Journal profile · Marine & Freshwater Biology
Journal of Great Lakes Research
ISSN 0380-1330 · eISSN 2773-0719 · International Association of Great Lakes Research · UNITED STATES · Quarterly · Founded 1975
Journal of Great Lakes Research: CAS Zone 3 · Environmental Science & Ecology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.55; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,200; review about 170 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); community-reported acceptance: easy; 150 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Great Lakes Research is published by International Association of Great Lakes Research and is in Zone 3 of Environmental Science & Ecology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Fish Ecology and Management Studies, Aquatic Invertebrate Ecology and Behavior and Aquatic Ecosystems and Phytoplankton Dynamics, together about 46.1% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Devoted to Research on Large Lakes of the World and their Watersheds The official Journal of the International Association for Great Lakes ResearchPublished six times per year, the Journal of Great Lakes Research is multidisciplinary in its coverage, publishing manuscripts on a wide range of theoretical and applied topics in the natural science fields of biology, chemistry, physics, geology, as well as social sciences of the large lakes of the world and their watersheds. Large lakes generally are considered as those lakes which have a mean surface area of >500 km2 (see Herdendorf, C.E. 1982. Large lakes of the world. J. Great Lakes Res. 8:379-412, for examples), although smaller lakes may be considered, especially if they are very deep. We also welcome contributions on saline lakes and research on estuarine waters where the results have application to large lakes.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Marine & Freshwater Biology
Editorial board by country: 4 in mainland China (about 7%); most named United States 25, Canada 18, Mainland China 4, Switzerland 2, Kenya 2 (54 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Fish Ecology and Management StudiesEnvironmental Science22.9%
- Aquatic Invertebrate Ecology and BehaviorEnvironmental Science14.4%
- Aquatic Ecosystems and Phytoplankton DynamicsEnvironmental Science8.8%
- Soil and Water Nutrient DynamicsEnvironmental Science6.4%
- Marine and coastal ecosystemsEarth and Planetary Sciences3.9%
- Hydrology and Sediment Transport ProcessesEnvironmental Science3.7%
- Fish Biology and Ecology StudiesAgricultural and Biological Sciences3.3%
- Toxic Organic Pollutants ImpactEnvironmental Science3.3%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Limnology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Environmental Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Marine & Freshwater Biology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Environmental Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Limnology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Marine & Freshwater Biology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Limnology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Marine & Freshwater Biology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Environmental Sciences | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview 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
- 2.55LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.7LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 4.7Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.94LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.08LetPub ·
- h-index
- 68LetPub ·
- h-index
- 127OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 3,255OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.99OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 16%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 46.04%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 166LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 5,314 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 162 | 59 | 33 |
| 2025 | 150 | 65 | 229 |
| 2024 | 148 | 97 | 654 |
| 2023 | 127 | 79 | 1,054 |
| 2022 | 181 | 99 | 1,714 |
| 2021 | 198 | 97 | 3,066 |
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
Publisher-reported review time from the journal's website
170 dayssubmission to acceptance · community reports 3–8 weeks
The publisher's own definition applies; dates from this journal's articles in the last 24 months are not available yet, so the publisher's figure is used.
Figures by source
- Average review time (community reports)
- 3–8 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 170 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 10 daysPublisher 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 3,200 / EUR 2,990 / GBP 2,560 / JPY 396,900 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 3,500 | — | — |
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- Page charges
- USD 400
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 prepare4 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 2
- Reference style
- Vancouver
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
Article types accepted11
- commentaryFull length articles represent original research results.Reviews are in depth reviews of a particular topic or field.Short communications are short articles tha…Length not stated
- commentsComments, in the form of letters or essays, are informational or opinion papers relevant to large lakes research, or reflections on previously published papers.Length not stated
- full length articlesFull length articles represent original research results.Length not stated
- letterFull length articles represent original research results.Reviews are in depth reviews of a particular topic or field.Short communications are short articles tha…Length not stated
- letters to the editorFull length articles represent original research results.Reviews are in depth reviews of a particular topic or field.Short communications are short articles tha…Length not stated
- opinionFull length articles represent original research results.Reviews are in depth reviews of a particular topic or field.Short communications are short articles tha…Length not stated
- original researchFull length articles represent original research results.Reviews are in depth reviews of a particular topic or field.Short communications are short articles tha…Length not stated
- reviewFull length articles represent original research results.Reviews are in depth reviews of a particular topic or field.Short communications are short articles tha…Length not stated
- reviewsReviews are in depth reviews of a particular topic or field.Length not stated
- short communicationFull length articles represent original research results.Reviews are in depth reviews of a particular topic or field.Short communications are short articles tha…Length not stated
- short communicationsShort communications are short articles that report on brief but complete projects, significant observations, or are preliminary findings of continuing projects…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, License & copyright, Open access, Preprints, Self-archiving
- AI use Declaration of generative AI in scientific writing
Authors must declare the use of generative AI tools in the manuscript preparation process upon submission of the paper.Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies (“AI tools”) have been rapidly adopted in research and scholarly publishing, offering significant benefits while requiring clear standards for responsible and transparent use.Authors preparing a manuscript for this journal may use AI tool…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Author contributions
For transparency, we require corresponding authors to provide co-author contributions to the manuscript using the relevant CRediT roles. The CRediT taxonomy includes 14 different roles describing each contributor's specific contribution to the scholarly output. The roles are: Conceptualization; Data curation; Formal analysis; Funding acquisition; Investigation; Methodology; Project administration;…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Declaration of competing interest
All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. Authors should complete the declaration of compe…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright
Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' (see more information on this). An e-mail will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript together with a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' form or a link to the online version of this agreement.Papers prepared by government employees from certain countries, including Canada…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access
Embargo period of 12 months for subscription articles. Model summary
For open access articles, permitted third party (re)use is defined by the following Creative Commons user licenses:Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND)For non-commercial purposes, lets others distribute and copy the article, and to include in a collective work (such as an anthology), as long as they credit the author(s) and provided they do not alter or modify the arti…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprint references
Where a preprint has subsequently become available as a peer-reviewed publication, the formal publication should be used as the reference. If there are preprints that are central to your work or that cover crucial developments in the topic, but are not yet formally published, these may be referenced. Preprints should be clearly marked as such, for example by including the word preprint, or the nam…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Self-archiving Green open access
Authors can share their research in a variety of different ways and Elsevier has a number of green open access options available. We recommend authors see our open access page for further information. Authors can also self-archive their manuscripts immediately and enable public access from their institution's repository after an embargo period. This is the version that has been accepted for public…
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
- International Association of Great Lakes Research
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Quarterly
- Founded
- 1975
- ISSN
- 0380-1330
- Electronic ISSN
- 2773-0719
- Society / sponsor
- International Association for Great Lakes Research
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Great Lakes Research
What CAS zone is Journal of Great Lakes Research in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Great Lakes Research is in Zone 3 of Environmental Science & Ecology, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Limnology / Environmental Sciences / Marine & Freshwater Biology. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Environmental Science & Ecology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Journal of Great Lakes Research?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.55; CiteScore 4.7, h-index 127.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Great Lakes Research?
The publisher reports about 170 days (submission to acceptance); authors report an average review time of 3–8 weeks; 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.
What are the manuscript requirements of Journal of Great Lakes Research?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Keywords: ≥ 2; Reference style: Vancouver; 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 Journal of Great Lakes Research based?
Of the 54 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 4 (about 7%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (25), Canada (18) and Mainland China (4). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Journal of Great Lakes Research?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Great Lakes Research is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is Journal of Great Lakes Research open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Great Lakes Research is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,200.
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: .