Journal profile · Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Geophysical Research Letters
ISSN 0094-8276 · eISSN 1944-8007 · Wiley-Blackwell · UNITED STATES · Semimonthly · Founded 1974
Geophysical Research Letters: CAS Zone 2 · Earth Sciences (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 4.9; fully open access; APC about USD 3,190; median 122 days to acceptance (189 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: fairly hard; 2,080 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Geophysical Research Letters is published by Wiley-Blackwell and is in Zone 2 of Earth Sciences in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Climate variability and models, Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics and earthquake and tectonic studies, together about 23.4% of its articles. Its main subfields are Atmospheric Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Geophysical Research Letters (GRL) publishes high-impact, innovative, and timely research on major scientific advances in all the major geoscience disciplines. Papers are communications-length articles and should have broad and immediate implications in their discipline or across the geosciences. GRLmaintains the fastest turn-around of all high-impact publications in the geosciences and works closely with authors to ensure broad visibility of top papers. GRL is a Letters journal; limiting manuscript size expedites the review and publication process. GRL also publishes a limited number of frontier articles, by invitation from Editors. GRL's mission is to disseminate concisely written, high-impact research reports on major scientific advances in AGU Sections. With this goal, the Editorial Board evaluates manuscripts submitted to GRLaccording to the following criteria: High impact innovative results with broad geophysical implications at the forefront of one or several AGU disciplines. Results with immediate impact on the research of others and requiring rapid publication. Instrument or methods manuscript introducing an innovative technique that makes new science advance possible, with immediate applications to AGU disciplines. GRL has been in publication since 1974. The Editors are adapting GRL to the evolving needs of the Earth science community. GRL Editors are topical: the subject of the paper determines which Editor handles the review and decision process. For more information, please read this Eos editorial. AGU Publications Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Statement As an organization that serves a global community of Earth and space scientists, AGU is committed to promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA). Following AGU's Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan, AGU Publications is implementing changes to foster a more equitable and inclusive scientific publishing environment. This includes proactively working to eliminate the influence of bias in peer review, improving diversity and inclusion within our editorial teams (editors, reviewers, authors) and our publishing processes and policies, and ensuring our publications content fairly and inclusively represents people and communities. We also plan to regularly track and publish our AGU Publications DEI progress. All AGU members, editors, authors, reviewers, and publications officers and staff are expected to aspire and adhere to our Scientific Integrity and Profes
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Editorial board by country: 5 in mainland China (about 14%); most named United States 23, Mainland China 5, Japan 3, Hong Kong, China 1, Germany 1 (37 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Climate variability and modelsEnvironmental Science8.8%
- Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamicsPhysics and Astronomy8.2%
- earthquake and tectonic studiesEarth and Planetary Sciences6.4%
- Solar and Space Plasma DynamicsPhysics and Astronomy6.2%
- Atmospheric Ozone and ClimateEarth and Planetary Sciences5.4%
- Atmospheric chemistry and aerosolsEarth and Planetary Sciences5%
- Oceanographic and Atmospheric ProcessesEarth and Planetary Sciences4.9%
- High-pressure geophysics and materialsEarth and Planetary Sciences4.8%
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 |
Top journal: yesReview 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 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Earth Sciences Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Geosciences, Multidisciplinary | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
EI CompendexWeb of ScienceINSPECCASCAB AbstractsGeoRefCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest, Astrophysics Data System
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
- 4.9LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 5Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 8.1LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 8.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 8.1Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.95LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.52LetPub ·
- h-index
- 240LetPub ·
- h-index
- 435OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 40,901OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.74OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 10%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.79%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 1,940LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2Publisher website ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 2,020Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 10,825,182Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 53,592 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1,641 | 1,641 | 788 |
| 2025 | 2,080 | 2,080 | 7,872 |
| 2024 | 1,810 | 1,810 | 17,551 |
| 2023 | 1,575 | 1,575 | 23,489 |
| 2022 | 1,822 | 1,379 | 42,696 |
| 2021 | 1,774 | 1,084 | 52,561 |
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
122 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 81 days – 155 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 17 days (189 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 145 days
- Sample
- 189 articles with submission and acceptance dates (4,119 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)
- about 2 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly hardLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 37%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 37%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 34 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 34 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 110 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 17 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 4 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous 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 | USD 3,190 / GBP 2,420 / EUR 2,700 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 3,190 / EUR 2,700 / GBP 2,420 | — | — |
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
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Semimonthly
- Founded
- 1974
- ISSN
- 0094-8276
- Electronic ISSN
- 1944-8007
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 53, Issue 18 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗DOAJ
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗DOAJ
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Geophysical Research Letters
What CAS zone is Geophysical Research Letters in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Geophysical Research Letters is in Zone 2 of Earth Sciences, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Geosciences, Multidisciplinary; it is a Top journal. 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 Geophysical Research Letters?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 4.9; CiteScore 8.1, h-index 435.
How long does peer review take at Geophysical Research Letters?
Based on the dates recorded on 189 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 122 days (interquartile range 81–155 days); authors report an average review time of about 2 months; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly hard”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 37% (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 Geophysical Research Letters based?
Of the 37 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 5 (about 14%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (23), Mainland China (5) and Japan (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Geophysical Research Letters?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Geophysical Research Letters is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists EI Compendex, Web of Science, INSPEC, CAS, CAB Abstracts, GeoRef and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Geophysical Research Letters open access, and what is the APC?
Geophysical Research Letters is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,190.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, 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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .