Journal of Climate

Journal of Climate
source
Title	Journal of Climate
Discipline	Climate science
Abbreviation	J. Clim.
Publisher	American Meteorological Society
Country	United States
History	1988–present
Frequency	Biweekly

Journal of Climate is a peer-reviewed scientific periodical focusing on atmospheric and climate research, published by the American Meteorological Society. It covers observational studies, theoretical analyses, and modeling efforts that address climate variability, climate change, and interactions among the Earth system, atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, and biosphere. The journal publishes research that informs policy discussions such as those at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and contributes to assessments linked to international agreements like the Paris Agreement and scientific assessments by organizations including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the World Meteorological Organization.

History

The journal was established in 1988 by the American Meteorological Society as a venue to consolidate advances emerging from institutions such as Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Early volumes reflected research trajectories set by landmark programs like the International Geophysical Year and large field campaigns coordinated with agencies such as NOAA and NASA. Influential authors published in the journal have included researchers affiliated with MIT, Princeton University, Columbia University, University of Washington, and University of Cambridge. Over time, editorial policy evolved in response to debates framed at forums like the Rio Earth Summit and guidance from advisory bodies including the U.S. Global Change Research Program and panels convened by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Scope and Topics

The journal accepts manuscripts addressing physical processes and feedbacks involving the atmosphere and ocean—for example, studies on El Niño–Southern Oscillation, North Atlantic Oscillation, Pacific Decadal Oscillation, and monsoon dynamics relating to regions such as Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Southern Ocean. Contributions include numerical modeling work using frameworks from centers such as European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, Met Office Hadley Centre, and the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, alongside observational analyses utilizing platforms like Argo (oceanography), TOPEX/Poseidon, GOES, and polar programs in Antarctica and Greenland. Thematic coverage spans radiative forcing topics tied to greenhouse gas trajectories examined by agencies like IPCC chapters, aerosol–cloud interactions scrutinized in studies by teams at Max Planck Institute for Meteorology and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and paleoclimate reconstructions informed by collaborators at Smithsonian Institution and Max Planck Institute for Chemistry.

Editorial Board and Peer Review

The editorial structure comprises an editor-in-chief supported by associate editors and an international editorial board with scholars from institutions including University of California, Berkeley, Yale University, Harvard University, University of Oxford, and Peking University. Peer review is single- or double-blind depending on policy changes that have referenced practices at journals like Nature Climate Change and Geophysical Research Letters. The board manages submissions through standards aligned with organizations such as the Committee on Publication Ethics and coordinates special issues in partnership with societies including the American Geophysical Union and research programs such as CLIVAR and GEWEX. Editorial decisions often reflect community priorities expressed at conferences like the American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting and symposia hosted by European Geosciences Union.

Publication and Access

Published on a biweekly schedule, the journal distributes issues in print and digital formats via the publisher's platform and aggregators used by libraries at University of California, University of British Columbia, University of Tokyo, and national libraries including the Library of Congress. Access models have ranged from subscription-based arrangements to hybrid open-access options comparable to policies at publishers such as Wiley and Elsevier. The journal participates in indexing services like Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed-adjacent catalogs, and it adheres to data-sharing expectations similar to mandates from funders such as the National Science Foundation and the European Research Council.

Impact and Reception

The journal is widely cited in interdisciplinary assessments including reports by IPCC Working Groups and in policy-relevant syntheses used by institutions such as the World Bank and the United Nations Environment Programme. Its articles have influenced modeling efforts at centers like NOAA GFDL and ECMWF and informed observational campaigns coordinated with NASA missions. Reception among scholars is reflected in citation metrics tracked by Journal Citation Reports and discussions appearing in venues such as Science, Nature, and discipline-specific outlets like Journal of Geophysical Research. Debates arising from high-profile articles have intersected with controversies around attribution studies, paleoclimate interpretations, and projections used in scenario planning exercises led by IPCC and national agencies.

Category:Climatology journals Category:American Meteorological Society academic journals