Journal profile · Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Archaeological Prospection
ISSN 1075-2196 · eISSN 1099-0763 · John Wiley and Sons Ltd · UNITED STATES · Quarterly · Founded 1994
Archaeological Prospection: CAS Zone 3 · Earth Sciences (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.46; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,980; median 134 days to acceptance (89 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: easy; 68 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE, AHCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Archaeological Prospection is published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd 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 Geophysical Methods and Applications, Archaeological Research and Protection and Geophysical and Geoelectrical Methods, together about 44.5% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Archaeological Prospection is an interdisciplinary journal, intended to: Inform archaeologists, environmental scientists, site developers, local authorities and regional environmental agencies about the wide range of scientific techniques available for the study of the near-surface environment. Promote international collaboration amongst practitioners of prospection techniques. Encourage discussion of field procedures, data presentation and interpretation of a wide range of survey methods and promote multi-technique comparisons, thus enhancing scientific collaboration. Promote procedures and investigations for the safeguard of the historical and environmental cultural heritage. Disseminate information about new (or newly applied) prospecting techniques. Provide reviews of relevant techniques and applications. Provide a forum for the discussion of best practice in shallow depth investigation of archaeological and environmental landscapes. Encourage risk analysis studies to evaluate the economics of archaeological and environmental investigations. Scope of the Journal The scope of the Journal will be international, covering urban, rural and marine environments and the full range of underlying geology. The Journal will contain articles relating to the use of a wide range of propecting techniques, including remote sensing (airborne and satellite), geophysical (e.g. resistivity, magnetometry) and geochemical (e.g. organic markers, soil phosphate). Reports and field evaluations of new techniques will be welcomed. Contributions will be encouraged on the application of relevant software, including G.I.S. analysis, to the data derived from prospection techniques and cartographic analysis of early maps. Reports on integrated site evaluations and follow-up site investigations will be particularly encouraged. The Journal will welcome contributions, in the form of short (field) reports, on the application of prospection techniques in support of comprehensive land-use studies. The Journal will, as appropriate, contain book reviews, conference and meeting reviews, and software evaluation. All papers will be subjected to peer review.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United Kingdom 4, United States 3, Austria 3, France 2, Italy 2 (20 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Geophysical Methods and ApplicationsEngineering17.8%
- Archaeological Research and ProtectionEarth and Planetary Sciences13.6%
- Geophysical and Geoelectrical MethodsEarth and Planetary Sciences13.1%
- Seismic Waves and AnalysisEarth and Planetary Sciences7.5%
- Archaeology and ancient environmental studiesEarth and Planetary Sciences6.8%
- 3D Surveying and Cultural HeritageEarth and Planetary Sciences5.8%
- Maritime and Coastal ArchaeologyArts and Humanities5%
- Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism StudiesBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology3.5%
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 | Archaeology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Geosciences, Multidisciplinary | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Earth Sciences Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Archaeology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Geosciences, Multidisciplinary | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Earth Sciences Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Archaeology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Geosciences, Multidisciplinary | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEAHCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
EI CompendexWeb of ScienceGeoRefCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: ProQuest, Astrophysics Data System
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
- 2.46LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2.5Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 4Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 4Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.51LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.31LetPub ·
- h-index
- 34LetPub ·
- h-index
- 55OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 456OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.89OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 20%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 60.98%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 57LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2,024Publisher website ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 60Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 110,200Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,321 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 39 | 18 | 9 |
| 2025 | 68 | 43 | 55 |
| 2024 | 51 | 38 | 235 |
| 2023 | 37 | 27 | 167 |
| 2022 | 40 | 24 | 257 |
| 2021 | 54 | 22 | 659 |
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
134 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 84 days – 198 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 15 days (89 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 158 days
- Sample
- 89 articles with submission and acceptance dates (113 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)
- over 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 52%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 52%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 22 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 22 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 137 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 14 daysPublisher website ·
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
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 3,980 / EUR 3,300 / GBP 2,670 | — | — |
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
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)
What to prepare3 items from the author guidelines
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 6,000 words
- Reference style
- Author–date
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
Article types accepted6, with length limits
- editorial1. Choosing Your Article Type Archaeological Prospection publishes three peer-reviewed article types: Research Articles, Short Reports, and Review Articles. Aut…Length not stated
- hypothesis1. Choosing Your Article Type Archaeological Prospection publishes three peer-reviewed article types: Research Articles, Short Reports, and Review Articles. Aut…Length not stated
- research article1. Choosing Your Article Type Archaeological Prospection publishes three peer-reviewed article types: Research Articles, Short Reports, and Review Articles. Aut…main text ≤ 6,000 words
- review article1. Choosing Your Article Type Archaeological Prospection publishes three peer-reviewed article types: Research Articles, Short Reports, and Review Articles. Aut…Length not stated
- short reportArchaeological Prospection publishes three peer-reviewed article types: Research Articles, Short Reports, and Review Articles.Length not stated
- survey1. Choosing Your Article Type Archaeological Prospection publishes three peer-reviewed article types: Research Articles, Short Reports, and Review Articles. Aut…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Data availability
- AI use Generative AI Use in Archaeological Prospection Manuscripts
Archaeological Prospection requires authors to declare any use of generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) technologies in manuscript preparation at the time of submission. This transparency ensures the integrity of scholarly communication and maintains the standards of scientific publication. Please refer to the publisher's policy on general guidance and best practices for more information on …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data Sharing and Data Availability
Data sharing expected; Data Availability Statement required. Model summary
This journal expects data sharing. Review Wiley's Data Sharing policy where you will be able to see and select the data availability statement that is right for your submission. When you submit your paper to Archaeological Prospection, it should include a short Data Availability Statement, following the suggested wording at the end of this sub-section. This statement tells the reader where your di…
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
- John Wiley and Sons Ltd
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Quarterly
- Founded
- 1994
- ISSN
- 1075-2196
- Electronic ISSN
- 1099-0763
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 33, Issue 3 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Archaeological Prospection
What CAS zone is Archaeological Prospection in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Archaeological Prospection is in Zone 3 of Earth Sciences, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Archaeology / Geosciences, Multidisciplinary. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Earth Sciences. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Archaeological Prospection?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.46; CiteScore 4, h-index 55.
How long does peer review take at Archaeological Prospection?
Based on the dates recorded on 89 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 134 days (interquartile range 84–198 days); authors report an average review time of over 12 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Easy”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 52% (2025). 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 are the manuscript requirements of Archaeological Prospection?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Manuscript length: ≤ 6,000 words; Reference style: Author–date; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Where are the editorial board members of Archaeological Prospection based?
Of the 20 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (4), United States (3) and Austria (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Archaeological Prospection?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Archaeological Prospection is indexed in SCIE, AHCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists EI Compendex, Web of Science, GeoRef and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Archaeological Prospection open access, and what is the APC?
Archaeological Prospection is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,980.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex; 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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .