Journal profile · Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Journal of Climate
ISSN 0894-8755 · eISSN 1520-0442 · American Meteorological Society · UNITED STATES · Semimonthly · Founded 1988
Journal of Climate: CAS Zone 2 · Earth Sciences (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 4.31; hybrid open access; review 2–3 weeks (community reports); community-reported acceptance: fairly hard; 470 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Climate is published by American Meteorological Society 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, Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations and Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes, together about 57.6% of its articles. Its main subfields are Atmospheric Science and Global and Planetary Change. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The Journal of Climate (JCLI) (ISSN: 0894-8755; eISSN: 1520-0442) publishes research that advances basic understanding of the dynamics and physics of the climate system on large spatial scales, including variability of the atmosphere, oceans, land surface, and cryosphere; past, present, and projected future changes in the climate system; and climate simulation and prediction. 2025 Impact Factor: 4.31
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Editor-in-chief Isla SimpsonPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Climate variability and modelsEnvironmental Science30.7%
- Meteorological Phenomena and SimulationsEarth and Planetary Sciences15.5%
- Oceanographic and Atmospheric ProcessesEarth and Planetary Sciences11.4%
- Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones ResearchEarth and Planetary Sciences7.6%
- Atmospheric and Environmental Gas DynamicsEnvironmental Science4.5%
- Arctic and Antarctic ice dynamicsEarth and Planetary Sciences3.7%
- Atmospheric Ozone and ClimateEarth and Planetary Sciences3%
- Atmospheric chemistry and aerosolsEarth and Planetary Sciences2.6%
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 | Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences | 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 | Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Earth Sciences Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
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
- Impact factor
- 4.31LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 4.31Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 8.4LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 2.18LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.29LetPub ·
- h-index
- 249LetPub ·
- h-index
- 420OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 11,327OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.64OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 11.6%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 8.35%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 430LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 14,119 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 317 | 37 | 51 |
| 2025 | 470 | 117 | 762 |
| 2024 | 367 | 95 | 2,228 |
| 2023 | 485 | 202 | 5,402 |
| 2022 | 503 | 265 | 9,118 |
| 2021 | 519 | 273 | 12,846 |
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)
- 2–3 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly hardLetPub ·
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.
No source has fee information yet; check the journal's website.
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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websitePeer review, Self-archiving
- Peer review Peer Review
Process Overview Reviewer Guidelines Ethical Obligations of Editors & Reviewers To contact an Editor or Chief Editor, see About Our Journals
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Self-archiving
Scope statement Model summary
The Journal of Climate (JCLI) (ISSN: 0894-8755; eISSN: 1520-0442) publishes research that advances basic understanding of the dynamics and physics of the climate system on large spatial scales, including variability of the atmosphere, oceans, land surface, and cryosphere; past, present, and projected future changes in the climate system; and climate simulation and prediction.
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
- American Meteorological Society
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Semimonthly
- Founded
- 1988
- ISSN
- 0894-8755
- Electronic ISSN
- 1520-0442
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Climate
What CAS zone is Journal of Climate in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Climate is in Zone 2 of Earth Sciences, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences; 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 Journal of Climate?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 4.31; CiteScore 8.4, h-index 420.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Climate?
Authors report an average review time of 2–3 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly hard”. 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.
Which databases index Journal of Climate?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Climate is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is Journal of Climate open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Climate is a hybrid journal. Fee information is not available yet; check the journal's website.
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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .