Journal rankings · indicator year 2016
Choose a field to open its ranking, or a journal to find its row in its subfield’s list.
Subfield ranking · 2016
Paleontology journal rankings 2016
70 ranked journals · Subfield in Earth and Planetary Sciences
Paleontology has 70 ranked journals in 2016. The median journal has an OJR of 0.93, below the world average of 1.00, up 0.03 on 2015; Q1 starts at OJR 1.33. The top three are Cambridge Archaeological Journal, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, and Geobiology.
Ranks and citation indicators: 2016. Journal access status and listed APC: source snapshot September 23, 2026.
Journals whose main subfield sits in this category and that published at least 30 citable documents (articles, reviews and conference papers) in 2013–2015, the window the 2016 score is computed on.
The OpenJournalRank Indicator (OJR) is a free, publicly available metric of a journal’s field-normalized citation impact, computed from open OpenAlex citation data. It compares citations to a journal’s papers from the previous three years with the world average for papers of the same subfield, year and type, so 1.00 is the world average and values can be compared across fields. It is computed with the NCI3 method.
The middle OJR among ranked journals in this category: half score higher, half lower. 1.00 is the world average for papers of the same subfield, year and type.
The dot is this category, the solid tick is the median of all ranked journals and the dashed line is the world average.
Share of ranked journals in this category that are fully open access, so every paper is free to read. Hybrid journals, which sell subscriptions and open single papers for a fee, are not counted.
Median list price of the article processing charge, in US dollars, among ranked journals in this category that list a price above zero. Journals with a listed APC of $0 and journals with no known price are left out of this median. The At a glance table below gives a second median that includes the $0 prices.
Subfields of Earth and Planetary Sciences (8)
70 ranked journals
Filters
Rank is the position by OJR within the list on screen; 1 is the highest. | OJR is field-normalized 3-year citation impact: 1.00 is the world average for papers of the same subfield, year and type, so values compare across fields. The badge is the journal’s quartile in this list. | Citations per paper over a two-year window, counted from OpenAlex. It is not field-normalized, so compare it only between journals of the same field. ▲ or ▼ is the change from 2015. This is OpenJournalRank’s own count, not Clarivate’s Journal Impact Factor. | Citable documents (articles, reviews and conference papers) published in 2013–2015, the window the 2016 OJR is computed on. A journal needs at least 30 to be ranked. | Share of the journal’s 2013–2015 papers that are free to read in any open-access form. The green OA tag next to a title marks a fully open-access journal. | List price of the article processing charge in US dollars. “$0 listed” means the listed price is zero; a dash means no price is listed. | The line is the journal’s OJR from 2007 to 2016. | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1Cambridge Archaeological JournalCambridge University Press · United Kingdom | 2.38Q1 | 1.50 0.41 up from 2015 | 134 | 35% | $3,550 | ||
2Journal of Anthropological ArchaeologyElsevier BV · United States | 2.37Q1 | 2.41 0.10 down from 2015 | 158 | 40% | $3,370 | ||
3GeobiologyWiley · United Kingdom | 2.04Q1 | 3.73 0.45 down from 2015 | 122 | 23% | $4,880 | ||
4Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural HistoryAmerican Museum of Natural History · United States | 2.03Q1 | 3.94 0.36 down from 2015 | 33 | 100% | — | ||
5Norwegian Archaeological ReviewRoutledge · Norway | 1.92Q1 | 1.22 0.38 up from 2015 | 60 | 40% | — | ||
6Newsletters on StratigraphyGebrüder Borntraeger Verlagsbuchhandlung · Germany | 1.85Q1 | 3.09 0.52 up from 2015 | 43 | 29% | — | ||
7PalaeontologyWiley · United Kingdom | 1.76Q1 | 4.06 1.19 up from 2015 | 207 | 58% | $5,000 | ||
8PaleobiologyCambridge University Press · United Kingdom | 1.72Q1 | 2.81 0.26 down from 2015 | 148 | 35% | $3,550 | ||
9RadiocarbonCambridge University Press · United States | 1.64Q1 | 1.38 1.41 down from 2015 | 686 | 42% | $2,487 | ||
10Journal of Field ArchaeologyTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 1.56Q1 | 1.39 0.18 down from 2015 | 103 | 16% | — | ||
11Journal of Systematic PalaeontologyTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 1.47Q1 | 2.33 0.16 down from 2015 | 136 | 33% | — | ||
12American AntiquityCambridge University Press · United States | 1.47Q1 | 1.72 0.58 down from 2015 | 179 | 11% | $3,550 | ||
13AntiquityCambridge University Press · United Kingdom | 1.43Q1 | 1.10 0.06 up from 2015 | 530 | 33% | $3,550 | ||
14Journal of AnatomyWiley · United Kingdom | 1.41Q1 | 2.70 0.05 down from 2015 | 389 | 92% | $4,050 | ||
15PalaiosSociety for Sedimentary Geology · United States | 1.39Q1 | 2.35 0.43 up from 2015 | 201 | 19% | — | ||
16Journal of Archaeological Science ReportsElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 1.37Q1 | 1.45 0.63 up from 2015 | 285 | 39% | $2,910 | ||
17Vegetation History and ArchaeobotanySpringer Science+Business Media · Germany | 1.34Q1 | 2.35 0.50 up from 2015 | 156 | 32% | $3,790 | ||
18European Journal of ArchaeologyCambridge University Press · United Kingdom | 1.33Q1 | 0.97 0.10 down from 2015 | 95 | 32% | $3,550 | ||
19Journal of Vertebrate PaleontologyTaylor & Francis · United States | 1.28Q2 | 2.42 0.06 up from 2015 | 410 | 30% | — | ||
20Zoological Journal of the Linnean SocietyOxford University Press · United Kingdom | 1.26Q2 | 2.15 0.25 up from 2015 | 384 | 73% | $3,541 | ||
21LethaiaOAWiley · Norway | 1.18Q2 | 2.15 0.42 up from 2015 | 160 | 26% | $3,300 | ||
22Journal of Mammalian EvolutionSpringer Science+Business Media · Netherlands | 1.15Q2 | 2.06 0.03 down from 2015 | 93 | 26% | $3,790 | ||
23Environmental ArchaeologyTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 1.13Q2 | 1.57 0.20 up from 2015 | 101 | 29% | — | ||
24Journal of Iberian GeologySpringer International Publishing · Spain | 1.09Q2 | 2.12 0.23 down from 2015 | 62 | 100% | $3,190 | ||
25Comptes Rendus PalevolOAMuséum national d'histoire naturelle · France | 1.08Q2 | 1.72 0.31 up from 2015 | 225 | 47% | — | ||
26Journal of PalaeogeographyOAElsevier BV · China | 1.06Q2 | 1.38 1.25 up from 2015 | 41 | 100% | $1,500 | ||
27GeodiversitasOAMuséum national d'histoire naturelle · France | 1.03Q2 | 1.76 0.42 up from 2015 | 62 | 85% | — | ||
28Cretaceous ResearchElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 1.02Q2 | 2.06 0.25 down from 2015 | 474 | 25% | $3,560 | ||
29Palaeontologia ElectronicaOAUnited States | 1.02Q2 | 1.51 0.34 up from 2015 | 168 | 100% | — | ||
30Southeastern ArchaeologyTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 0.99Q2 | 1.13 0.76 up from 2015 | 78 | 0% | — | ||
31GeobiosElsevier BV · France | 0.97Q2 | 1.82 0.58 up from 2015 | 110 | 15% | $3,030 | ||
32The Paleontological Society PapersCambridge University Press · United States | 0.96Q2 | 1.50 0.11 up from 2015 | 39 | 43% | — | ||
33Proceedings of the Geologists AssociationElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 0.94Q2 | 1.66 0.52 down from 2015 | 160 | 11% | $3,300 | ||
34Journal of MorphologyWiley · United States | 0.93Q2 | 1.63 0.07 down from 2015 | 357 | 32% | $4,220 | ||
35FaciesSpringer Science+Business Media · Germany | 0.93Q2 | 1.40 0.37 down from 2015 | 100 | 41% | $2,490 | ||
36Journal of PaleontologyCambridge University Press · United States | 0.93Q3 | 1.65 0.06 down from 2015 | 326 | 34% | $3,550 | ||
37Ichnos/Ichnos : an international journal for plant and animal tracesTaylor & Francis · Switzerland | 0.89Q3 | 1.58 0.52 up from 2015 | 71 | 19% | — | ||
38Acta Palaeontologica PolonicaOAInstitute of Paleobiology · Poland | 0.88Q3 | 1.40 0.22 down from 2015 | 150 | 100% | $23 | ||
39The Anatomical RecordWiley · United States | 0.86Q3 | 1.72 0.09 up from 2015 | 610 | 71% | $4,430 | ||
40Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural HistoryUnited States | 0.84Q3 | 1.25 0.90 down from 2015 | 42 | 8% | — | ||
41Netherlands Journal of Geosciences – Geologie en MijnbouwCambridge University Press · United Kingdom | 0.84Q3 | 1.08 0.30 down from 2015 | 99 | 98% | $1,725 | ||
42Palaeobiodiversity and PalaeoenvironmentsSpringer Nature · Germany | 0.83Q3 | 1.36 0.34 down from 2015 | 102 | 32% | $3,190 | ||
43Bulletin of GeosciencesOACzechia | 0.83Q3 | 1.32 0.23 down from 2015 | 119 | 97% | — | ||
44Paläontologische ZeitschriftSpringer Nature · Germany | 0.83Q3 | 1.47 0.16 up from 2015 | 120 | 33% | $3,190 | ||
45Latin American AntiquityCambridge University Press · United States | 0.83Q3 | 0.87 0.22 down from 2015 | 100 | 22% | $3,550 | ||
46Alcheringa An Australasian Journal of PalaeontologyTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 0.76Q3 | 1.21 0.61 down from 2015 | 141 | 25% | — | ||
47Ancient MesoamericaCambridge University Press · United Kingdom | 0.74Q3 | 0.86 0.29 down from 2015 | 93 | 24% | $3,550 | ||
48Historical BiologyTaylor & Francis · Switzerland | 0.73Q3 | 1.15 0.54 down from 2015 | 279 | 26% | — | ||
49Annales de PaléontologieElsevier BV · France | 0.72Q3 | 1.09 0.03 up from 2015 | 77 | 16% | $2,800 | ||
50Swiss Journal of PalaeontologyOASpringer Nature · Switzerland | 0.70Q3 | 1.14 0.46 down from 2015 | 58 | 46% | $1,340 |
Subfields of Earth and Planetary Sciences, with Paleontology highlighted.
- Geophysics143
- Atmospheric Science90
- Paleontology70
- Oceanography55
- Geology16
- Earth-Surface Processes14
- Geochemistry and Petrology6
- Space and Planetary Science3
Journals
Citations made in 2016. Corpus-wide, 77.2% of core-journal articles and reviews published that year have at least one matched reference; the share varies by journal and field.
25 additional Paleontology journals with metrics are unranked under this release’s eligibility rules: a journal needs at least 30 citable documents in 2013–2015, at least 80% of them with a subfield, and a positive world-average expectation. Ranks are within the whole category; filters hide rows without re-ranking. OJR excludes self-citations.
At a glance
Indicator year: 2016. Publication window: 2013–2015. How these summaries are calculated
- Ranked journals
- 70
- Window papers (baseline)
- 17,958 +19.0% from indicator year 2013
- Median OJR
- 0.93 +14.3% from indicator year 2013
- Rising journals (2025)
- 5
Window papers are the baseline paper population: citable papers (articles, reviews and conference papers) from 2013–2015 in all journals of the world-average baseline, including non-core journals, counted by each paper’s own subfield. They are not the papers of the ranked journals alone.
| Measure | Year series | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranked journals | 53 | 53 | 54 | 53 | 53 | 51 | 53 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 66 | 66 | 69 | 71 | 71 | 70 | 73 | 76 | 77 | 76 | 78 | 78 | 77 | 73 | 77 | |
| Window papers (baseline) | 7,057 | 7,924 | 8,570 | 9,199 | 9,500 | 9,801 | 10,405 | 10,925 | 11,640 | 12,204 | 12,986 | 13,788 | 14,602 | 15,085 | 15,876 | 16,591 | 17,958 | 18,584 | 19,596 | 19,477 | 19,946 | 19,760 | 20,309 | 19,925 | 19,964 | 19,466 | |
| Median OJR | 0.75 | 0.61 | 0.619 | 0.63 | 0.620 | 0.708 | 0.660 | 0.65 | 0.69 | 0.715 | 0.7325 | 0.735 | 0.80 | 0.81 | 0.829 | 0.90 | 0.93 | 0.87 | 0.79 | 0.832 | 0.831 | 0.78 | 0.7318 | 0.68 | 0.657 | 0.64 |
How to read these rankings
- OJR, the OpenJournalRank Indicator
- A field-normalized 3-year citation impact, computed from OpenAlex with the NCI3 method. It divides the citations a journal’s papers received by the world average for papers of the same subfield, year and type, so 1.00 is the world average and 2.00 means twice as many citations as expected. Because it is normalized, it can be compared across fields. Read the methodology
- Quartiles
- Q1 to Q4 split the ranked journals of the list you are viewing into four equal groups by OJR. A journal’s quartile depends on the list: the same journal can be Q1 in its subfield and Q2 among all journals.
- Impact factor (2-year)
- Citations per paper over a two-year window, counted from OpenAlex. It is easy to compare with familiar impact factors but is not field-normalized, so compare it only within a field. It is not Clarivate’s Journal Impact Factor. Why it differs from the Journal Impact Factor
- Rank ranges
- Each rank in the latest year carries a likely range from 1,000 resamples of the journal’s papers. Where two journals’ ranges overlap, the data cannot tell them apart, so treat neighbouring ranks as ties.