 (17 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Geographic Information Systems StudiesSocial Sciences15.3%
- Land Use and Ecosystem ServicesEnvironmental Science10.1%
- Data Management and AlgorithmsComputer Science9.6%
- Human Mobility and Location-Based AnalysisSocial Sciences5.8%
- Remote Sensing and LiDAR ApplicationsEnvironmental Science5.1%
- Urban Transport and AccessibilitySocial Sciences4.9%
- Spatial and Panel Data AnalysisEconomics, Econometrics and Finance4.7%
- Flood Risk Assessment and ManagementEnvironmental Science4.6%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Earth Sciences Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Geography, Physical | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Remote Sensing | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Geography | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Earth Sciences Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Geography | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Geography, Physical | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Remote Sensing | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- JCR Q1 · best quartile · 2025
- CiteScore Q1 · 2025
Publisher-reported: JCR figures are Clarivate's and CiteScore figures Scopus's to confirm; both are a different system from the CAS zones.Publisher website
Database indexing
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
PubMedPublisher website
Other: GEOBASE, CSA Sustainability Science Abstracts, Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management, Pollution Abstracts (Online), Water Resources Abstracts (Online)
As the journal's website lists them, not checked against each database; for Web of Science editions the records above apply.
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 4.8Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 5.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 8.2LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 8.2Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.01LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 1.01Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.36LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 1.36Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 54OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 312OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 7.37OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 2.1%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 34LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 285,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 721 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 32 | 32 | 18 |
| 2025 | 35 | 35 | 255 |
| 2024 | 33 | 33 | 464 |
| 2023 | 31 | 31 | 391 |
| 2022 | 34 | 34 | 624 |
| 2021 | 29 | 29 | 456 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
Review time from article dates manuscript dates registered with Crossref · to
220 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 169 days – 264 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 12 days (68 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 238 days
- Sample
- 68 articles with submission and acceptance dates (69 in the window); the latest was accepted on
Only articles that were accepted and published are counted, not the time spent on rejected manuscripts, so this usually runs longer than a publisher's "time to first decision".
Other sources
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 10 weeksLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 31%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 58 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 87 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 13 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 10 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Double anonymous peer reviewDOAJ
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Fully open accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | EUR 1,615 / GBP 1,344 / USD 1,680 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC | |
| OpenAlex | USD 1,500 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
Article types accepted4
- data notesThe journal welcomes original research papers, reviews, data notes and method articles covering the latest developments in the topics outlined above.Length not stated
- method articlesThe journal welcomes original research papers, reviews, data notes and method articles covering the latest developments in the topics outlined above.Length not stated
- original research papersThe journal welcomes original research papers, reviews, data notes and method articles covering the latest developments in the topics outlined above.Length not stated
- reviewsThe journal welcomes original research papers, reviews, data notes and method articles covering the latest developments in the topics outlined above.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access, Peer review
- Open access Open access
Annals of GIS is an open access journal and only publishes open access articles. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership, and impact of your research. Why choose open access? Increase the discoverability and readership of your article Make an impact and reach new readers, not just those with easy…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Double-anonymized peer review policy Model summary
The journal operates a double-anonymized peer review policy.
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- Country or region
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1947-5683
- Electronic ISSN
- 1947-5691
- Society / sponsor
- International Association of Chinese Professionals in Geographic Information Science
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 32, Issue 3 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗DOAJ
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗DOAJ
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Annals of GIS
What CAS zone is Annals of GIS in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Annals of GIS is in Zone 3 of Earth Sciences, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Geography, Physical / Remote Sensing / Geography. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Earth Sciences. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Annals of GIS?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 4.8 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 8.2, h-index 54.
How long does peer review take at Annals of GIS?
Based on the dates recorded on 68 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 220 days (interquartile range 169–264 days); authors report an average review time of about 10 weeks; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 31%. Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
What JCR quartile is Annals of GIS in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q1 (best quartile). JCR quartiles are Clarivate's to confirm and a different system from the CAS zones; in the CAS ranking the journal is in Zone 3 of Earth Sciences.
Where are the editorial board members of Annals of GIS based?
Of the 17 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 7 (about 41%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (7), United States (6) and Hong Kong, China (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Annals of GIS?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Annals of GIS is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists PubMed; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Annals of GIS open access, and what is the APC?
Annals of GIS is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 1,680.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, DOAJ; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-26). Last updated: .