Journal profile · WATER RESOURCES
Hydrological Research Letters
ISSN 1882-3416 · Japan Society of Hydrology and Water Resources (JSHWR), Japanese Association of Groundwater Hydrology (JAGH), Japanese Association of Hydrological Sciences (JAHS), and Japanese Society of Physical Hydrology (JSPH) · Japan
Hydrological Research Letters: CAS Zone 4 · Environmental Science & Ecology (2025 upgraded edition); fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; review about 10 weeks (community reports); 46 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Hydrological Research Letters is published by Japan Society of Hydrology and Water Resources (JSHWR), Japanese Association of Groundwater Hydrology (JAGH), Japanese Association of Hydrological Sciences (JAHS), and Japanese Society of Physical Hydrology (JSPH) and is in Zone 4 of Environmental Science & Ecology 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 Climate variability and models, together about 42% of its articles. Its main subfields are Global and Planetary Change and Atmospheric Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Hydrological Research Letters (HRL) is an international and trans-disciplinary electronic online journal published jointly by Japan Society of Hydrology and Water Resources (JSHWR), Japanese Association of Groundwater Hydrology (JAGH), Japanese Association of Hydrological Sciences (JAHS), and Japanese Society of Physical Hydrology (JSPH), aiming at rapid exchange and outgoing of information in these fields. The purpose is to disseminate original research findings and develop debates on a wide range of investigations on hydrology and water resources to researchers, students and the public. It also publishes reviews of various fields on hydrology and water resources and other information of interest to scientists to encourage communication and utilization of the published results. The editors welcome contributions from authors throughout the world. The decision on acceptance of a submitted manuscript is made by the journal editors on the basis of suitability of subject matter to the scope of the journal, originality of the contribution, potential impacts on societies and scientific merit. Manuscripts submitted to HRL may cover all aspects of hydrology and water resources, including research on physical and biological sciences, engineering, and social and political sciences from the aspects of hydrology and water resources.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): WATER RESOURCES
Editor-in-chief Sachinobu IshidaPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named Japan 6 (6 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Hydrology and Watershed Management StudiesEnvironmental Science18.9%
- Flood Risk Assessment and ManagementEnvironmental Science11.8%
- Climate variability and modelsEnvironmental Science11.4%
- Meteorological Phenomena and SimulationsEarth and Planetary Sciences8.1%
- Cryospheric studies and observationsEarth and Planetary Sciences4.4%
- Hydrology and Drought AnalysisEnvironmental Science4.4%
- Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones ResearchEarth and Planetary Sciences4.3%
- Plant Water Relations and Carbon DynamicsEnvironmental Science3.9%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Water Resources | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Water Resources | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
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
- 1.3LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.34LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.68LetPub ·
- h-index
- 31OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 136OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.06OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 10%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 46LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 369 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 28 | 28 | 5 |
| 2025 | 46 | 46 | 45 |
| 2024 | 16 | 16 | 45 |
| 2023 | 14 | 14 | 54 |
| 2022 | 15 | 15 | 62 |
| 2021 | 15 | 15 | 73 |
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 10 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 10 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Unspecified 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 | JPY 55,000 | No | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | JPY 55,000 | — | — | |
| LetPub | JPY 55,000 | No | — | |
| Publisher website | JPY 15,000 | — | — |
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- Page charges
- JPY 15,000
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 prepare6 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 200 words
- Keywords
- ≤ 6
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 3,500 words
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Templates
- Word
- Suggested reviewers
- Required, 5
Article types accepted4
- commentA second and third category consists of contributions in the form of Invited Letters, and a Comment and/or a Reply.Length not stated
- invited letterA second and third category consists of contributions in the form of Invited Letters, and a Comment and/or a Reply.Length not stated
- letterContributions to HRL in the form of a Letter are intended to comprise the main category.Length not stated
- replyA second and third category consists of contributions in the form of Invited Letters, and a Comment and/or a Reply.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteLicense & copyright, Open access, Preprints
- License & copyright IV. Copyright and Permissions
Copyright retained by authors for articles published after 1 January 2017; distributed under CC BY 4.0. Model summary
Copyright on any article in HRL published after 1 January 2017 is retained by the author(s). The article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided one gives appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the sourc…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access
Open access publishing policy for all papers on the journal website. Model summary
All papers are published on the journal website under an open access policy.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints
Originality Model summary
Submission of an article to this journal is understood to imply that the article has not been published previously.
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
- Japan Society of Hydrology and Water Resources (JSHWR), Japanese Association of Groundwater Hydrology (JAGH), Japanese Association of Hydrological Sciences (JAHS), and Japanese Society of Physical Hydrology (JSPH)
- Country or region
- Japan
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1882-3416
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Hydrological Research Letters
What CAS zone is Hydrological Research Letters in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Hydrological Research Letters is in Zone 4 of Environmental Science & Ecology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Water Resources. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 4 of Environmental Science & Ecology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
How long does peer review take at Hydrological Research Letters?
Authors report an average review time of about 10 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.
What are the manuscript requirements of Hydrological Research Letters?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 200 words; Keywords: ≤ 6; Manuscript length: ≤ 3,500 words; Reference style: Author–date; Templates: Word; Suggested reviewers: Required, 5. 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 Research Letters based?
Of the 6 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Japan (6). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Hydrological Research Letters?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Hydrological Research Letters is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Hydrological Research Letters open access, and what is the APC?
Hydrological Research Letters is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, DOAJ, 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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .