Journal profile · Paleontology
Palaeontology
ISSN 0031-0239 · eISSN 1475-4983 · Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd · ENGLAND · Bimonthly · Founded 1957
Palaeontology: CAS Zone 2 · Earth Sciences (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.12; hybrid open access; APC about USD 5,000; median 227 days to acceptance (77 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: fairly easy; 58 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Palaeontology is published by Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd and is in Zone 2 of Earth Sciences in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils, Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology and Evolution and Paleontology Studies, together about 48.3% of its articles. Its main subfields are Paleontology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Palaeontology publishes a wide variety of papers on palaeontological topics covering: palaeozoology palaeobotany systematic studies palaeoecology micropalaeontology palaeobiogeography functional morphology stratigraphy taxonomy taphonomy palaeoenvironmental reconstruction palaeoclimate analysis and biomineralization studies.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Paleontology
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Paleontology and Stratigraphy of FossilsEarth and Planetary Sciences17.4%
- Paleontology and Evolutionary BiologyEarth and Planetary Sciences15.9%
- Evolution and Paleontology StudiesEarth and Planetary Sciences15%
- Marine Biology and Ecology ResearchEarth and Planetary Sciences8.2%
- Ichthyology and Marine BiologyEnvironmental Science8%
- Geology and Paleoclimatology ResearchEarth and Planetary Sciences7.8%
- Geological formations and processesEarth and Planetary Sciences2.8%
- Plant Diversity and EvolutionAgricultural and Biological Sciences2.5%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Earth Sciences Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Paleontology | Zone 1 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Earth Sciences Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Earth Sciences | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Paleontology | Zone 2 |
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 | Paleontology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Current ContentsPublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest
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
- 3.12LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 5Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.17LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.37LetPub ·
- h-index
- 56LetPub ·
- h-index
- 88OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,426OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.99OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 3.1%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 59.65%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 40LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 40Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 353,318Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,043 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 54 | 33 | 20 |
| 2025 | 58 | 39 | 97 |
| 2024 | 52 | 40 | 210 |
| 2023 | 60 | 47 | 422 |
| 2022 | 52 | 22 | 489 |
| 2021 | 59 | 35 | 607 |
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
227 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 171 days – 296 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 52 days (77 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 297 days
- Sample
- 77 articles with submission and acceptance dates (104 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 6 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly easyLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 40%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 48 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 210 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 57 daysPublisher website ·
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
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 5,000 / EUR 4,150 / GBP 3,300 | — | — |
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
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 websitePublication ethics
- Publication ethics Cope's rule and the adaptive landscape of dinosaur body size evolution
Roger B. J. Benson, Gene Hunt, Matthew T. Carrano, Nicolás Campione,
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-Blackwell Publishing Ltd
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Bimonthly
- Founded
- 1957
- ISSN
- 0031-0239
- Electronic ISSN
- 1475-4983
- Society / sponsor
- Palaeontological Association
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 69, Issue 5 (October 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Palaeontology
What CAS zone is Palaeontology in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Palaeontology is in Zone 2 of Earth Sciences, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Paleontology. 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 Palaeontology?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.12; CiteScore 5, h-index 88.
How long does peer review take at Palaeontology?
Based on the dates recorded on 77 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 227 days (interquartile range 171–296 days); authors report an average review time of about 6 months; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly easy”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 40% (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.
Which databases index Palaeontology?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Palaeontology is indexed in SCIE and Scopus. The journal's website also lists Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Palaeontology open access, and what is the APC?
Palaeontology is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 5,000.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex; 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 2026-08-28). Last updated: .