Journal profile · Water Resources
Hydrological Processes
ISSN 0885-6087 · eISSN 1099-1085 · John Wiley and Sons Ltd · ENGLAND · Semimonthly · Founded 1986
Hydrological Processes: CAS Zone 3 · Earth Sciences (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.03; hybrid open access; APC about USD 5,230; median 164 days to acceptance (109 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: about 50%; 364 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Hydrological Processes is published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd 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 Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies, Flood Risk Assessment and Management and Soil erosion and sediment transport, together about 37% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Aims and Scope Hydrological Processes is an international journal that publishes original scientific papers advancing understanding of the mechanisms underlying the movement and storage of water in the environment, and the interaction of water with geological, biogeochemical, atmospheric and ecological systems. Not all papers related to water resources are appropriate for submission to this journal; rather we seek papers that clearly articulate the role(s) of hydrological processes. Article Types See the available article types HERE. All articles must be accompanied by a short author statement detailing the novelty and international significance of the paper to the understanding of hydrological processes. Authors should ensure that papers submitted to the journal take appropriate account of uncertainty in both data and model results.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Water Resources
Editor-in-chief Doerthe TetzlaffPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 7, United Kingdom 2, Italy 2, Australia 2, Germany 1 (15 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Hydrology and Watershed Management StudiesEnvironmental Science23.2%
- Flood Risk Assessment and ManagementEnvironmental Science7.1%
- Soil erosion and sediment transportAgricultural and Biological Sciences6.7%
- Hydrology and Sediment Transport ProcessesEnvironmental Science6.5%
- Cryospheric studies and observationsEarth and Planetary Sciences6%
- Groundwater flow and contamination studiesEnvironmental Science5.6%
- Plant Water Relations and Carbon DynamicsEnvironmental Science5%
- Groundwater and Isotope GeochemistryEarth and Planetary Sciences4.7%
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 | Water Resources | 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 | Water Resources | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Earth Sciences Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Water Resources | Zone 3 |
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 ScienceINSPECCASCAB AbstractsGeoRefCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: EBSCO, AGRICOLA
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
- 3.03LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 3.1Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 5Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.88LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.87LetPub ·
- h-index
- 140LetPub ·
- h-index
- 233OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 7,463OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.84OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 9.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 41.72%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 321LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2Publisher website ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 335Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 713,866Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 11,472 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 346 | 180 | 82 |
| 2025 | 364 | 217 | 881 |
| 2024 | 330 | 183 | 1,994 |
| 2023 | 270 | 184 | 2,388 |
| 2022 | 346 | 144 | 4,705 |
| 2021 | 441 | 153 | 7,810 |
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
164 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 117 days – 239 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 15 days (109 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 184 days
- Sample
- 109 articles with submission and acceptance dates (769 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 8 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- 50%LetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 31%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 31%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 30 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 30 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 156 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 16 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer reviewPublisher 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 5,230 / EUR 4,380 / GBP 3,520 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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)
What to prepare5 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 300 words
- Keywords
- 8
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 5,000 words
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
Article types accepted5
- data notesData Notes - The purpose of HPToday Data Notes is to alert the scientific community to the existence of data sets and data bases that could be used in further h…Length not stated
- editorialThe acceptance criteria for all papers are the quality, originality and significance of the research and relevance to the scope of the journal. Except where oth…Length not stated
- hp james buttle invited reviewThe HP James Buttle invited review is a solicited article type covering high-profile current topics in hydrological process research.Length not stated
- hp research articlesHP Research Articles: These should be original and novel contributions that advance our understanding of hydrological processes by presenting new concepts, theo…Length not stated
- scientific briefingsScientific Briefings - These are short papers that follow a fast track publication route, offering a total time from submission to publication not normally exce…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, Peer review, Preprints
- Authorship Authorship
On initial submission, the submitting author will be prompted to provide the email address and country for all contributing authors.Please refer to the journal’s Authorship policy in the Editorial Policies and Ethical Considerations section for details on author listing eligibility.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflict of Interest Statement
Authors will be asked to provide a conflict of interest statement during the submission process. For details on what to include in this section, see the ‘ Conflict of Interest ’ section in the Editorial Policies and Ethical Considerations section below. Authors should ensure they liaise with all co-authors to confirm agreement with the final statement.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability
Data sharing encouraged Model summary
Hydrological Processes encourages data sharing wherever possible, unless this is prevented by ethical, privacy, or confidentiality matters.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics
Originality requirement Model summary
Submission to Hydrological Processes implies that the content has not been previously published, and has not been submitted for publication elsewhere.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Peer review type: single-anonymized Model summary
Except where otherwise stated, manuscripts are single-anonymized peer reviewed.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprint your manuscript while it’s under review
Preprint policy: authors can opt to preprint during submission Model summary
Beginning Fall 2019, Hydrological Processes is participating in a pilot of the under review service, Wiley’s new initiative to streamline the early sharing of research and open up the peer review process. Authors can now opt to preprint their manuscript during the submission process and showcase their work to the global research community as a preprint, before it is accepted or published. Please n…
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
- Semimonthly
- Founded
- 1986
- ISSN
- 0885-6087
- Electronic ISSN
- 1099-1085
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 40, Issue 9 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Hydrological Processes
What CAS zone is Hydrological Processes in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Hydrological Processes is in Zone 3 of Earth Sciences, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Water Resources. 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.
What is the impact factor of Hydrological Processes?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.03; CiteScore 5, h-index 233.
How long does peer review take at Hydrological Processes?
Based on the dates recorded on 109 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 164 days (interquartile range 117–239 days); authors report an average review time of about 8 months; the community-reported acceptance is “about 50%”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 31% (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.
What are the manuscript requirements of Hydrological Processes?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 300 words; Keywords: 8; Manuscript length: ≤ 5,000 words; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Graphical abstract: Optional. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Where are the editorial board members of Hydrological Processes based?
Of the 15 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (7), United Kingdom (2) and Italy (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Hydrological Processes?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Hydrological Processes is indexed in SCIE and Scopus. 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 Hydrological Processes open access, and what is the APC?
Hydrological Processes is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 5,230.
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: .