Vadose Zone Journal

Vadose Zone Journal (commonly abbreviated as Vadose Zone J.) is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Wiley on behalf of the Soil Science Society of America, established in August 2002 and issued bimonthly. Electronic-only since launch and fully open access since 2018, it publishes original research on vadose zone science and critical zone science.《包气带杂志》（Vadose Zone Journal，常用缩写为 Vadose Zone J.）是一份由美国土壤科学学会（Soil Science Society of America）主办、威立出版代为出版的同行评审学术期刊，2002 年 8 月创刊，双月刊。该刊自创刊起即为纯电子刊，自 2018 年起转为完全开放获取，刊载包气带科学与关键带科学的原创研究。

Scope

The journal takes the vadose zone itself as its object of study, treating the critical zone between the land surface and the saturated zone below as an independent scientific subject. It accepts deep work within a single discipline as well as cross-disciplinary combinations, and requires that the physical, chemical or biological processes discussed be generalisable beyond a single site. Its principal subject areas include:本刊的取稿立场是「以包气带本身为研究对象」，即把地表以下至饱和含水带以上的关键带作为独立的科学客体，既接受单一学科的纵深研究，也鼓励跨学科方法交叉，并要求论文所讨论的物理、化学或生物过程具备超出单一场地的可推广性。收文覆盖的主要方向包括：

• Unsaturated flow and transport: water flux in the unsaturated zone, solute and heat transport, and the theory and numerical modelling of preferential flow and dispersion.非饱和水流与运移： 非饱和带水流通量方程、溶质与热量运移、优先流与弥散的理论与数值建模。
• Monitoring and geophysical sensing: soil moisture and water quality monitoring, ground penetrating radar, dielectric and electrical conductivity measurement, and resistivity imaging methods.监测与地球物理探测： 土壤水分与水质监测、探地雷达、介电与电导率测定以及电阻率成像方法。
• Biogeochemical processes: carbon and nitrogen cycling, contaminant transport and remediation, and microbially driven transformations as they couple within the vadose zone.生物地球化学过程： 碳氮循环、污染物迁移与修复、微生物驱动的转化及其在包气带中的耦合。
• Soil-plant-atmosphere continuum: root water uptake, evapotranspiration, crop water use, and support for agricultural geophysical management.土壤-植物-大气连续体： 根系吸水、蒸散发、作物水分利用与农业地球物理管理支撑。
• Methodology and parameter inversion: hydraulic parameter estimation, model identifiability and uncertainty quantification, and remote-sensing retrieval of surface water elements.方法学与参数反演： 水力参数估计、模型可辨识性与不确定性量化，以及遥感反演地表水要素。

The journal runs two distinctive article types. Updates provide systematic restatements of recent progress in a given area, while Priority Communications disseminate emerging topics rapidly in short form. The publisher states an official acceptance rate of 51 per cent and a median of 51 days from submission to first decision, a figure that includes editorial screening and technical review. No separate external review period is published.期刊设有两类特色体裁：一是综述更新（Updates），用于系统重述某个方向的最新进展；二是优先通讯（Priority Communications），以短篇形式快速传播新兴话题。出版方官方公布本刊录用率为 51%，投稿至首次决定的中位时间为 51 天，该口径包含编辑部初筛与技术审查；出版方不单独公布外审周期。

History

• Founding (2002): the first volume and issue appeared in August 2002, with Rien van Genuchten as founding editor. His inaugural statement argued for a common home for research on all the physical, chemical and biological aspects of the vadose zone, and for multidisciplinary work in particular.创刊（2002年）： 本刊于 2002 年 8 月出版第 1 卷第 1 期，创刊主编为里恩·范格努赫滕（Rien van Genuchten），其创刊词主张为包气带物理、化学与生物学各方面的研究、尤其是多学科研究提供一个共同家园。^[1]
• Publisher history: for many years the journal was self-published by the Soil Science Society of America and distributed through the society's digital library. From 1 January 2020 production and typesetting passed to Wiley, with the society remaining sponsor and rights holder, so the relationship is publication on the society's behalf. The library's record that Wiley published it from the outset is inaccurate.出版方沿革： 创刊后长期由美国土壤科学学会自行出版，经学会数字图书馆平台发行；自 2020 年 1 月 1 日起，排版与生产移交威立出版，学会仍为主办方与版权方，双方为「代学会出版」关系。库内所记「自创刊起即由威立出版」不准确。^[2]
• Open access transition (2018): the journal moved from subscription to fully open access on 1 January 2018, among the earliest of the society family to complete the transition and ahead of the Plan S deadline of 2021. The twentieth anniversary editorial lists this conversion and Plan S as the journal's two defining milestones.开放获取转型（2018年）： 该刊自 2018 年 1 月 1 日起由订阅制转为完全开放获取，是三会系列刊物中最早完成转型者之一，时间早于 Plan S 的 2021 年时限要求；20 周年社论将此次转型与 Plan S 并列为该刊的两大里程碑。^[1]
• Frequency evolution: the journal's frequency has changed repeatedly over its history. It was quarterly from 2003 to 2013, reached twelve issues a year between 2014 and 2016, was consolidated into a single issue during 2018 to 2020 under continuous publication, and has settled at bimonthly with six issues to one volume since 2021.刊期演变： 该刊历史上刊期多变，2003 至 2013 年为季刊，2014 至 2016 年一度达到每年十二期，2018 至 2020 年因连续出版合并为单期，2021 年起稳定为双月刊，每年六期一卷。^[3]
• Indexing fluctuation: in the year the publishing platform changed, a shift in how records were pushed meant the journal was briefly absent from Web of Science. After its return in 2021 the impact factor rose to 3.289, before settling at 3.5 in 2025.索引波动： 出版权移交平台当年，因数据推送方式变化，该刊一度未被 Web of Science 收录，2021 年恢复后影响因子反升至 3.289，随后回落至 2025 年的 3.5。^[4]
• Author base: the society reports that roughly three quarters of the work published in the journal comes from authors outside the United States, an unusually international profile among the society family.作者构成： 学会统计显示约四分之三的发表成果来自美国以外作者，国际化程度在三会系列刊物中相当突出。^[5]
• Serial number and licence: the journal has been electronic-only from launch, with the single online serial number 1539-1663 serving as both print and electronic number. The default licence is CC BY-NC-ND, with CC BY available on request, and the article processing charge is US$3,440.刊号与许可： 本刊自创刊即纯电子，没有独立印刷刊号，在线刊号 1539-1663 同时作为印刷与电子号使用；默认许可为 CC BY-NC-ND，可申请改为 CC BY，文章处理费为 3440 美元。^[6]

Editors

The journal operates under a single editor, appointed by the society for a three-year term with the possibility of reappointment. The editorial board is deliberately international, which underpins the journal's high proportion of non-US authors. Manuscripts are submitted through the ScholarOne Manuscripts system.本刊实行主编负责制，主编经三会任命，任期三年且可连任；编委会强调国际构成，这是该刊非美国籍作者比例偏高的制度基础。稿件经 ScholarOne Manuscripts 系统投递。

• Venkataraman (Venkat) Lakshmi (editor since 2023): John L. Newcomb Professor of Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Virginia, reappointed to a second three-year term covering 2026 to 2028. His research concerns satellite remote sensing of hydrology and water resources under climate change.文卡特拉曼·拉克什米（2023年起任，现任）： 弗吉尼亚大学土木与环境工程系约翰·纽科姆工程讲席教授，2026 至 2028 年获连任第二个三年任期，研究方向为卫星遥感观测水文与气候变化下的水资源。^[7]
• Markus Flury (2019–2022): professor at the Washington State University Puyallup Research and Extension Center, whose tenure oversaw the 2020 move of the publishing platform to Wiley and the consolidation of open access.马库斯·弗鲁里（2019–2022）： 华盛顿州立大学皮尤拉普研究与推广中心教授，任内主导了 2020 年出版平台向威立的移交与开放获取的稳定运行。^[3]
• Rien van Genuchten (founding editor from 2002): the founding editor and a leading figure in the theory of unsaturated flow and transport and in parameter estimation methods, whose soil hydraulic parameter models remain in wide use today.里恩·范格努赫滕（2002年起任，创刊）： 本刊创刊主编，非饱和水流运移理论与参数估计方法的代表性学者，其建立的土壤水力参数模型至今仍被广泛使用。^[1]
• International board: the society describes the journal as having a diverse international editorial board, the institutional basis for its high share of cross-border authorship. The office also uses multimedia formats such as video summaries to improve the accessibility of published content.国际编委会： 学会称本刊拥有一支多元的国际编委会，构成其跨国作者比例的制度基础；编辑部另采用视频摘要等多媒体形式以提升内容可达性。^[5]
• Standing in the field: the journal's most-cited papers span modelling, ground penetrating radar, dielectric and electrical conductivity measurement, parameter inversion and soil moisture monitoring, a direct picture of its interdisciplinary reach, and it stands as a representative title in vadose zone and critical zone science.学科地位： 本刊被最高引的论文横跨建模、探地雷达、介电与电导率测定、参数反演与土壤水分监测等主题，直观呈现其跨学科覆盖面，是包气带与关键带科学方向的代表性刊物。^[1]