Journal of Climate
Journal of Climate (commonly abbreviated as ''J. Clim.') is a peer-reviewed journal in climatology published by the American Meteorological Society. It was founded in 1988, focuses on the dynamics and physics of the climate system on large spatial scales, and recorded a 2025 impact factor of 4.3.Journal of Climate（常用缩写 J. Clim.）是美国气象学会（American Meteorological Society）出版的同行评审气候学刊物，创刊于 1988 年，聚焦大尺度上气候系统的动力学与物理过程，2025 年影响因子为 4.3。[1]
Scope
- Disciplinary focus: original research that advances basic understanding of the dynamics and physics of the climate system on large spatial scales, rather than regional or local weather phenomena.学科定位： 刊发推进对气候系统动力学与物理基础认识的原创研究，重点处理大尺度问题，而非区域或局地天气现象。
- Variability and change: variability of the atmosphere, oceans, land surface and cryosphere, together with past, present and projected future changes in the climate system.变率与变化： 涵盖大气的变率、海洋的变率、陆面与冰冻圈的变率，以及气候系统过去、现在与预测未来的变化；
- Simulation and prediction: work on climate modelling and climate prediction, with an emphasis on the evaluation of modelling methods and on attribution analysis.模拟与预测： 刊发气候模拟与气候预测方面的研究，重视模式方法的评估与可归因性分析。
- Article types and length: research articles are limited to 7500 words and over-length submissions require a justification approved by the Chief Editor. Reviews, Comment and Reply exchanges and Corrigenda are also accepted. A review requires a prior review proposal, and a Comment must be submitted within two years of the original article.体裁与篇幅： 研究论文正文上限为 7500 词，超出须向主编说明理由并获得批准；另设综述、评论与答复、更正等体裁，其中综述须先提交综述提案，评论须在原文发表后两年内提交。
- Open access: the journal is subscription-based, but since January 2017 all articles have been made freely available one year after final publication. Authors may instead pay an open-access fee to make an article immediately available.开放获取： 属订阅型刊物，自 2017 年 1 月起一律于正式出版满一年后免费开放全文，作者亦可付费选择开放获取选项使文章立即开放。[2]
History
- 1982: the Society first launched Journal of Climate and Applied Meteorology, whose opening issue carried a special section on drought, marking the point at which climate entered the Society's publishing programme as a topic in its own right.1982年： 学会先创办 Journal of Climate and Applied Meteorology，首期即以干旱为专题，这是气候作为独立议题进入学会出版布局的开端。
- 1988: reflecting the rapid growth of climate research, the Society founded Journal of Climate as a new title, while Journal of Climate and Applied Meteorology reverted to the name Journal of Applied Meteorology and the two journals took on distinct roles.1988年： 鉴于气候研究领域迅速壮大，学会新创办 Journal of Climate，原刊随即回归 Journal of Applied Meteorology 的刊名与定位，两刊自此分工明确。
- The 1990s to the 2010s: the journal established itself as one of the most widely cited climate titles in the atmospheric sciences, with a publication frequency settled at twenty-four issues per year.1990年代至2010年代： 期刊影响力稳步上升，成为大气科学中被引最广的气候专刊之一，出版频次维持在每年二十四期的水平。
- January 2017: the Society shortened the embargo on its journals from two years to one and moved to applying it article by article, so that work outside the scope of funder mandates became accessible on the same one-year timeline.2017年1月： 学会将旗下期刊的延迟开放期由两年缩短为一年，并改为逐篇适用，使受资助条件限制之外的论文同样能在一年内开放。
- The 2020s: the impact factor reached 5.38 in 2021 before falling back to 4.3 in 2025 as the field fluctuated, with the journal continuing to hold its core position in large-scale climate physics.2020年代： 2021 年影响因子曾达 5.38，其后随领域整体波动回落至 2025 年的 4.3，期刊继续以大尺度气候物理为核心定位。[3]
Editors
- Co-Chief Editors: the journal is currently led by Isla Simpson of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and Darryn Waugh of the Johns Hopkins University, who share responsibility for acceptance decisions.共同主编： 现任两位共同主编为 Isla Simpson（任职于大学大气研究联盟）与 Darryn Waugh（任职于约翰斯·霍普金斯大学），共同决定录用。
- Editors: more than twenty further editors are drawn from universities and national laboratories in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, Switzerland and Japan, covering atmospheric circulation, oceans, land surface, cryosphere and climate modelling.编辑： 另设二十余位编辑，分属美国、英国、加拿大、澳大利亚、德国、瑞士、日本等国高校与国家实验室，涵盖大气环流、海洋、陆面、冰冻圈与气候模式各方向。
- Associate editors: close to a hundred associate editors serve on the journal, affiliated with institutions including the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University, Fudan University, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhejiang University and the Ocean University of China, as well as the Met Office, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.副编辑： 副编辑近百人，来源包括中国科学院、清华大学、复旦大学、中山大学、浙江大学、中国海洋大学等机构，以及英国气象局、美国国家海洋和大气管理局、荷兰阿姆斯特丹自由大学等境外单位。
- Submission and workflow: manuscripts are submitted through the Society's online system and screened by the Chief Editors before being assigned to an editor or associate editor, and acceptance follows peer review, with dedicated peer-review support staff assisting the process.投稿与流程： 稿件经学会在线系统提交，由主编初审后分派给编辑或副编辑，再经同行评审决定录用，另设同行评审支持人员协助处理流程。[4]