Journal profile · Computer Science, Software Engineering
Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds
ISSN 1546-4261 · eISSN 1546-427X · John Wiley and Sons Ltd · ENGLAND · Bimonthly · Founded 2004
Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds: CAS Zone 4 · Computer Science (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.31; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,350; median 114 days to acceptance (91 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: easy; 95 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds is published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd and is in Zone 4 of Computer Science in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Human Motion and Animation, Computer Graphics and Visualization Techniques and 3D Shape Modeling and Analysis, together about 40.4% of its articles. Its main subfields are Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
With the advent of very powerful PCs and high-end graphics cards, there has been an incredible development in Virtual Worlds, real-time computer animation and simulation, games. But at the same time, new and cheaper Virtual Reality devices have appeared allowing an interaction with these real-time Virtual Worlds and even with real worlds through Augmented Reality. Three-dimensional characters, especially Virtual Humans are now of an exceptional quality, which allows to use them in the movie industry. But this is only a beginning, as with the development of Artificial Intelligence and Agent technology, these characters will become more and more autonomous and even intelligent. They will inhabit the Virtual Worlds in a Virtual Life together with animals and plants. Computer Animation & Virtual Worlds is the first journal to address this global thematic of the Virtual Worlds. This thematic has been subdivided into 6 areas: Computer animation Embodied agents Virtual Environments Augmented Reality Virtual Life Visualization Computer Animation & Virtual Worlds seeks papers in all fields of Virtual Worlds. Contributions are solicited describing original research results, applications, and experience in the following topics: Computer Animation 2D animation Keyframe animation Inverse kinematics Biomechanics models Motion capture and motion retargeting Physical-based animation Facial and body animation Path planning Cloth and hair animation LOD and impostors Real-time rendering Augmented Reality Tracking Mobile AR systems Virtual Heritage Embodied Agents Perceptual models Virtual Sensors Interagent communication Modelling of groups and crowds Conversational agents Goal driven behavior Interaction with Virtual Humans Intelligent virtual actors Social behavior Emotions and personality Autonomous Virtual Human architectures Simulation involving Virtual Humans Autonomous Virtual Humans in games Virtual Environments Gesture and action recognition Haptic interfaces Audiospace Simulators (flight, car drive etc…) VR for emergency VR for psychiatry VR for rehabilitation Virtual surgery Virtual Life Plant development and growing L-systems Artificial animals and animats Population generation Virtual cities Persistent worlds Visualization Medical imaging and reconstruction Molecular graphics Fluid visualization Visualization of physical phenomena Volume rendering
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Computer Science, Software Engineering
Editor-in-chief Nadia MagnenatPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 7 in mainland China (about 11%); most named United States 10, Mainland China 7, France 5, Canada 5, United Kingdom 4 (63 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Human Motion and AnimationEngineering14.2%
- Computer Graphics and Visualization TechniquesComputer Science14.1%
- 3D Shape Modeling and AnalysisEngineering12.1%
- Human Pose and Action RecognitionComputer Science7.3%
- Advanced Vision and ImagingComputer Science7.3%
- Virtual Reality Applications and ImpactsComputer Science5%
- Evacuation and Crowd DynamicsEngineering4.7%
- Video Analysis and SummarizationComputer Science4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Computer Science Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Computer Science | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Software Engineering | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Computer Science Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Computer Science | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Software Engineering | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Computer Science Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Computer Science | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Software Engineering | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
EI CompendexWeb of ScienceINSPECDBLPCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest
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
- 3.31LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 3.4Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.4Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.9LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 3.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 3.9Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.39LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.75LetPub ·
- h-index
- 42LetPub ·
- h-index
- 56OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 470OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.92OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 2.9%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 18.03%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 83LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 5Publisher website ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 83Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 70,176Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,735 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 98 | 28 | 7 |
| 2025 | 95 | 32 | 291 |
| 2024 | 81 | 35 | 501 |
| 2023 | 95 | 53 | 756 |
| 2022 | 100 | 15 | 541 |
| 2021 | 57 | 15 | 416 |
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
114 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 29 days – 237 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 19 days (91 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 141 days
- Sample
- 91 articles with submission and acceptance dates (192 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)
- 6–12 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 14%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 14%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 7 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 7 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 111 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 22 daysPublisher website ·
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
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 3,350 / EUR 2,770 / GBP 2,220 | — | — |
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
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 websiteAuthorship, Data availability, License & copyright, Preprints
- Authorship
Author name change policy: Wiley will update and republish the paper and redeliver metadata to indexing services upon request. Model summary
Author Name Change Policy In cases where authors wish to change their name following publication, Wiley will update and republish the paper and redeliver the updated metadata to indexing services.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data Sharing and Data Availability
Data sharing: journal expects and peer reviews data sharing. Model summary
This journal expects and peer reviews data sharing. Review Wiley’s Data Sharing policy where you will be able to see and select the data availability statement that is right for your submission.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright COPYRIGHT AND PERMISSIONS
If your paper is accepted, the author identified as the formal corresponding author for the paper will receive an email prompting them to login into Author Services; where via the Wiley Author Licensing Service (WALS) they will be able to complete the license agreement on behalf of all authors on the paper.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprint policy:
Preprint policy: allows submission of manuscripts previously posted on non-commercial preprint servers. Model summary
Wiley believes that journals publishing for communities with established pre-print servers should allow authors to submit manuscripts which have already been made available on a non-commercial preprint server. Allowing submission does not, of course, guarantee that an article will be sent out for review. It simply reflects our belief that journals should not rule out reviewing a paper simply becau…
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
- John Wiley and Sons Ltd
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Bimonthly
- Founded
- 2004
- ISSN
- 1546-4261
- Electronic ISSN
- 1546-427X
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 37, Issue 5 (October 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds
What CAS zone is Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds is in Zone 4 of Computer Science, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Computer Science, Software Engineering. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 4 of Computer Science. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.31; CiteScore 3.9, h-index 56.
How long does peer review take at Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds?
Based on the dates recorded on 91 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 114 days (interquartile range 29–237 days); authors report an average review time of 6–12 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Easy”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 14% (2025). 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 Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds based?
Of the 63 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 7 (about 11%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (10), Mainland China (7) and France (5). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds is indexed in SCIE and Scopus. The journal's website also lists EI Compendex, Web of Science, INSPEC, DBLP and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds open access, and what is the APC?
Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,350.
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: .