Journal profile · ENGINEERING, MECHANICAL
Tribology Online
ISSN 1881-2198 · Japanese Society of Tribologists · Japan
Tribology Online: CAS Zone 4 · Engineering (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.2 (journal website); diamond open access (no APC); no APC; review about 23 weeks (community reports); 23 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Tribology Online is published by Japanese Society of Tribologists and is in Zone 4 of Engineering in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Lubricants and Their Additives, Tribology and Lubrication Engineering and Tribology and Wear Analysis, together about 42.8% of its articles. Its main subfields are Mechanics of Materials and Mechanical Engineering. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The peer-reviewed electronic journal “Tribology Online” is dedicated to facilitating global exchange of up-to-date information among tribologists and researchers in relevant fields through rapid publication of high-quality papers on all aspects of tribology: science and technology of lubrication, friction, wear, lubricants, tribo-materials, tribo-systems, and so on. The journal is open access and fully supported by the Japanese Society of Tribologists; authors can publish with no publication fee, and readers can access the publication with no subscription fee.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): ENGINEERING, MECHANICAL
Editor-in-chief Joichi SugimuraPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 2%); most named Japan 39, United Kingdom 2, India 2, France 2, Mainland China 1 (49 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Lubricants and Their AdditivesEngineering16.6%
- Tribology and Lubrication EngineeringEngineering13.7%
- Tribology and Wear AnalysisEngineering12.6%
- Adhesion, Friction, and Surface InteractionsEngineering10.7%
- Gear and Bearing Dynamics AnalysisEngineering9.8%
- Metal and Thin Film MechanicsEngineering5.5%
- Diamond and Carbon-based Materials ResearchMaterials Science4.9%
- Metal Alloys Wear and PropertiesMaterials Science3.7%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Engineering Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Engineering, Mechanical | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Engineering Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Engineering, Mechanical | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
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 (publisher) 2025
- 1.2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 2.1LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.31LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.66LetPub ·
- h-index
- 30OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 218OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.59OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 8.3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 22LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 15Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 933 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 25 | 25 | 8 |
| 2025 | 23 | 23 | 28 |
| 2024 | 63 | 63 | 140 |
| 2023 | 61 | 61 | 224 |
| 2022 | 35 | 35 | 147 |
| 2021 | 36 | 36 | 182 |
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)
- about 23 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 23 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Unspecified 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
Diamond open access (no APC)DOAJ
Every article is open access and authors pay no article processing charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | No APC | No | CC BY-NC-ND | |
| LetPub | No APC | No | — | |
| Publisher website | No APC | — | — |
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)
Article types accepted5
- articleTribology Online publishes Article, Short Communication, Technical Report and Review.Length not stated
- opinionTribology Online publishes Article, Short Communication, Technical Report and Review. Article is intended to be an original report of researches in tribology an…Length not stated
- reviewTribology Online publishes Article, Short Communication, Technical Report and Review. Article is intended to be an original report of researches in tribology an…Length not stated
- short communicationTribology Online publishes Article, Short Communication, Technical Report and Review. Article is intended to be an original report of researches in tribology an…Length not stated
- technical reportTribology Online publishes Article, Short Communication, Technical Report and Review.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Self-archiving
- Authorship Authorship
Authorship of submitted manuscripts should be limited to the individuals who have made a significant contribution to the study and manuscript preparation.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Competing interests
All authors should disclose any financial or non-financial competing interests or conflicts of interest that actually or potentially influence, or could be perceived to influence, the objectivity, integrity and value of their work. Competing interests include but are not limited to funding or other support, employment or consultancy, stock or share ownership, and patents or patent applications. Au…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability
Long-term digital preservation via Portico archive Model summary
The full text of all papers is deposited in the Portico archive <https://www.portico.org/publishers/jstage/> to guarantee long-term digital preservation.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright
Open access licensing: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 for papers published after July 15, 2017 Model summary
All papers published in Tribology Online after July 15, 2017 are open access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access
Open access journal; no publication fee for authors and no subscription fee for readers. Model summary
The journal is open access and fully supported by the Japanese Society of Tribologists; authors can publish with no publication fee, and readers can access the publication with no subscription fee.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review
Submitted manuscripts are peer reviewed by at least two reviewers. Reviewers make one of the following recommendations: - accept with no change required - accept with minor revisions - re-review after major revisions - reject for publication Decisions regarding acceptance of manuscripts are made by the Editor based on reviewers' recommendation. Mandatory and/or optional revisions, and minor amendm…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism Plagiarism and falsified data
Submitted manuscripts must not contain plagiarized material or falsified research data. Proper acknowledgement must be given when using data, text, or theories by others.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Self-archiving
Self-archiving of published version allowed in personal website and/or institutional repository; submitted and accepted versions not allowed Model summary
Tribology Online allows authors the use of the published version of a paper for self-archiving in author’s personal website and/or an institutional repository after the publication of the paper. The published source must be acknowledged. Authors are not allowed to archive a submitted version or an accepted version.
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
- Japanese Society of Tribologists
- Country or region
- Japan
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1881-2198
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Tribology Online
What CAS zone is Tribology Online in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Tribology Online is in Zone 4 of Engineering, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Engineering, Mechanical. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 4 of Engineering. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Tribology Online?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 1.2 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 2.1, h-index 30.
How long does peer review take at Tribology Online?
Authors report an average review time of about 23 weeks. 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 Tribology Online based?
Of the 49 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 2%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Japan (39), United Kingdom (2) and India (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Tribology Online?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Tribology Online is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Tribology Online open access, and what is the APC?
Tribology Online is a diamond open-access journal (no APC). It charges no article processing charge.
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: .