Journal profile · Multiple
Limnology and Oceanography Letters
ISSN 2378-2242 · WILEY · UNITED STATES
Limnology and Oceanography Letters: CAS Zone 1 · Earth Sciences (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 7.44; fully open access; APC about USD 3,890; median 198 days to acceptance (93 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 39% (journal website); 110 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Limnology and Oceanography Letters is published by WILEY and is in Zone 1 of Earth Sciences in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Marine and coastal ecosystems, Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology and Marine Biology and Ecology Research, together about 35.9% of its articles. Its main subfields are Oceanography and Ecology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Limnology and Oceanography Letters (L&O Letters) is a platform for communication of the most innovative and trend-setting research in the aquatic sciences. Manuscripts should present high impact, cutting-edge results, discoveries or conceptual developments in any area of limnology and oceanography or its integration. Manuscripts will be selected based on their broad interest to the field, the strength of their empirical and conceptual foundations; their insightful, succinct and elegant conclusions; and their potential to advance knowledge in the aquatic sciences. Submissions must be short-format articles that are concise, highly focused analyses, with few display items.Reasons to submit to L&O Letters: Limnology and Oceanography Letters is an open access journal featuring short-format innovative and cutting-edge research in all domains of the aquatic sciences. The journal also publishes synthetic articles and data papers. L&O Letters is indexed in Web of Science with a debut Impact Factor of 5.2, ranked #1 in Limnology and #2 in Oceanography. Early‐career researchers are embracing the journal as authors and reviewers because of its focus on inclusion, equity, and diversity, and as it continues to be at the cutting‐edge of open science. Submit to L&O Letters today! Submit to L&O Letters Read more about L&O Letters' inception here: The Challenges, Risks, and Rewards of Launching A New Journal (wiley.com)
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Multiple
Editor-in-chief Lasse RiemannPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 2 in mainland China (about 5%); most named United States 21, Mainland China 2, United Kingdom 2, Sweden 2, France 1 (37 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Marine and coastal ecosystemsEarth and Planetary Sciences22.1%
- Microbial Community Ecology and PhysiologyEnvironmental Science7.1%
- Marine Biology and Ecology ResearchEarth and Planetary Sciences6.8%
- Fish Ecology and Management StudiesEnvironmental Science6%
- Aquatic Ecosystems and Phytoplankton DynamicsEnvironmental Science5.9%
- Isotope Analysis in EcologyEnvironmental Science4.3%
- Coastal wetland ecosystem dynamicsEnvironmental Science4.2%
- Oceanographic and Atmospheric ProcessesEarth and Planetary Sciences4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Earth Sciences Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Limnology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Oceanography | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Earth Sciences Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Limnology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Oceanography | Zone 1 |
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 | Oceanography | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Limnology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
INSPECPublisher website
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
- 7.44LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 7.3Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 7.3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 10.3LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 10.3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 10.3Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 2.09LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.93LetPub ·
- h-index
- 62OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 325OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.18OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 2.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 51LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 94Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 324,876Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 680 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 92 | 92 | 31 |
| 2025 | 110 | 110 | 394 |
| 2024 | 88 | 88 | 788 |
| 2023 | 76 | 76 | 1,166 |
| 2022 | 75 | 75 | 1,690 |
| 2021 | 58 | 58 | 1,377 |
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
198 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 140 days – 289 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 17 days (93 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 231 days
- Sample
- 93 articles with submission and acceptance dates (207 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 25 weeksLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 39%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 39%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 56 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 56 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 192 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 16 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 25 weeksDOAJ ·
- 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 | USD 3,890 / GBP 2,460 / EUR 3,110 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | USD 3,700 / EUR 2,960 / GBP 2,340 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 3,200 / GBP 2,030 / EUR 2,560 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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 prepare7 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 150 words
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 3,000 words
- Reference style
- Chicago
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Highlights
- Required
- Graphical abstract
- Required
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted8, with length limits
- data articleL&O Letters will publish four types of articles—Letters, Synthesis papers, Essays, and Data articles. All articles should be written to be understandable to the…Length not stated
- editorialL&O-Letters aims for rigorous and fair peer review, that is also rapid as long as speed does not compromise the rigor of the peer review. Authors will submit ma…Length not stated
- essayEssay: 2,500 words maximum (includes main-body text only; excluding significance statement, acknowledgements, and references) and 1-3 visuals (figures, tables, …Length not stated
- letterL&O Letters will publish four types of articles—Letters, Synthesis papers, Essays, and Data articles. All articles should be written to be understandable to the…main text ≤ 3,000 words
- lettersLetters: 3,000 words maximum (includes introduction, methods, results, and discussion; excluding abstract, significance statement and all other text) and 3-5 vi…Length not stated
- original researchL&O Letters will publish four types of articles—Letters, Synthesis papers, Essays, and Data articles. All articles should be written to be understandable to the…Length not stated
- perspectiveL&O Letters will publish four types of articles—Letters, Synthesis papers, Essays, and Data articles. All articles should be written to be understandable to the…Length not stated
- synthesisSynthesis: 5,000-7000 words, although shorter manuscripts are allowed (includes main-body text only; excluding abstract, significance statement, acknowledgement…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Preprints
- Authorship Author Contribution Statement
L&O Letters requires an Author Contribution Statement that specifies the contributions of each author. Please use the CRediT (Contribution Roles Taxonomy) classification described here, and use author names as they appear on the manuscript title page. Our expectation is that each author: (1) has made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the research or the acquisition, analysis…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflict of Interest Reporting and ASLO Journal Policy Statement
The full policy statement regarding the conflict of interest for submissions from the ASLO Board, Publication Committee members, and submission from Editors-in-Chief can be viewed here L&O Letters abides by the practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE, http://publicationethics.org/), and as a Wiley journal, will follow the code of Conduct for Journal Editors. In particular, this jour…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability
Data and metadata must be deposited in a publicly accessible repository that issues a DOI and cited in the literature cited section. Model summary
L&O Letters supports the Data Citation Principles of Force11. We require that authors make their metadata and data that support the findings of their articles available in a publicly accessible repository that issues a DOI for your dataset.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Permissions and Copyright
Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reprint a previously published table, figure, maps, or extract of more than 250 words and for submitting written permissions with their manuscript. Acknowledgment alone is not sufficient; if in doubt, obtain permission. Permissions should be submitted quickly after your paper is accepted to avoid any delays in publication. Authors should exercise…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access
All articles are open access under CC-BY. Model summary
All articles will be open-access and published under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY).
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Manuscript review criteria and peer review
Criteria for publication L&O-Letters provides explicit guidelines for authors to prepare manuscripts that meet the requirements for review and publication. Manuscripts that do not meet the scope of the journal, do not follow the author guidelines, or do not meet the below criteria for publication will be rejected without review. Manuscripts that are reviewed by L&O-Letters will be evaluated based …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism
Manuscripts are screened for plagiarism. Model summary
By submitting your manuscript to this journal, you accept that your manuscript will be screened for plagiarism.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Citing preprints
Citation of non-peer-reviewed preprints should in general be avoided in L&O Letters but is allowed when it is made clear that the citation is a preprint. Example format: Bar DZ, Atkatsh K, Tavarez U, Erdos MR, Gruenbaum Y, Collins FS. Biotinylation by antibody recognition—A novel method for proximity labeling. BioRxiv 069187 [Preprint]. August 11, 2016 [cited 2017 Jan 12]. Available from: https://…
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
- WILEY
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2378-2242
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 11, Issue 5 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗DOAJ
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗DOAJ
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Limnology and Oceanography Letters
What CAS zone is Limnology and Oceanography Letters in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Limnology and Oceanography Letters is in Zone 1 of Earth Sciences, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Limnology / Oceanography; 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 Limnology and Oceanography Letters?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 7.44; CiteScore 10.3, h-index 62.
How long does peer review take at Limnology and Oceanography Letters?
Based on the dates recorded on 93 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 198 days (interquartile range 140–289 days); authors report an average review time of about 25 weeks; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 39% (2025). 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 Limnology and Oceanography Letters?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 150 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 3,000 words; Reference style: Chicago; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Highlights: Required; Graphical abstract: Required; Cover letter: Required. 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 Limnology and Oceanography Letters based?
Of the 37 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 2 (about 5%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (21), Mainland China (2) and United Kingdom (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Limnology and Oceanography Letters?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Limnology and Oceanography Letters is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists INSPEC; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Limnology and Oceanography Letters open access, and what is the APC?
Limnology and Oceanography Letters is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,890.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, DOAJ; 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: .