Journal profile · Mechanics
Journal of Nonlinear Science
ISSN 0938-8974 · eISSN 1432-1467 · Springer US · UNITED STATES · Quarterly · Founded 1991
Journal of Nonlinear Science: CAS Zone 2 · Mathematics (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.53; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,290; median 209 days to acceptance (99 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: fairly easy; 107 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Nonlinear Science is published by Springer US and is in Zone 2 of Mathematics in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Nonlinear Dynamics and Pattern Formation, Quantum chaos and dynamical systems and Nonlinear Waves and Solitons, together about 28.4% of its articles. Its main subfields are Statistical and Nonlinear Physics. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The mission of the Journal of Nonlinear Science is to publish papers that augment the fundamental ways we describe, model, and predict nonlinear phenomena. Papers should make an original contribution to at least one technical area and should in addition illuminate issues beyond that area's boundaries. Even excellent papers in a narrow field of interest are not appropriate for the journal. Papers can be oriented toward theory, experimentation, algorithms, numerical simulations, or applications as long as the work is creative and sound. Excessively theoretical work in which the application to natural phenomena is not apparent (at least through similar techniques) or in which the development of fundamental methodologies is not present is probably not appropriate. In turn, papers oriented toward experimentation, numerical simulations, or applications must not simply report results without an indication of what a theoretical explanation might be. All papers should be submitted in English and must meet common standards of usage and grammar. In addition, because ours is a multidisciplinary subject, at minimum the introduction to the paper should be readable to a broad range of scientists and not only to specialists in the subject area. The scientific importance of the paper and its conclusions should be made clear in the introduction-this means that not only should the problem you study be presented, but its historical background, its relevance to science and technology, the specific phenomena it can be used to describe or investigate, and the outstanding open issues related to it should be explained. Failure to achieve this could disqualify the paper. Previous Editors-in-Chief K.R. Sreenivasan J.E. Marsden P.J. Holmes S. Wiggins
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Mechanics
Editor-in-chief Anthony BlochPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 2 in mainland China (about 4%); most named United States 29, United Kingdom 5, Canada 3, Mainland China 2, Germany 2 (54 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Nonlinear Dynamics and Pattern FormationComputer Science10.7%
- Quantum chaos and dynamical systemsPhysics and Astronomy9.2%
- Nonlinear Waves and SolitonsPhysics and Astronomy8.6%
- Nonlinear Photonic SystemsPhysics and Astronomy6.3%
- Navier-Stokes equation solutionsMathematics5.9%
- Advanced Mathematical Physics ProblemsMathematics5.6%
- Mathematical and Theoretical Epidemiology and Ecology ModelsMedicine5.4%
- Advanced Mathematical Modeling in EngineeringComputer Science4.5%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Mathematics Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Mathematics | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Mathematics, Applied | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Mechanics | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Physics, Mathematical | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Mathematics Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Mathematics | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Mathematics, Applied | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Mechanics | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Physics, Mathematical | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Mathematics Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Mathematics | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Mathematics, Applied | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Mechanics | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Physics, Mathematical | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
EI CompendexINSPECCASzbMATHDBLPCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Astrophysics Data System, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS
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
- 2.53LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.6Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.2LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.16LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.68LetPub ·
- h-index
- 51LetPub ·
- h-index
- 92OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 855OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.34OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 37.88%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 105LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 288,800Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,679 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 94 | 63 | 29 |
| 2025 | 107 | 53 | 187 |
| 2024 | 117 | 57 | 527 |
| 2023 | 126 | 77 | 970 |
| 2022 | 104 | 70 | 1,036 |
| 2021 | 111 | 75 | 1,528 |
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
209 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 127 days – 334 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 21 days (99 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 243 days
- Sample
- 99 articles with submission and acceptance dates (234 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)
- over 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly easyLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 9 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Double anonymous peer reviewPublisher 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 3,290 / EUR 2,690 / GBP 2,390 | — | — |
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)
What to prepare4 items from the author guidelines
- Reference style
- Author–date
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Optional
Article types accepted9
- editorialOriginal research articles and review articles are sought. Reviews should provide new insights and a unification of ideas concerning their subjects and should n…Length not stated
- letterOriginal research articles and review articles are sought. Reviews should provide new insights and a unification of ideas concerning their subjects and should n…Length not stated
- original research articleOriginal research articles and review articles are sought. Reviews should provide new insights and a unification of ideas concerning their subjects and should n…Length not stated
- original research articlesOriginal research articles and review articles are sought.Length not stated
- research reportOriginal research articles and review articles are sought. Reviews should provide new insights and a unification of ideas concerning their subjects and should n…Length not stated
- reviewOriginal research articles and review articles are sought. Reviews should provide new insights and a unification of ideas concerning their subjects and should n…Length not stated
- review articleOriginal research articles and review articles are sought. Reviews should provide new insights and a unification of ideas concerning their subjects and should n…Length not stated
- review articlesOriginal research articles and review articles are sought.Length not stated
- short lettersIn addition, preliminary research reports in the form of short letters are solicited.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, Open access, Peer review
- Authorship Authorship principles
These guidelines describe authorship principles and good authorship practices to which prospective authors should adhere to. Authorship clarified The Journal and Publisher assume all authors agreed with the content and that all gave explicit consent to submit and that they obtained consent from the responsible authorities at the institute/organization where the work has been carried out, before th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Disclosures and declarations
All authors are requested to include information regarding sources of funding, financial or non-financial interests, study-specific approval by the appropriate ethics committee for research involving humans and/or animals, informed consent if the research involved human participants, and a statement on welfare of animals if the research involved animals (as appropriate). The decision whether such …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability statements
All original research must include a data availability statement. This statement should explain how to access data supporting the results and analysis in the article, including links/citations to publicly archived datasets analysed or generated during the study. Please see our full policy here. If it is not possible to share research data publicly, for instance when individual privacy could be com…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Compliance with Ethical Standards
To ensure objectivity and transparency in research and to ensure that accepted principles of ethical and professional conduct have been followed, authors should include information regarding sources of funding, potential conflicts of interest (financial or non-financial), informed consent if the research involved human participants, and a statement on welfare of animals if the research involved an…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publishing
To find out more about publishing your work Open Access in Journal of Nonlinear Science, including information on fees, funding and licences, visit our Open access publishing page. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Peer review policy: All papers undergo thorough peer review unless the Editor notes at once that the subject matter is not appropriate for the journal; in this case, it will be returned promptly to the author. Model summary
All papers will undergo a thorough peer review unless the Editor notes at once that the subject matter of the paper is not appropriate for the journal; in this case, it will be returned promptly to the author.
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
- Springer US
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Quarterly
- Founded
- 1991
- ISSN
- 0938-8974
- Electronic ISSN
- 1432-1467
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Nonlinear Science
What CAS zone is Journal of Nonlinear Science in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Nonlinear Science is in Zone 2 of Mathematics, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Mathematics, Applied / Mechanics / Physics, Mathematical. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Mathematics. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Journal of Nonlinear Science?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.53; CiteScore 4.2, h-index 92.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Nonlinear Science?
Based on the dates recorded on 99 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 209 days (interquartile range 127–334 days); authors report an average review time of over 12 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly 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 Nonlinear Science?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Reference style: Author–date; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Optional; Cover letter: 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 Nonlinear Science based?
Of the 54 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 2 (about 4%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (29), United Kingdom (5) and Canada (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Journal of Nonlinear Science?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Nonlinear Science is indexed in SCIE and Scopus. The journal's website also lists EI Compendex, INSPEC, CAS, zbMATH, DBLP and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Journal of Nonlinear Science open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Nonlinear Science is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,290.
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: .