Journal profile · Optics
Optics Express
ISSN 1094-4087 · The Optical Society · UNITED STATES · Semimonthly · Founded 1997
Optics Express: CAS Zone 2 · Physics & Astronomy (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.37; fully open access; APC about USD 2,440; median 63 days to acceptance (193 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: about 50%; 3,987 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Optics Express is published by The Optical Society and is in Zone 2 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 Optical Network Technologies, together about 31.8% of its articles. Its main subfields are Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Optics Express is the all-electronic, open access journal for optics providing rapid publication for peer-reviewed articles that emphasize scientific and technology innovations in all aspects of optics and photonics.
Source: LetPub
Research area (LetPub): Optics
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Photonic and Optical DevicesEngineering14%
- Advanced Fiber Laser TechnologiesPhysics and Astronomy11.4%
- Optical Network TechnologiesEngineering6.4%
- Advanced Fiber Optic SensorsEngineering5.4%
- Plasmonic and Surface Plasmon ResearchEngineering5.2%
- Photonic Crystals and ApplicationsPhysics and Astronomy4.9%
- Photonic Crystal and Fiber OpticsEngineering4.4%
- Advanced Photonic Communication SystemsEngineering4.2%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Physics & Astronomy Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Physics & Astronomy | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Optics | Zone 2 |
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 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Physics & Astronomy Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Physics & Astronomy | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Optics | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview 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
- 3.37LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 6.1LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.84LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.21LetPub ·
- h-index
- 240LetPub ·
- h-index
- 345OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 44,360OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.56OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 14.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.77%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 4,038LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 67,833 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2,517 | 2,517 | 902 |
| 2025 | 3,987 | 3,987 | 10,836 |
| 2024 | 3,718 | 3,718 | 24,675 |
| 2023 | 3,396 | 3,396 | 37,306 |
| 2022 | 3,840 | 3,840 | 54,581 |
| 2021 | 3,488 | 3,488 | 66,901 |
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
63 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 46 days – 81 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 12 days (193 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 74 days
- Sample
- 193 articles with submission and acceptance dates (7,794 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 1.2 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- 50%LetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 9 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 2,440 | Yes | CC BY, Publisher's own license | |
| OpenAlex | USD 2,270 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 2,330 | Yes | — |
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- The Optical Society
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Semimonthly
- Founded
- 1997
- ISSN
- 1094-4087
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- 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 Optics Express
What CAS zone is Optics Express in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Optics Express is in Zone 2 of Physics & Astronomy, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Optics. 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.
What is the impact factor of Optics Express?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.37; CiteScore 6.1, h-index 345.
How long does peer review take at Optics Express?
Based on the dates recorded on 193 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 63 days (interquartile range 46–81 days); authors report an average review time of about 1.2 months; the community-reported acceptance is “about 50%”. 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.
Which databases index Optics Express?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Optics Express is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Optics Express open access, and what is the APC?
Optics Express is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 2,440.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, 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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .