Journal profile · Optics
Chinese Optics Letters
ISSN 1671-7694 · Science Press · PEOPLES R CHINA · Monthly · Founded 2003
Chinese Optics Letters: CAS Zone 2 · Physics & Astronomy (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.48; fully open access; review about 1.8 months (community reports); community-reported acceptance: 60%; 389 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Chinese Optics Letters is published by Science Press and is in Zone 2 of Physics & Astronomy in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Photonic and Optical Devices, Advanced Fiber Laser Technologies and Advanced Fiber Optic Sensors, together about 30.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Chinese Optics Letters (COL) is an international journal aimed at the rapid dissemination of latest, important discoveries and inventions in all branches of optical science and technology. It is considered to be one of the most important journals in optics in China. It is collected by The Optical Society (OSA) Publishing Digital Library and also indexed by Science Citation Index (SCI), Engineering Index (EI), etc. COL is distinguished by its short review period (~30 days) and publication period (~100 days). With its debut in January 2003, COL is published monthly by Chinese Laser Press, and distributed by OSA outside of Chinese Mainland.
Source: LetPub
Research area (LetPub): Optics
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Photonic and Optical DevicesEngineering12.7%
- Advanced Fiber Laser TechnologiesPhysics and Astronomy10.4%
- Advanced Fiber Optic SensorsEngineering7.5%
- Optical Network TechnologiesEngineering6.5%
- Solid State Laser TechnologiesEngineering6.3%
- Semiconductor Lasers and Optical DevicesEngineering5.9%
- Photonic Crystal and Fiber OpticsEngineering4.6%
- Advanced Photonic Communication SystemsEngineering4.6%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Physics & Astronomy Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Physics & Astronomy | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Optics | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Physics & Astronomy Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Physics & Astronomy | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Optics | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Physics & Astronomy Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Physics & Astronomy | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Optics | Zone 2 |
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
- 2.48LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.6LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.63LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.84LetPub ·
- h-index
- 32LetPub ·
- h-index
- 46OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,249OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.3OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 0.12%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 314LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 6,970 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 207 | 4 | 1,525 |
| 2025 | 389 | 337 | 775 |
| 2024 | 294 | 270 | 1,524 |
| 2023 | 171 | 161 | 1,240 |
| 2022 | 229 | 199 | 2,109 |
| 2021 | 287 | 112 | 4,205 |
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 1.8 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- 60%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
Fully open accessLetPub
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
No source has fee information yet; check the journal's website.
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Science Press
- Country or region
- PEOPLES R CHINA
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Founded
- 2003
- ISSN
- 1671-7694
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Chinese Optics Letters
What CAS zone is Chinese Optics Letters in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Chinese Optics Letters is in Zone 2 of Physics & Astronomy, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Optics. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Physics & Astronomy. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Chinese Optics Letters?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.48; CiteScore 4.6, h-index 46.
How long does peer review take at Chinese Optics Letters?
Authors report an average review time of about 1.8 months; the community-reported acceptance is “60%”. 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 Chinese Optics Letters?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Chinese Optics Letters is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is Chinese Optics Letters open access, and what is the APC?
Chinese Optics Letters is a fully open-access journal. Fee information is not available yet; check the journal's website.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, 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: .