Journal profile · Oceanography
ICES Journal of Marine Science
ISSN 1054-3139 · eISSN 1095-9289 · Oxford University Press · ENGLAND · Bimonthly · Founded 1991
ICES Journal of Marine Science: CAS Zone 2 · Agricultural & Forestry Sciences (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 3.94; fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; review 6–16 weeks (community reports); community-reported acceptance: fairly easy; 243 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
ICES Journal of Marine Science is published by Oxford University Press and is in Zone 2 of Agricultural & Forestry Sciences in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Marine and fisheries research, Fish Ecology and Management Studies and Marine Bivalve and Aquaculture Studies, together about 53.7% of its articles. Its main subfields are Ecology and Oceanography. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Oxford University Press (OUP) and the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) are pleased to announce that ICES Journal of Marine Science (ICES JMS) flipped to fully open access on 1st January 2023. All content published prior to that date is free to view, and all rights are reserved. All ICES JMS content is now freely available, including the archive going back 120 years to the first issue published by the precursor journal in 1903. With the transition from a subscription-based to an OA publishing model the journal introduced an article processing charge (APC). If accepted for publication, manuscripts that were submitted on or after October 1, 2022 will be subject to an APC. Importantly, no one will be excluded from publishing in the journal because of a financial barrier, and there will not be a bureaucratic or lengthy waiver application process (see the information below about APC waivers). Learn more about the change here The ICES Journal of Marine Science publishes original articles, opinion essays (“Food for Thought”), visions for the future (“Quo Vadimus”), and critical reviews that contribute to our scientific understanding of marine systems and the impact of human activities on them. The Journal also serves as a foundation for scientific advice across the broad spectrum of management and conservation issues related to the marine environment. Oceanography (e.g. productivity-determining processes), marine habitats, living resources, and related topics constitute the key elements of papers considered for publication. This includes economic, social, and public administration studies to the extent that they are directly related to management of the seas and are of general interest to marine scientists. Integrated studies that bridge gaps between traditional disciplines are particularly welcome. Please read the mission statement of ICES Journal of Marine Science. For manuscripts that are not pursued through review, the average time from submission to decision was 3 days in 2024. For manuscript pursued through review, the average time from submission to first decision in 2024 was 51 days. Currently, 50% of submissions are not pursued through review (see "How to get published in ICES Journal of Marine Science" for some insight into why). The acceptance rate of unsolicited submissions is 35%. Categories of Papers The ICES Journal of Marine Science publishes papers in each of the following categories: Original articles: traditional resea
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Oceanography
Editor-in-chief Howard I. BrowmanPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 1%); most named United States 20, United Kingdom 10, Norway 8, Canada 6, Australia 6 (90 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Marine and fisheries researchEnvironmental Science27.9%
- Fish Ecology and Management StudiesEnvironmental Science15%
- Marine Bivalve and Aquaculture StudiesEnvironmental Science10.8%
- Coral and Marine Ecosystems StudiesEnvironmental Science6.7%
- Marine animal studies overviewEnvironmental Science5.1%
- Marine and coastal ecosystemsEarth and Planetary Sciences3.1%
- Marine Biology and Ecology ResearchEarth and Planetary Sciences3.1%
- Fish Biology and Ecology StudiesAgricultural and Biological Sciences2.8%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Agricultural & Forestry Sciences Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Agricultural & Forestry Sciences | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Fisheries | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Marine & Freshwater Biology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Oceanography | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Agricultural & Forestry Sciences Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Agricultural & Forestry Sciences | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Fisheries | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Marine & Freshwater Biology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Oceanography | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Agricultural & Forestry Sciences Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Agricultural & Forestry Sciences | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Marine & Freshwater Biology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Fisheries | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Oceanography | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
CAB AbstractsCurrent ContentsPublisher website
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
- 3.94LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.9Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 6.2LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 6.2Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.07LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.49LetPub ·
- h-index
- 105LetPub ·
- h-index
- 184OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 5,729OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.06OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 10.3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.18%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 233LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 1,435,009Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 10,144 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 184 | 184 | 60 |
| 2025 | 243 | 243 | 644 |
| 2024 | 199 | 199 | 1,209 |
| 2023 | 217 | 217 | 3,072 |
| 2022 | 233 | 199 | 3,330 |
| 2021 | 273 | 198 | 4,346 |
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)
- 6–16 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly easyLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 35%Publisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 7 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 | GBP 2,714 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | GBP 2,795 | — | — |
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- Discounts
- 20
- Submission fee
- USD 3,625
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
- ≤ 350 words
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 7,000 words
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted5, with length limits
- editorialThe ICES Journal of Marine Science publishes papers in each of the following categories: Original articles: traditional research papers. Generally 5-12 pages (a…main text ≤ 350 words · abstract ≤ 350 words
- original articleThe ICES Journal of Marine Science publishes papers in each of the following categories: Original articles: traditional research papers. Generally 5-12 pages (a…Length not stated
- research paperThe ICES Journal of Marine Science publishes papers in each of the following categories: Original articles: traditional research papers. Generally 5-12 pages (a…Length not stated
- reviewThe ICES Journal of Marine Science publishes papers in each of the following categories: Original articles: traditional research papers. Generally 5-12 pages (a…Length not stated
- review articleThe ICES Journal of Marine Science publishes papers in each of the following categories: Original articles: traditional research papers. Generally 5-12 pages (a…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- AI use AI use policy
The AI use policy applies to manuscripts submitted to the journal from Monday 30th March 2026. ICES Journal of Marine Science allows use of AI as a tool to help with human-generated content (e.g. refinement, correction, editing or formatting the manuscript to improve clarity of language; refining or formatting of data or code). Disclosure of this level of AI use is not necessary. Other uses of AI …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Author contributions
ICESJMS requires an author contribution statement that should be placed after the acknowledgements. An author is someone who has made significant and substantial contributions to the study being reported. This includes conceptualization, design and methodology, participating in performing experiments or the collection of data, analysis of the findings, and drafting and revising the manuscript. Fol…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflict of interest
ICESJMS requires a conflict of interest statement that should be placed after the statement of author contributions. Even when there are no conflicts of interest, a statement such as “The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare” should be provided At the point of submission, the journal’s policy requires that each author reveal any financial interests or connections, direct or indirect, o…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Availability of data and materials
Where ethically feasible, ICES Journal of Marine Science strongly encourages authors to make all data and software code on which the conclusions of the paper rely available to readers. Authors are required to include a Data Availability Statement in their article. We suggest that data be presented in the main manuscript or additional supporting files, or deposited in a public repository whenever p…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Publication Ethics
The journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Licence to publish and Open Access options
ICES Journal of Marine Science is a fully open access journal, and all articles are published in the journal under an open access licence immediately upon publication. You will need to pay an open access charge to publish under an open access licence. Details of the open access licences and open access charges. Journal (required) Please select Academic MedicineActa CytologicaActa HaematologicaAdap…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Licence to publish and Open Access options
ICES Journal of Marine Science is a fully open access journal, and all articles are published in the journal under an open access licence immediately upon publication. You will need to pay an open access charge to publish under an open access licence. Details of the open access licences and open access charges. Journal (required) Please select Academic MedicineActa CytologicaActa HaematologicaAdap…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review
This journal uses single blind peer review. For full details about the peer review process, see the page at Fair editing and peer review.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprint policy
The Preprint policy applies to manuscripts submitted to the Journal from Monday 30th March 2026. ICES Journal of Marine Science will not consider for publication manuscripts that have been posted on preprint platforms. The rationale for this policy is explained in this editorial: https://academic.oup.com/icesjms/article/83/4/fsag052/8651474 Posting manuscripts to preprint platforms at the time of …
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
- Oxford University Press
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Bimonthly
- Founded
- 1991
- ISSN
- 1054-3139
- Electronic ISSN
- 1095-9289
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗DOAJ
- 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 ICES Journal of Marine Science
What CAS zone is ICES Journal of Marine Science in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, ICES Journal of Marine Science is in Zone 2 of Agricultural & Forestry Sciences, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Fisheries / Marine & Freshwater Biology / Oceanography; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Agricultural & Forestry Sciences. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of ICES Journal of Marine Science?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.94; CiteScore 6.2, h-index 184.
How long does peer review take at ICES Journal of Marine Science?
Authors report an average review time of 6–16 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly easy”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 35%. 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 ICES Journal of Marine Science?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 350 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 7,000 words; Reference style: Author–date; Templates: LaTeX and Word; Suggested reviewers: Optional; Cover letter: Required. 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 ICES Journal of Marine Science based?
Of the 90 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 1%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (20), United Kingdom (10) and Norway (8). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index ICES Journal of Marine Science?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, ICES Journal of Marine Science is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists CAB Abstracts and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is ICES Journal of Marine Science open access, and what is the APC?
ICES Journal of Marine Science is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
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: .