Journal profile · METEOROLOGY & ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES
Atmosphere
ISSN 2073-4433 · MDPI (Basel, Switzerland) · SWITZERLAND · Founded 2010
Atmosphere: CAS Zone 4 · Earth Sciences (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.63; fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; review about 11 weeks (community reports); 1,441 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus; flagged on an early-warning list or for an indexing change: check before submitting.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Atmosphere is published by MDPI (Basel, Switzerland) and is in Zone 4 of Earth Sciences in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Air Quality and Health Impacts, Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols and Climate variability and models, together about 35.9% of its articles. Its main subfields are Atmospheric Science and Global and Planetary Change. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433) is an open access, international, interdisciplinary scholarly journal focused on all areas of scientific research related to atmosphere. Atmosphere publishes regular research articles, reviews, communications, technical notes as well as perspectives. Its Special Issues are devoted to highlighting cutting-edge research topics. There is no restriction on the maximum length of the papers, and all manuscripts undergo a rigorous peer-review process before publication. We welcome experimental, observational, and modeling research or combinations thereof. Supplemental materials that provide additional data files or detailed methodical information are encouraged when online public-access repositories are not available. These mechanisms provide an opportunity for publication of the full details of research investigations.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): METEOROLOGY & ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Air Quality and Health ImpactsEnvironmental Science12.5%
- Atmospheric chemistry and aerosolsEarth and Planetary Sciences11.9%
- Climate variability and modelsEnvironmental Science11.6%
- Meteorological Phenomena and SimulationsEarth and Planetary Sciences10%
- Air Quality Monitoring and ForecastingEnvironmental Science6%
- Atmospheric aerosols and cloudsEnvironmental Science5.5%
- Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones ResearchEarth and Planetary Sciences3.8%
- Atmospheric Ozone and ClimateEarth and Planetary Sciences3.7%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Earth Sciences Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Environmental Sciences | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Earth Sciences Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Environmental Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Earth Sciences Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Environmental Sciences | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
Early warning / risk: CAS Early Warning Journal List: listed in the 2020 edition (low risk); not listed in the other 5 editions.LetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
EI CompendexWeb of ScienceINSPECCASGeoRefPublisher website
Other: 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
- 2.63LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.6Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.4LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 5.4Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.68LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.86LetPub ·
- h-index
- 24LetPub ·
- h-index
- 109OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 5,260OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.51OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 7.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.92%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 1,462LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 12,978 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 895 | 895 | 299 |
| 2025 | 1,441 | 1,441 | 4,319 |
| 2024 | 1,524 | 1,524 | 8,944 |
| 2023 | 1,804 | 1,804 | 15,757 |
| 2022 | 2,153 | 2,153 | 27,230 |
| 2021 | 1,721 | 1,721 | 29,077 |
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
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 11 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 20.4 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 2.6 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 6 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Single 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 | CHF 2,400 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | CHF 2,400 | — | — | |
| LetPub | CHF 2,400 | Yes | — | |
| 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)
What to prepare4 items from the author guidelines
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted20
- articleArticle: These are original research manuscripts. The work should report scientifically sound experiments and provide a substantial amount of new information.Length not stated
- book reviewAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- brief communicationAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- brief reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- case reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- commentaryAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- conference reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- editorialAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- hypothesisAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- letterAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- opinionAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- perspectiveAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- protocolAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- registered reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- reviewAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- scoping reviewA Scoping Review type can be submitted as a Review.Length not stated
- systematic reviewAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- technical noteAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- tutorialAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- viewpointAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- Authorship Authorship
MDPI follows the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines which state that, in order to qualify for authorship of a manuscript, the following criteria should be observed: Make substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; Draft the work or review it critically for important intel…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflicts of Interest
Citation policy: cite sources clearly, obtain permission where appropriate, avoid excessive self-citation, do not copy unread references, do not preferentially cite own or peers' publications, do not cite advertisements; follow COPE guidelines on quotation and citation manipulation. Model summary
According to The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, “Authors should avoid entering into agreements with study sponsors, both for-profit and non-profit, that interfere with authors’ access to all of the study’s data or that interfere with their ability to analyze and interpret the data and to prepare and publish manuscripts independently when and where they choose.” All authors mus…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability statements
Data availability statements are required for all articles; authors may be asked to share datasets/raw data during peer review and state whether data will be available post-publication. Model summary
Data availability statements are required for all articles published with MDPI. During the peer review and editorial decision process, authors can be asked to share existing datasets or raw data that have been analyzed in the manuscript, and whether they will be made available to other researchers following publication. Authors will also be asked for the details of any existing datasets that have …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Publication Ethics Statement
Atmosphere is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). We fully adhere to its Code of Conduct and to its Best Practice Guidelines. The editors of this journal enforce a rigorous peer review process together with strict ethical policies and standards to ensure to add high quality scientific works to the field of scholarly publication. Unfortunately, cases of plagiarism, data falsific…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright / Open Access
Articles published in Atmosphere will be Open-Access articles distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The copyright is retained by the author(s). MDPI will insert the following note at the end of the published text: © 2026 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publication fees
If you transfer your manuscript to another open access (OA) journal, you will be charged an Article Processing Charge (APC) if your article is accepted for publication. The APC for each journal can be found on the individual journal’s website. For more information about APCs, please see here.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Editorial Process and Peer Review
All submissions are thoroughly peer-reviewed by experts within the field and undergo a structured editorial workflow designed to ensure quality, transparency, and scientific integrity. The full editorial procedure is available on the Editorial Process page and is also provided below. Pre-check Pre-check consists of a technical pre-check performed by the Editorial Office and an editorial pre-check …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints and Conference Papers
Atmosphere accepts submissions that have previously been made available as preprints provided that they have not undergone peer review. A preprint is a draft version of a paper made available online before submission to a journal. MDPI operates Preprints, a preprint server to which submitted papers can be uploaded directly after completing journal submission. Note that Preprints operates independe…
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
- MDPI (Basel, Switzerland)
- Country or region
- SWITZERLAND
- Language
- English
- Founded
- 2010
- ISSN
- 2073-4433
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 17 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Atmosphere
What CAS zone is Atmosphere in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Atmosphere is in Zone 4 of Earth Sciences, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Environmental Sciences / Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences. 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 Atmosphere?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.63; CiteScore 5.4, h-index 109.
How long does peer review take at Atmosphere?
Authors report an average review time of about 11 weeks. 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 Atmosphere?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Reference style: Author–date; Templates: LaTeX and Word; Graphical abstract: Optional; Cover letter: 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.
Which databases index Atmosphere?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Atmosphere is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists EI Compendex, Web of Science, INSPEC, CAS and GeoRef; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Atmosphere open access, and what is the APC?
Atmosphere is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .