Journal profile · Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Climate of the Past
ISSN 1814-9324 · eISSN 1814-9332 · European Geosciences Union · GERMANY · Irregular
Climate of the Past: CAS Zone 2 · Earth Sciences (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.78; fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; review 4–8 weeks (community reports); community-reported acceptance: fairly easy; 122 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Climate of the Past is published by European Geosciences Union and is in Zone 2 of Earth Sciences in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Geology and Paleoclimatology Research, Climate variability and models and Tree-ring climate responses, together about 48.4% of its articles. Its main subfields are Atmospheric Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Climate of the Past (CP) is a not-for-profit international scientific journal dedicated to the publication and discussion of research articles, short communications, and review papers on the climate history of the Earth. CP covers all temporal scales of climate change and variability, from geological time through to multidecadal studies of the last century. Studies focusing mainly on present and future climate are not within scope. The main subject areas are the following: reconstructions of past climate based on instrumental and historical data as well as proxy data from marine and terrestrial (including ice) archives; development and validation of new proxies, improvements of the precision and accuracy of proxy data; theoretical and empirical studies of processes in and feedback mechanisms between all climate system components in relation to past climate change on all space scales and timescales; simulation of past climate and model-based interpretation of palaeoclimate data for a better understanding of present and future climate variability and climate change. Climate of the Past has an innovative two-stage publication process which involves scientific discussion of preprints and exploits the full potential of the Internet to do the following: foster scientific discussion; enhance the effectiveness and transparency of scientific quality assurance; enable rapid publication; make scientific publications freely accessible. In the first stage, papers that pass a rapid access review by one of the editors are immediately posted as preprints on EGUsphere, EGU's preprint repository, or in Climate of the Past Discussions (CPD). They are then subject to interactive public discussion, during which the referees' comments (anonymous or attributed), additional comments by other members of the scientific community (attributed), and the authors' replies are also posted alongside the preprint. In the second stage, the peer-review process is completed and, if accepted, the final revised papers are published in CP. To ensure publication precedence for authors, and to provide a lasting record of scientific discussion, EGUsphere, CPD, and CP are ISSN-registered, permanently archived, and fully citable.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 4%); most named United Kingdom 4, Japan 2, France 2, Australia 2, Norway 2 (28 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Geology and Paleoclimatology ResearchEarth and Planetary Sciences32%
- Climate variability and modelsEnvironmental Science8.5%
- Tree-ring climate responsesEarth and Planetary Sciences8%
- Cryospheric studies and observationsEarth and Planetary Sciences7.5%
- Methane Hydrates and Related PhenomenaEnvironmental Science5.3%
- Isotope Analysis in EcologyEnvironmental Science5.2%
- Geological formations and processesEarth and Planetary Sciences3.9%
- Paleontology and Stratigraphy of FossilsEarth and Planetary Sciences3.5%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Earth Sciences Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Geosciences, Multidisciplinary | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Earth Sciences Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Geosciences, Multidisciplinary | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Earth Sciences Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Geosciences, Multidisciplinary | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of SciencePublisher website
Other: Google Scholar
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
- 3.78LetPub ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2024
- 44Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 6.3LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 6.3Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.73LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 1.36Publisher website ·
- SJR (publisher) 2024
- 65Publisher website ·
- SJR (publisher) 2023
- 4.06Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.36LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 1.73Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 64LetPub ·
- h-index
- 133OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,664OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.31OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 13.2%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 120LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,220 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 83 | 83 | 39 |
| 2025 | 122 | 122 | 256 |
| 2024 | 135 | 135 | 832 |
| 2023 | 123 | 123 | 1,718 |
| 2022 | 131 | 131 | 2,621 |
| 2021 | 131 | 131 | 4,192 |
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)
- 4–8 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly easyLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 38 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Open 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 | EUR 1,980 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | EUR 1,600 | — | — | |
| LetPub | EUR 1,600 | 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)
Article types accepted3
- research articlesResearch articlesLength not stated
- review articlesReview articlesLength not stated
- technical notesTechnical notesLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Code availability, Data availability, Preprints
- AI use
AI usage must be described in Methods or Acknowledgements. Model summary
Should you have used AI tools to generate (parts of) your manuscript, please describe the usage either in the Methods section or the Acknowledgements.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Code availability
Manuscripts using software/code must include a Code availability section. Model summary
The manuscript must then include a section entitled "Code availability" or, in the case of data and code, "Code and data availability".
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability
Research data must be deposited in FAIR-aligned repositories with persistent identifiers. Model summary
Authors are requested to follow our data policy including the deposit of research data (i.e. the material necessary to validate the research findings) that correspond to manuscripts, preprints, or journal articles in reliable FAIR-aligned data repositories that assign persistent identifiers (preferably digital object identifiers (DOIs)).
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints
Figure colour schemes must be accessible to readers with colour vision deficiencies. Model summary
to ensure that your figures' colour schemes allow readers with colour vision deficiencies to correctly interpret your findings (see our guidelines for figures & tables)
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
- European Geosciences Union
- Country or region
- GERMANY
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Irregular
- ISSN
- 1814-9324
- Electronic ISSN
- 1814-9332
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- 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 Climate of the Past
What CAS zone is Climate of the Past in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Climate of the Past is in Zone 2 of Earth Sciences, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Geosciences, Multidisciplinary / Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences. 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 Climate of the Past?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.78; CiteScore 6.3, h-index 133.
How long does peer review take at Climate of the Past?
Authors report an average review time of 4–8 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly easy”. 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 Climate of the Past based?
Of the 28 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 4%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (4), Japan (2) and France (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Climate of the Past?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Climate of the Past is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Climate of the Past open access, and what is the APC?
Climate of the Past is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, Publisher website, 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: .