Journal profile · OPTICS
Journal of Physics-Photonics
ISSN 2515-7647 · IOP Publishing · United Kingdom
Journal of Physics-Photonics: CAS Zone 3 · Physics & Astronomy (2025 upgraded edition); fully open access; APC about USD 3,000; median 100 days to acceptance (96 articles, last 24 months); 171 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Physics-Photonics is published by IOP Publishing and is in Zone 3 of Physics & Astronomy in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Photonic and Optical Devices, Advanced Fiber Laser Technologies and Laser-Matter Interactions and Applications, together about 27.6% of its articles. Its main subfields are Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics and Electrical and Electronic Engineering. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
JPhys Photonics™ will showcase the most significant and exciting developments in the science, technology and application of photonics. Research is increasingly a collaborative enterprise, breaking traditional subject boundaries, and JPhys Photonics will reflect this by focusing particularly on interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research. JPhys Photonics welcomes submissions from all disciplines, including physics, chemistry, engineering, biology, medicine and related fields, and aims to facilitate the flow of knowledge between and beyond these communities, ensuring authors gain maximum impact and visibility for their work. The journal represents a community-oriented approach to communicating science driven by the needs of scientists rather than funders, institutions or for-profit corporations. All photonics-related and photonics-enabled research is in scope, especially interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary studies. Subjects covered will include, but not be restricted to, the following areas: Fundamentals and technologies Fibre optics and waveguides Light sources Light-matter interactions Nanophotonics Nonlinear and ultrafast optics Optical imaging and non-imaging components Optoelectronics, semiconductor photonics and photonic integrated circuits Photonic materials, metamaterials and engineered structures Plasmonics Propagation, interaction and behaviour Quantum photonics Applications Advanced manufacturing and robotics Advanced materials and smart structures Art and archaeology Biomedical and biotechnology Computing and data storage Data communication and the Internet of Things Energy, green technology and the circular economy Food and health Imaging, detection and sensing Light, illumination, detection and imaging Optical communications and fibre optics Optical data storage Quantum cryptography and quantum computing Security, identification and cryptography Sensing and authentication Spectroscopy and microscopy Textiles and wearables Therapeutics, optogenetics and neurophotonics Vehicles and aerospace Visualization and virtual/augmented reality
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): OPTICS
Editorial board by country: 5 in mainland China (about 36%); most named Mainland China 5, Italy 2, Sweden 2, United States 1, United Kingdom 1 (14 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Photonic and Optical DevicesEngineering12.6%
- Advanced Fiber Laser TechnologiesPhysics and Astronomy9.1%
- Laser-Matter Interactions and ApplicationsPhysics and Astronomy5.9%
- Digital Holography and MicroscopyPhysics and Astronomy5.3%
- Advanced Fluorescence Microscopy TechniquesBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5%
- Advanced Fiber Optic SensorsEngineering4.6%
- Plasmonic and Surface Plasmon ResearchEngineering4.5%
- Semiconductor Lasers and Optical DevicesEngineering4.4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Physics & Astronomy Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Physics & Astronomy | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Optics | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Physics, Applied | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Physics & Astronomy Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Physics & Astronomy | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Optics | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Physics, Applied | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of ScienceINSPECCASPublisher website
Other: Astrophysics Data System
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
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 7.3LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.61LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.71LetPub ·
- h-index
- 41OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 180OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.27OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 2.1%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.6%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 141LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 747 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 186 | 186 | 60 |
| 2025 | 171 | 171 | 352 |
| 2024 | 98 | 98 | 620 |
| 2023 | 24 | 24 | 467 |
| 2022 | 30 | 30 | 784 |
| 2021 | 94 | 94 | 2,057 |
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
100 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 78 days – 144 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 13 days (96 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 118 days
- Sample
- 96 articles with submission and acceptance dates (388 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 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 14 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Double anonymous 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 2,190 / EUR 2,595 / USD 3,000 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | USD 2,700 / EUR 2,335 / GBP 1,970 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 2,470 / EUR 2,135 / GBP 1,800 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | GBP 2,190 / EUR 2,595 / USD 3,000 | — | — |
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 websiteLicense & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- License & copyright Copyright and Permissions
The following information is available to help you with our copyright and permissions policies. Copyright Reusing IOP Published content Reusing third party material in new IOP content Creative Commons Licences CCC Republication service STM Permissions guidelines Permissions FAQs
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access
Journal of Physics: Photonics is a fully open access journal. Articles are published under a CC BY (Creative Commons Attribution) licence. Articles are freely available to everyone to read and reuse immediately upon publication, provided attribution to the author is given. Publication is funded by article publication charges (APCs). For more information on IOP Publishing’s open access policies ple…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review
The following summary describes the peer review process for Journal of Physics: Photonics, using the ANSI/NISO Standard Terminology for Peer Review: Identity transparency: single-anonymous, double-anonymous (author choice) Reviewer interacts with: Editor Review information published: review reports (author and reviewer opt in), author/editor communication, reviewer identities (reviewer opt in) Our…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints
Preprint sharing allowed anywhere at any time, provided copyright ownership is not transferred and no exclusive licence is granted. Model summary
IOP’s Preprint pre-publication policy allows authors to share a Preprint of their article anywhere at any time, subject to two restrictions. This means that IOP will consider articles which have already been posted as a Preprint anywhere online, provided that (i) you did not and do not transfer (assign) ownership of its copyright, and (ii) you did not and do not grant an exclusive licence to it.
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
- IOP Publishing
- Country or region
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2515-7647
- Official links
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Physics-Photonics
What CAS zone is Journal of Physics-Photonics in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Physics-Photonics is in Zone 3 of Physics & Astronomy, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Optics / Physics, Applied. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Physics & Astronomy. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Physics-Photonics?
Based on the dates recorded on 96 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 100 days (interquartile range 78–144 days); authors report an average review time of about 12 weeks. 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 Physics-Photonics based?
Of the 14 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 5 (about 36%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (5), Italy (2) and Sweden (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Journal of Physics-Photonics?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Physics-Photonics is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science, INSPEC and CAS; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Journal of Physics-Photonics open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Physics-Photonics is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,000.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, DOAJ, 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: .