Journal profile · Geography, Physical
Journal of Geographical Sciences
ISSN 1009-637X · eISSN 1861-9568 · Science Press · PEOPLES R CHINA · Monthly · Founded 2001
Journal of Geographical Sciences: CAS Zone 2 · Earth Sciences (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 5.67; subscription journal; APC about USD 3,190; median 223 days to acceptance (84 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: easy; 126 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Geographical Sciences is published by Science Press and is in Zone 2 of Earth Sciences in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Land Use and Ecosystem Services, Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies and Remote Sensing and Land Use, together about 30.9% of its articles. Its main subfields are Global and Planetary Change and Atmospheric Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Co-sponsored by the Geographical Society of China and the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Journal of Geographical Sciences aims to strengthen academic exchange on geography research between China and other countries, and to offer a forum for exchange between geographers in China and abroad. Journal of Geographical Sciences is a natural science journal, publishing articles related to physical process and spatial patterns at the earth's surface, physio-geographical elements and their interaction, global change and its regional response, characters and management of natural resources, landscape ecology and environmental construction, remote sensing, geographic information system and their applications in geographical research.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Geography, Physical
Editor-in-chief Du ZhengPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 15 in mainland China (about 65%); most named Mainland China 15, United States 3, United Kingdom 1, Germany 1, Canada 1 (23 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Land Use and Ecosystem ServicesEnvironmental Science16.4%
- Hydrology and Watershed Management StudiesEnvironmental Science7.3%
- Remote Sensing and Land UseEarth and Planetary Sciences7.2%
- Environmental Changes in ChinaEnvironmental Science6.6%
- Geology and Paleoclimatology ResearchEarth and Planetary Sciences5.8%
- Climate variability and modelsEnvironmental Science5.2%
- Cryospheric studies and observationsEarth and Planetary Sciences4.6%
- Remote Sensing in AgricultureEnvironmental Science4.4%
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 | Geography, Physical | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Earth Sciences Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Geography, Physical | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Earth Sciences Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Geography, Physical | 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
INSPECPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Astrophysics Data System, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS, Semantic Scholar
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
- 5.67LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 5.7Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 5.6Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 9.6LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.24LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.19LetPub ·
- h-index
- 38LetPub ·
- h-index
- 100OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,514OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 5.75OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 10.5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 0%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 126LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2,025Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 175,400Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,404 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 90 | 0 | 50 |
| 2025 | 126 | 7 | 537 |
| 2024 | 113 | 1 | 1,304 |
| 2023 | 122 | 4 | 2,201 |
| 2022 | 133 | 14 | 3,184 |
| 2021 | 98 | 6 | 2,276 |
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
223 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 140 days – 271 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 113 days (84 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 341 days
- Sample
- 84 articles with submission and acceptance dates (245 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 3 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
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
Subscription journalLetPub
A subscription journal: articles are read by subscription or purchase, and authors usually pay no publication charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 3,190 / EUR 2,590 / GBP 2,290 | — | — |
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 websiteOpen access
- Open access Open access publishing
To find out more about publishing your work Open Access in Journal of Geographical Sciences, including information on fees, funding and licences, visit our Open access publishing page.
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
- Science Press
- Country or region
- PEOPLES R CHINA
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Founded
- 2001
- ISSN
- 1009-637X
- Electronic ISSN
- 1861-9568
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 36, Issue 8 (August 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Geographical Sciences
What CAS zone is Journal of Geographical Sciences in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Geographical Sciences is in Zone 2 of Earth Sciences, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Geography, Physical. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Earth Sciences. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Journal of Geographical Sciences?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 5.67; CiteScore 9.6, h-index 100.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Geographical Sciences?
Based on the dates recorded on 84 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 223 days (interquartile range 140–271 days); authors report an average review time of about 3 months; the community-reported acceptance is “Easy”. 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 Journal of Geographical Sciences based?
Of the 23 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 15 (about 65%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (15), United States (3) and United Kingdom (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Journal of Geographical Sciences?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Geographical Sciences is indexed in SCIE and Scopus. The journal's website also lists INSPEC; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Journal of Geographical Sciences open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Geographical Sciences is a subscription journal. APC about USD 3,190.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .