Physics and Astronomy journals by time to acceptance (2025)
27 journals with 2025 figures · median days from submission to acceptance, measured from PubMed dates · data as of Sep 15, 2026
Sorted by median days from submission to acceptance in 2025. Faster is not better — this is a planning aid, not a ranking of quality. Click a column to re-sort.
| Open access | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entropy | 41 (30–56) | 1,261 | 3 | ≈$3,178 | Open access (DOAJ) | 0.13 |
| The Journal of Chemical Physics | 74 (56–95) | 2,282 | — | ≈$3,500 | Hybrid | 0.0 |
| Journal of Computational Chemistry | 82 (53–113) | 258 | — | ≈$4,520 | — | 0.0 |
| Technical Innovations & Patient Support in Radiation Oncology | 92 (76–120) | 69 | 3 | $1,410 | Open access (DOAJ) | 0.0 |
| The European Physical Journal C | 94 (69–131) | 58 | 20 | No fee (DOAJ) | Open access (DOAJ) | 0.0 |
| Chaos An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science | 96 (65–135) | 650 | — | — | Hybrid | 0.0 |
| Journal of Physics Condensed Matter | 98 (73–136) | 546 | 13 | ≈$3,325 | Hybrid | 0.0 |
| ACS Photonics | 99 (75–131) | 108 | 11 | ≈$4,500 | Hybrid | 0.0 |
| Journal of Synchrotron Radiation | 105 (81–148) | 161 | 36 | $2,750 | Open access (DOAJ) | 0.0 |
| Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences | 109 (77–162) | 170 | — | — | Hybrid | 0.0 |
| Journal of Medical Physics | 109 (77–144) | 97 | 71 | No fee (DOAJ) | Open access (DOAJ) | 0.0 |
| Medical dosimetry | 112 (80–162) | 57 | 35 | ≈$2,500 | — | 0.0 |
| Applied Radiation and Isotopes | 117 (71–188) | 656 | 1 | ≈$3,220 | Hybrid | 0.44 |
| Review of Scientific Instruments | 123 (93–162) | 773 | — | — | Hybrid | 0.43 |
| Physics in Medicine and Biology | 123 (97–161) | 556 | 14 | ≈$3,325 | Hybrid | 0.0 |
| Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics | 131 (102–176) | 426 | 33 | $1,010 | Open access (DOAJ) | 0.0 |
| Physical review. E | 137 (98–200) | 1,897 | — | — | Hybrid | 0.22 |
| Ultramicroscopy | 145 (96–209) | 118 | 1 | ≈$3,760 | Hybrid | 0.0 |
| Physics and Imaging in Radiation Oncology | 149 (112–201) | 197 | 4 | $2,080 | Open access (DOAJ) | 0.0 |
| Reports on Progress in Physics | 151 (107–224) | 97 | 17 | ≈$4,680 | — | 0.0 |
| Light Science & Applications | 163 (130–200) | 379 | 51 | $4,290 | Open access (DOAJ) | 0.0 |
| Physica Medica | 175 (132–239) | 269 | 9 | ≈$2,780 | Hybrid | 0.85 |
| Medical Physics | 177 (127–226) | 743 | 19 | ≈$3,360 | Hybrid | 0.3 |
| Communications Physics | 177 (131–241) | 64 | 22 | $4,190 | Open access (DOAJ) | — |
| Physical Review Letters | 178 (128–247) | 2,928 | — | ≈$3,750 | Hybrid | 0.17 |
| Nature Materials | 300 (206–434) | 206 | 40 | ≈$12,690 | Hybrid | 0.0 |
| Nature | 320 (222–451) | 1,262 | 42 | ≈$12,690 | Hybrid | 1.39 |
Journals are listed where at least 25% of their articles' topics fall in Physics and Astronomy (OpenAlex).
Latest available year: 2024
1 journal without enough usable 2025 data. Their 2024 figures are shown separately so they are never compared with 2025 figures.
| Open access | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nanophotonics | 71 (52–91) | 360 | 17 | $3,500 | Open access (DOAJ) | 0.0 |
Latest available year: 2022
3 journals without enough usable 2025 data. Their 2022 figures are shown separately so they are never compared with 2025 figures.
| Open access | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proceedings of the Royal Society A Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences | 119 (85–180) | 57 | 34 | — | Hybrid | — |
| Journal of Geophysical Research Space Physics | 131 (94–168) | 54 | 19 | ≈$4,070 | Hybrid | — |
| Social Network Analysis and Mining | 157 (124–207) | 63 | 25 | ≈$3,190 | — | — |
Latest available year: 2021
3 journals without enough usable 2025 data. Their 2021 figures are shown separately so they are never compared with 2025 figures.
| Open access | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results in Physics | 63 (38–112) | 101 | 13 | $2,210 | Open access (DOAJ) | — |
| Chaos Solitons & Fractals | 92 (52–137) | 71 | 11 | ≈$3,970 | — | — |
| Nonlinear Dynamics | 139 (94–186) | 75 | 20 | ≈$4,790 | — | — |
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Which Physics and Astronomy journals accepted papers fastest in 2025?
Among 27 Physics and Astronomy journals with enough dated articles in 2025, the shortest median time from submission to acceptance was 41 days (Entropy). The middle journal's median was 123 days. Speed is not a measure of quality; check scope, indexing and fees too.
How are these times measured?
From the submission and acceptance dates publishers deposit in PubMed, for accepted articles only. Each journal needs at least 50 dated articles in the year shown, and a table headed with a year contains only that year's figures.
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Data sources. Submission, acceptance and publication dates: Courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (PubMed, entries through Sep 15, 2026). NLM does not endorse Journal Clock, and these figures may not reflect the most current PubMed data. Journal fees and open-access listing: DOAJ (CC0, retrieved Sep 16, 2026). Fees paid by institutions: OpenAPC (Open Database License, retrieved Sep 16, 2026). Retractions: Retraction Watch Database via Crossref (retrieved Sep 16, 2026). Journal identifiers and topics: OpenAlex (CC0). Currency conversion: ECB reference rates (Sep 15, 2026). How these numbers are calculated · For organisations.