The Journal of the Geological Society of Japan

The Journal of the Geological Society of Japan

Journal Scope

The Journal of the Geological Society of Japan (JGSJ) is issued monthly by the Geological Society of Japan (JGS) (established, 1893); the JGS is the largest society of its type in Japan, with approximately 4300 members. The JGSJ publishes original research papers in geology and related fields in the form of Articles (in Japanese, Ronsetsu) and Short Articles (Tanpou), and publishes reviews of research and technical advances as Review Articles (Sohsetsu) and Notes (Nohto); papers are published in either English or Japanese. The journal emphasizes the publication of original, novel, and widely applicable scientific results, techniques, theories, and ideas, and attaches great importance to descriptions of regional geology, both in Japan and internationally. The journal welcomes research papers concerned with natural resources, the environment, hazards, and geological education. To advance the quality of the journal and to ensure the timely publication of a rich variety of material, the journal is served by a full Editorial Board comprising numerous active researchers in a variety of fields.

Unique features of the journal

(1) Stable, high-quality publication
The JGSJ has been published continuously for over 110 years, since its inception in 1893; to date, the journal comprises 115 volumes and 1363 issues. The Editorial Board has recently been strengthened to ensure reliable publication of high-quality material (see point (4) below). In addition, all papers published since 1893 are freely available via the Internet, thereby providing worldwide access to a wealth of research information and data. For all papers, the journal provides English- and Japanese-language versions of the title, authors’ names and affiliations, abstract, keywords, and reference list, thus facilitating full access to the contents. The journal employs an on-line submission and peer-review system to maximize efficiency.
For the archiving of past issues of the journal and for the on-line submission and peer-review system mentioned above, the journal employs J-STAGE (the Japan Science and Technology Information Aggregator, Electronic), as established by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) (see http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/geosoc).

(2) International access
For all papers in JGSJ, English-language versions are provided for the title, authors’ names and affiliations, abstract, keywords, reference list, and captions and legends for the figures and tables, thereby providing access to readers worldwide. Since 2004, 14 papers (3.8% of the total) have addressed geoscience phenomena outside of Japan, and five foreign authors (1.3%) have published papers in the journal. When Pictorials are taken into account, these figures increase to 46 papers (12.4%) and 25 foreign authors (6.7%), respectively, suggesting the potential for further international contributions of full papers (Articles and Short Articles).

(3) Citations of journal papers, publishing authors, and the Editorial Board
The number of citations of JGSJ papers (as determined using the Cited Reference Search, Web of Science) has increased from approximately 10 per year in the 1960s to 60–80 per year or more in the 2000s. Most members of the Editorial Board are active researchers in one or more geoscience fields, and are at the forefront of their respective international communities. For special issues, members of the Editorial Board work together with guest editors during the review and publication process, thereby ensuring the timely publication of high-quality papers on specific topics.