Journal profile · Oceanography
Ocean Science
ISSN 1812-0784 · eISSN 1812-0792 · European Geosciences Union · GERMANY · Bimonthly · Founded 2005
Ocean Science: CAS Zone 3 · Earth Sciences (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.9; fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; review 6–12 weeks (community reports); community-reported acceptance: fairly easy; 174 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Ocean Science is published by European Geosciences Union and is in Zone 3 of Earth Sciences in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes, Climate variability and models and Marine and coastal ecosystems, together about 52.7% of its articles. Its main subfields are Oceanography and Atmospheric Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Ocean Science (OS) is a not-for-profit international scientific journal dedicated to the publication and public discussion of studies investigating the ocean's physical, biogeochemical, biological, and ecosystem properties and processes. Ocean Science publishes studies with important implications for our understanding of the state and behaviour of the ocean, its impacts on and responses to climate, including coupling at the ocean-atmosphere, ocean-sea ice-ice sheet, ocean-coast (land) interfaces. Ocean Science covers topics, across all spatial and temporal scales and methods, including: physical, chemical, biogeochemical, and biological ocean processes and interactions, marine ecology, mesoscale to submesoscale dynamics, benthic and sediment processes, and fluxes between the ocean, atmosphere, and land. For details see journal subject areas. The manuscript types considered for peer-reviewed publication are research articles, letters, review articles, technical notes, opinion papers, and commentaries/replies. All research articles must clearly explain and discuss how the results extend and compare with current knowledge, bringing new insights to physical, chemical, or biological ocean understanding. In addition, technical notes must also demonstrate how the new technique has the potential to impact ocean observations, reconstructions, forecasts, or future projections.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Oceanography
Editor-in-chief Karen J. HeywoodPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United Kingdom 3, Netherlands 3, Hong Kong, China 2, Italy 2, Australia 2 (23 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Oceanographic and Atmospheric ProcessesEarth and Planetary Sciences28.1%
- Climate variability and modelsEnvironmental Science12.5%
- Marine and coastal ecosystemsEarth and Planetary Sciences12.2%
- Ocean Waves and Remote SensingEarth and Planetary Sciences7.9%
- Arctic and Antarctic ice dynamicsEarth and Planetary Sciences5.8%
- Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones ResearchEarth and Planetary Sciences4.8%
- Geology and Paleoclimatology ResearchEarth and Planetary Sciences3.8%
- Geophysics and Gravity MeasurementsEarth and Planetary Sciences3.2%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Earth Sciences Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Oceanography | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Earth Sciences Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Oceanography | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Earth Sciences Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Oceanography | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of SciencePublisher website
Other: Google Scholar
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
- 3.9LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.3LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 5.3Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.33LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.33LetPub ·
- h-index
- 48LetPub ·
- h-index
- 97OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,044OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.1OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 12.8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 173LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,683 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 139 | 139 | 62 |
| 2025 | 174 | 174 | 537 |
| 2024 | 86 | 86 | 639 |
| 2023 | 95 | 95 | 1,181 |
| 2022 | 89 | 89 | 1,632 |
| 2021 | 94 | 94 | 3,067 |
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)
- 6–12 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly easyLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 38 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Open 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 | EUR 1,800 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | EUR 1,310 | — | — | |
| LetPub | EUR 1,600 | 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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Code availability, Data availability, License & copyright
- AI use
AI-generated content must be described in Methods or Acknowledgements Model summary
Should you have used AI tools to generate (parts of) your manuscript, please describe the usage either in the Methods section or the Acknowledgements.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship
Authors must comply with general terms and APC Model summary
to agree and comply with the general terms and the article processing charges
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Code availability
Code availability section required when code is cited Model summary
The manuscript must then include a section entitled "Code availability" or, in the case of data and code, "Code and data availability".
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability
Data should be deposited in reliable repositories and linked via DOI Model summary
We recommend that any data set used in your manuscript is submitted to a reliable data repository and linked from your manuscript through a DOI.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright
Authors must comply with licence and copyright agreement Model summary
to agree and comply with the licence and copyright agreement
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
- European Geosciences Union
- Country or region
- GERMANY
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Bimonthly
- Founded
- 2005
- ISSN
- 1812-0784
- Electronic ISSN
- 1812-0792
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- 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
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Ocean Science
What CAS zone is Ocean Science in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Ocean Science is in Zone 3 of Earth Sciences, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Oceanography / Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Earth Sciences. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Ocean Science?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.9; CiteScore 5.3, h-index 97.
How long does peer review take at Ocean Science?
Authors report an average review time of 6–12 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Ocean Science based?
Of the 23 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (3), Netherlands (3) and Hong Kong, China (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Ocean Science?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Ocean Science is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Ocean Science open access, and what is the APC?
Ocean Science is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, Publisher website, 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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .