Journal profile · ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS
Astrophysical Journal Letters
ISSN 2041-8205 · eISSN 2041-8213 · IOP Publishing Ltd. · UNITED STATES · Biweekly
Astrophysical Journal Letters: CAS Zone 1 · Physics & Astronomy (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 11.05; fully open access; APC about USD 2,978; median 61 days to acceptance (145 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: fairly hard; 978 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Astrophysical Journal Letters is published by IOP Publishing Ltd. and is in Zone 1 of Physics & Astronomy in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies, Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies and Astronomy and Astrophysical Research, together about 34.6% of its articles. Its main subfields are Astronomy and Astrophysics. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Papers published in the journals of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) present the results of significant original research that have not been published previously.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS
Editor-in-chief Ethan VishniacPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Stellar, planetary, and galactic studiesPhysics and Astronomy13.6%
- Astrophysics and Star Formation StudiesPhysics and Astronomy10.6%
- Astronomy and Astrophysical ResearchPhysics and Astronomy10.4%
- Gamma-ray bursts and supernovaePhysics and Astronomy8.8%
- Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, PhenomenaPhysics and Astronomy8.3%
- Astro and Planetary SciencePhysics and Astronomy7.9%
- Astrophysical Phenomena and ObservationsPhysics and Astronomy7.7%
- Solar and Space Plasma DynamicsPhysics and Astronomy6.6%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Physics & Astronomy Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Physics & Astronomy | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Astronomy & Astrophysics | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Physics & Astronomy Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Physics & Astronomy | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Astronomy & Astrophysics | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Physics & Astronomy Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Physics & Astronomy | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Astronomy & Astrophysics | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
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
- 11.05LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 16.6LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 3.88LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.85LetPub ·
- h-index
- 129LetPub ·
- h-index
- 247OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 8,784OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 8.86OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 9%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.87%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 953LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 11,766 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 728 | 728 | 1,031 |
| 2025 | 978 | 978 | 8,131 |
| 2024 | 727 | 727 | 12,401 |
| 2023 | 726 | 726 | 27,396 |
| 2022 | 631 | 631 | 24,972 |
| 2021 | 657 | 654 | 28,617 |
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
61 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 40 days – 89 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 21 days (145 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 88 days
- Sample
- 145 articles with submission and acceptance dates (1,870 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)
- 2–3 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly hardLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 8 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Double anonymous peer review, Single anonymous peer review, Unspecified 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 | GBP 2,219 / EUR 2,568 / USD 2,978 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | USD 2,400 | — | — | |
| 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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access
- Open access AAS Journals Fully Open Access in 2022
In keeping with our mission, the entire AAS journals portfolio was made freely accessible as of 1 January 2022. Read more.
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
- IOP Publishing Ltd.
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Biweekly
- ISSN
- 2041-8205
- Electronic ISSN
- 2041-8213
- Official links
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Astrophysical Journal Letters
What CAS zone is Astrophysical Journal Letters in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Astrophysical Journal Letters is in Zone 1 of Physics & Astronomy, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Astronomy & Astrophysics; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Physics & Astronomy. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Astrophysical Journal Letters?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 11.05; CiteScore 16.6, h-index 247.
How long does peer review take at Astrophysical Journal Letters?
Based on the dates recorded on 145 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 61 days (interquartile range 40–89 days); authors report an average review time of 2–3 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly hard”. 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.
Which databases index Astrophysical Journal Letters?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Astrophysical Journal Letters is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Astrophysical Journal Letters open access, and what is the APC?
Astrophysical Journal Letters is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 2,978.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, DOAJ, Publisher website; 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: .