Journal profile · Environmental Sciences
Vadose Zone Journal
ISSN 1539-1663 · Soil Science Society of America · UNITED STATES · Monthly · Founded 2002
Vadose Zone Journal: CAS Zone 3 · Earth Sciences (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.51; fully open access; APC about USD 3,440; median 176 days to acceptance (90 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: fairly easy; 80 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Vadose Zone Journal is published by Soil Science Society of America 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 Soil and Unsaturated Flow, Groundwater flow and contamination studies and Soil Moisture and Remote Sensing, together about 51.4% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
<em>Vadose Zone Journal</em> publishes interdisciplinary fundamental and applied research on the vadose zone, promoting science-based decision-making and sustainable management.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Environmental Sciences
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Soil and Unsaturated FlowEngineering23.5%
- Groundwater flow and contamination studiesEnvironmental Science18.1%
- Soil Moisture and Remote SensingEnvironmental Science9.8%
- Hydrology and Watershed Management StudiesEnvironmental Science5.6%
- Geophysical Methods and ApplicationsEngineering4.3%
- Geophysical and Geoelectrical MethodsEarth and Planetary Sciences3.8%
- Landslides and related hazardsEnvironmental Science3.6%
- Groundwater and Isotope GeochemistryEarth 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 | Environmental Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Soil Science | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Water Resources | 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 | Environmental Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Soil Science | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Water Resources | Zone 3 |
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 | Environmental Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Soil Science | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Water Resources | Zone 3 |
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
- 3.51LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.1LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 5.1Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.89LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.18LetPub ·
- h-index
- 70LetPub ·
- h-index
- 132OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 2,023OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.21OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 2.9%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 62LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 60Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 415,938Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 3,284 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 85 | 85 | 27 |
| 2025 | 80 | 80 | 210 |
| 2024 | 102 | 102 | 619 |
| 2023 | 69 | 69 | 533 |
| 2022 | 71 | 71 | 761 |
| 2021 | 91 | 91 | 1,426 |
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
176 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 126 days – 218 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 39 days (92 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 218 days
- Sample
- 90 articles with submission and acceptance dates (163 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 2 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly easyLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 51%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 51 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 150 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 34 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 30 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 3,440 / GBP 2,680 / EUR 3,060 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 3,070 / EUR 2,730 / GBP 2,390 | — | — |
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
- Soil Science Society of America
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Founded
- 2002
- ISSN
- 1539-1663
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗DOAJ
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗DOAJ
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Vadose Zone Journal
What CAS zone is Vadose Zone Journal in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Vadose Zone Journal is in Zone 3 of Earth Sciences, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Environmental Sciences / Soil Science / Water Resources. 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 Vadose Zone Journal?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.51; CiteScore 5.1, h-index 132.
How long does peer review take at Vadose Zone Journal?
Based on the dates recorded on 90 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 176 days (interquartile range 126–218 days); authors report an average review time of about 2 months; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly easy”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 51% (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 Vadose Zone Journal?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Vadose Zone Journal is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Vadose Zone Journal open access, and what is the APC?
Vadose Zone Journal is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,440.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .