Journal profile · GEOCHEMISTRY & GEOPHYSICS-GEOLOGY
Lithosphere
ISSN 1941-8264 · eISSN 1947-4253 · Geological Society of America · UNITED STATES
Lithosphere: CAS Zone 4 · Earth Sciences (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.34; fully open access; APC about USD 2,200; review over 12 weeks (community reports); community-reported acceptance: fairly easy; 69 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Lithosphere is published by Geological Society of America and is in Zone 4 of Earth Sciences in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Geological and Geochemical Analysis, earthquake and tectonic studies and High-pressure geophysics and materials, together about 47.6% of its articles. Its main subfields are Geophysics. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Lithosphere submissions are organized into the following sections: Structural Geology and Tectonics Active Tectonics, Earthquake Geology, Paleoseismology Applied Geophysics Geochemistry, Petrology, and Geochronology Energy Geology Hillslope Processes, Geomorphology, Natural Hazards, Soils Sedimentary Geology, Palaeoclimate, Palaeontology, Paleoceanography Economic Geology and Mineral Exploration Mineralogy and Crystallography Geology and Health, Hazards Geodesy, Seismology Geodynamics Space and Planetary Science Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Remote Sensing
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): GEOCHEMISTRY & GEOPHYSICS-GEOLOGY
Editorial board by country: 19 in mainland China (about 43%); most named Mainland China 19, United States 6, United Kingdom 3, South Korea 2, Germany 2 (44 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Geological and Geochemical AnalysisEarth and Planetary Sciences20.5%
- earthquake and tectonic studiesEarth and Planetary Sciences16.1%
- High-pressure geophysics and materialsEarth and Planetary Sciences10.9%
- Rock Mechanics and ModelingEngineering5.6%
- Geochemistry and Geologic MappingComputer Science5.6%
- Geology and Paleoclimatology ResearchEarth and Planetary Sciences5.2%
- Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysisEngineering5%
- Hydraulic Fracturing and Reservoir AnalysisEngineering4.9%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Earth Sciences Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Geochemistry & Geophysics | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Geology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Earth Sciences Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Geochemistry & Geophysics | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Geology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Earth Sciences Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Geology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Geochemistry & Geophysics | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
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
- 1.34LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 1.7Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 1.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.9LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2024
- 4.3Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.43LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.57LetPub ·
- h-index
- 32LetPub ·
- h-index
- 68OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 603OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.13OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.54%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 66LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,286 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 28 | 28 | 6 |
| 2025 | 69 | 69 | 79 |
| 2024 | 115 | 115 | 366 |
| 2023 | 65 | 65 | 319 |
| 2022 | 325 | 325 | 2,783 |
| 2021 | 147 | 147 | 1,391 |
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
- Average review time (community reports)
- over 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly easyLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 18 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 2,200 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | USD 2,100 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 2,100 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 2,200 | — | — |
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 prepare3 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 300 words
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Not considered
- AI tools
Article types accepted6
- original researchThe journal will consider the following article types: Research Articles Research articles should present the results of an original research study. These manus…Length not stated
- research articleThe journal will consider the following article types: Research Articles Research articles should present the results of an original research study. These manus…Length not stated
- research articlesResearch articles should present the results of an original research study.Length not stated
- review articleThe journal will consider the following article types: Research Articles Research articles should present the results of an original research study. These manus…Length not stated
- review articlesA review article provides an overview of the published literature in a particular subject area.Length not stated
- systematic reviewThe journal will consider the following article types: Research Articles Research articles should present the results of an original research study. These manus…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- AI use
AI use policy: AI tools cannot be authors; use of AI tools must be disclosed in Methods or Acknowledgements. Model summary
Nonhuman artificial intelligence, language models, machine learning, or similar technologies do not qualify for authorship because they cannot take responsibility for the submitted work.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Authorship
Authorship should be limited to those who have made significant contributions to the concept, design, execution or interpretation of the work reported in a manuscript; others who have contributed should be acknowledged. Nonhuman artificial intelligence, language models, machine learning, or similar technologies do not qualify for authorship because they cannot take responsibility for the submitted…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflicts of Interest
Authors must declare all relevant interests that could be perceived as conflicting. Authors should explain why each interest may represent a conflict. If no conflicts exist, the authors should state this. Submitting authors are responsible for coauthors declaring their interests.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data Availability
Data policy: minimum data must be fully available in a suitable community repository at submission, in line with COPDESS/FAIR; restrictions must be justified. Model summary
This statement should describe how readers can access the data supporting the conclusions of the study and clearly outline the reasons why unavailable data cannot be released.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright and Permissions
Copyright: authors retain copyright; articles distributed under Creative Commons Attribution License. Model summary
Authors retain the copyright of their manuscripts, and all Open Access articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is properly cited. The use of general descriptive names, trade names, trademarks, and so forth in this publication, even if not speci…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access
All articles by Lithosphere are made freely and permanently available online immediately publication, without subscription charges or registration barriers. Authors retain the copyright of their manuscripts. Articles are distributed under Creative Commons Attribution License, which allows unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the contribution is properly cit…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer Review
All submitted articles are subject to assessment and peer review to ensure editorial appropriateness and technical correctness. In order for an article to be accepted for publication, the assigned Editor will first consider if the manuscript meets minimum editorial standards and fits within the scope of the journal. If an article is within scope, then the Editor will ideally solicit at least two e…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
Preprint policy: preprint deposition supported and not considered a compromise of novelty; preprint should be cited. Model summary
Lithosphere supports the deposition of manuscripts in preprint servers, and does not consider this to compromise the novelty of the results. Articles based on content previously made public only on a preprint server, institutional repository, or in a thesis will be considered. The preprint should be cited.
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
- Geological Society of America
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1941-8264
- Electronic ISSN
- 1947-4253
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 2026, Issue 3 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Lithosphere
What CAS zone is Lithosphere in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Lithosphere is in Zone 4 of Earth Sciences, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Geochemistry & Geophysics / Geology. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 4 of Earth Sciences. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Lithosphere?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.34; CiteScore 4.9, h-index 68.
How long does peer review take at Lithosphere?
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 Lithosphere?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 300 words; Reference style: Author–date. 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 Lithosphere based?
Of the 44 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 19 (about 43%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (19), United States (6) and United Kingdom (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Lithosphere?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Lithosphere is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Lithosphere open access, and what is the APC?
Lithosphere is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 2,200.
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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .