Journal profile · Geochemistry & Geophysics
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
ISSN 0037-1106 · eISSN 1943-3573 · Seismological Society of America · UNITED STATES · Bimonthly
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America: CAS Zone 3 · Earth Sciences (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.99; subscription journal; APC about USD 250; review about 3 months (community reports); community-reported acceptance: about 50%; 179 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America is published by Seismological Society of America 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 earthquake and tectonic studies, Seismic Waves and Analysis and Seismology and Earthquake Studies, together about 53% of its articles. Its main subfields are Geophysics. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (BSSA) publishes original peer-reviewed research at the frontiers of seismology and earthquake system science. BSSA papers demonstrate a comprehensive and rigorous focus that may include theoretical analyses, in-depth data analyses, advanced modeling and simulations, and emerging techniques and applications.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Geochemistry & Geophysics
Editorial board by country: 2 in mainland China (about 13%); most named New Zealand 3, Mainland China 2, France 2, United States 1, Japan 1 (15 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- earthquake and tectonic studiesEarth and Planetary Sciences22.9%
- Seismic Waves and AnalysisEarth and Planetary Sciences19%
- Seismology and Earthquake StudiesComputer Science11.1%
- High-pressure geophysics and materialsEarth and Planetary Sciences9.2%
- Seismic Performance and AnalysisEngineering6.8%
- Earthquake Detection and AnalysisEarth and Planetary Sciences6.6%
- Seismic Imaging and Inversion TechniquesEarth and Planetary Sciences6.4%
- Geological and Geochemical AnalysisEarth and Planetary Sciences4.2%
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 | Geochemistry & Geophysics | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Earth Sciences Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Geochemistry & Geophysics | Zone 2 |
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 | Geochemistry & Geophysics | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
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
- 2.99LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 6LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.15LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.32LetPub ·
- h-index
- 132LetPub ·
- h-index
- 264OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 7,822OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.85OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 19.4%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 4.11%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 166LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 13,287 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 129 | 47 | 77 |
| 2025 | 179 | 39 | 552 |
| 2024 | 176 | 17 | 1,232 |
| 2023 | 187 | 30 | 1,909 |
| 2022 | 177 | 19 | 2,078 |
| 2021 | 211 | 45 | 3,483 |
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 3 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- 50%LetPub ·
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
Subscription journalLetPub
A subscription journal: articles are read by subscription or purchase, and authors usually pay no publication charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publisher website | USD 250 | — | — |
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- Other fees
- USD 250
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
- articlesArticles – BSSA publishes articles that advance our understanding of seismology and seismic hazard analyses.Length not stated
- comments and repliesComments and Replies – We welcome Comment papers on recently published BSSA articles.Length not stated
- review articlePapers published in BSSA fall into four broad categories: articles, review articles, and comments and replies.Length not stated
- review articlesReview Articles – BSSA will consider review articles that explore topics of broad interest to the global seismology and earthquake science community.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, License & copyright, Plagiarism, Preprints
- Authorship Authorship
When submitting an article to BSSA, the author(s) warrant that the material is original and is not currently under consideration by another journal. BSSA will consider papers previously posted on preprint servers such as ESSOAr and other non-profit preprint servers, so long as the authors have retained copyright and the preprint has not been posted under a Creative Commons license.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Publishing Agreement License
Authors publishing with BSSA may select between two licensing options: Page Charges or Open Access. Please review the relevant terms and conditions and share with your co-authors as appropriate. All authors must agree to use the same license type and must electronically sign the appropriate form prior to publication.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism
Plagiarism screening using iThenticate's CrossCheck Model summary
All manuscripts received by BSSA will be screened for plagiarism using iThenticate’s CrossCheck Plagiarism Screening software.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints
Preprint policy: considers papers previously posted on non-profit preprint servers if authors retained copyright and not under CC license Model summary
BSSA will consider papers previously posted on preprint servers such as ESSOAr and other non-profit preprint servers, so long as the authors have retained copyright and the preprint has not been posted under a Creative Commons license.
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
- Seismological Society of America
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Bimonthly
- ISSN
- 0037-1106
- Electronic ISSN
- 1943-3573
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
What CAS zone is Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America is in Zone 3 of Earth Sciences, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Geochemistry & Geophysics. 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 Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.99; CiteScore 6, h-index 264.
How long does peer review take at Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America?
Authors report an average review time of about 3 months; the community-reported acceptance is “about 50%”. 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America based?
Of the 15 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 2 (about 13%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are New Zealand (3), Mainland China (2) and France (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America open access, and what is the APC?
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America is a subscription journal. APC about USD 250.
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: .