Journal profile · Earth and Planetary Sciences-Paleontology
Geochronology
ISSN 2628-3735 · eISSN 2628-3719 · Copernicus Publications · Germany
Geochronology: CAS Zone 3 · Earth Sciences (2025 upgraded edition); fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; review about 19 weeks (community reports); 34 articles a year; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Geochronology is published by Copernicus Publications 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 Geological and Geochemical Analysis, Geology and Paleoclimatology Research and earthquake and tectonic studies, together about 43.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are Geophysics. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Geochronology (GChron) is a not-for-profit open-access open-review journal providing a unified outlet for high-quality basic and applied research in geochronology, independent of technique used or timescale considered. Geochronology publishes research in all aspects of geoscience that aim to determine times or rates of geologic events and processes: basic research into fundamental physics and chemistry of geologic dating methods; novel applications across the full range of geosciences; and developments in standardization and intercomparison, statistical methods, data management, and computational infrastructure. Geochronology aims to encourage and sustain innovation in geochronology by providing a centralized communication platform that transcends specific fields of application and focuses on the common theme of quantifying geologic time. Geochronology considers the publication of research articles, review articles, short communications, and comments/replies. Geochronology has a two-stage publication process that involves a scientific discussion forum and utilizes the full potential of the Internet to ensure 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, manuscripts that pass a rapid access review by one of the associate editors are immediately posted as preprints on EGUsphere, EGU's preprint repository, or in the discussion forum Geochronology Discussions (GChronD). 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 GChron. To ensure publication precedence for authors, and to provide a lasting record of scientific discussion, EGUsphere, GChronD, and GChron are ISSN-registered, permanently archived, and fully citable. As all EGU journals Geochronology has very high standards regarding transparency and publication ethics. For full details please refer to the general obligations for editors.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Earth and Planetary Sciences-Paleontology
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 2, United Kingdom 2, Japan 2, Germany 1, Canada 1 (12 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Geological and Geochemical AnalysisEarth and Planetary Sciences17.4%
- Geology and Paleoclimatology ResearchEarth and Planetary Sciences13%
- earthquake and tectonic studiesEarth and Planetary Sciences13%
- Nuclear Physics and ApplicationsPhysics and Astronomy8.7%
- Geochemistry and Geologic MappingComputer Science8.7%
- High-pressure geophysics and materialsEarth and Planetary Sciences4.4%
- Nuclear reactor physics and engineeringEngineering4.4%
- Cryospheric studies and observationsEarth and Planetary Sciences4.4%
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 |
| Minor | Geosciences, Multidisciplinary | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Earth Sciences Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Geochemistry & Geophysics | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Geosciences, Multidisciplinary | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ESCIScopusLetPub
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
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.5LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 4.5Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.14LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.15LetPub ·
- h-index
- 2OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.33OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 12.9%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 34LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 9 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 6 | 4 | 8 |
| 2023 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
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 19 weeksLetPub ·
- Peer review
- Open peer reviewLetPub
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).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LetPub | No APC | 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 accepted2
- research articlesResearch articlesLength not stated
- short communications/technical notesShort communications/technical notesLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Code availability, Data availability
- 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
Software/code should be deposited in FAIR-aligned repositories; manuscript must include a Code availability section. Model summary
Authors are encouraged to deposit software, algorithms, and model code in FAIR-aligned repositories/archives whenever possible.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability
Data should be deposited in reliable repositories and linked via DOI. Model summary
We recommend that any data set used in your manuscript is submitted to a reliable data repository and linked from your manuscript through a DOI.
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
- Copernicus Publications
- Country or region
- Germany
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2628-3735
- Electronic ISSN
- 2628-3719
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Geochronology
What CAS zone is Geochronology in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Geochronology is in Zone 3 of Earth Sciences, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Geochemistry & Geophysics / Geosciences, Multidisciplinary. 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.
How long does peer review take at Geochronology?
Authors report an average review time of about 19 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Geochronology based?
Of the 12 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (2), United Kingdom (2) and Japan (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Geochronology?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Geochronology is indexed in ESCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists Web of Science; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Geochronology open access, and what is the APC?
Geochronology 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; 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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .