For Authors
Publishing with AGU Journals
Our 24 peer reviewed journals welcome submissions from around the world. As a leading publisher in the scientific community, AGU has made it easier than ever for researchers to publish and reach the widest possible audience. All of our journals offer Open Access options, and our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) means that all accepted papers get published, regardless of the author's ability to pay.
Following our requirements, checklists, and guidelines properly can help ensure a timely submission and peer review process. For help, please contact the journal staff or [email protected] for general questions.
Publication Requirements
In addition to meeting the requirements outlined, all authors are expected to adhere to our publication policies and ethical guidelines when submitting a manuscript. All new data and software for submissions should be placed into community-accepted, trusted repositories (not in supporting information).
- All listed authors must agree to be an author, read the final manuscript, approve of the order of authors, and meet our authorship criteria.
- Authors affirm that the manuscript is an original contribution. Any parts taken from previously published content are appropriately referenced and quoted.
- Authors have received permission to use or reuse any copyrighted material and data presented in the manuscript.
- Authors affirm the manuscript is not and will not be submitted anywhere else while under consideration by an AGU journal.
- Authors will disclose if any other manuscripts related to their submission are under consideration by other journals during the editorial process.
- Authors agree to comply with our publication policies.
Please be aware that publishing in some journals may incur publication fees. To ensure that availability of funding is not a barrier to publishing, AGU provides various funding support for our authors, including full waivers.
Preparing your manuscript for submission
Our checklists and templates are available below to assist you in preparing your manuscript. Papers may also be submitted directly using the cloud-based authoring tools Overleaf, Curvenote, and Authorea. If you use any of the templates, the metadata from the paper will be automatically loaded into our submission system when you upload the manuscript file. Please review the paper types for additional requirements.
- Submission checklists (new manuscripts, supporting information, and revised or resubmitted manuscripts)
- Template for manuscript (Microsoft Word and LaTeX). Guidelines for LaTeX submissions
- Template for supporting information (Microsoft Word and LaTeX)
Paper Types
The formula for publication units (PU) = number of words/500 + number of figures + number of tables. Word count includes abstract, text, in-text citations, figure captions, and appendices. Word count excludes title, author list and affiliations, plain-language summary, text inside the table, Open Research section, references, and supporting information.
Quick Links
Research articles present fully developed analysis, results, and discussion on topics within the scope of the journal. They are expected to present new theories and novel concepts along with their applications, and the results should be significant. Although there is no length limit, AGU encourages clarity and conciseness. We charge excess length fees for manuscripts longer than 25 publication units. Research articles are handled by the editorial staff of the journal and are sent to multiple reviewers. Research articles are not accepted in Geophysical Research Letters.
After Acceptance
Your accepted paper will be sent to AGU’s publishing partner, Wiley, for production (copyediting, typesetting, proofreading, and publication) and copyright/license signing. The typical process takes 15 working days for Geophysical Research Letters and 22 working days for all other journals. You will be communicating with Wiley directly throughout the process.
You will be asked to review the proofs and submit corrections prior to publication of the paper (the version of record) on the journal’s website. Please respond promptly to your proofs to ensure quick publication. Once a paper is accepted, it will be considered a final manuscript. When receiving proofs, please note that only critical changes (i.e., major proofing errors) should be made to the proofs. Any changes of a technical or substantive nature that affects the science will need to be reviewed for the editor’s approval.
Your published paper will receive a digital object identifier (DOI). This DOI will be 10.1029/XXXXXXXXXXXX, where the 12-digit suffix is your paper’s manuscript number without trailing Rs or Ts.
AGU’s self-archiving policy allows sharing of the accepted manuscript to an institutional repository or personal and departmental website without embargo. Authors are also encouraged to post their accepted manuscript as a preprint to Earth and Space Science Open Archive or update their preprint if the original submission was already shared via AGU journals’ submission system (GEMS).
For production questions, please reach out to the production editors.
After your paper is accepted, you will receive an email to complete the copyright licensing process electronically on the Wiley Author Services dashboard.
- If you are publishing your paper as a subscription article (not open access), you will be asked to sign a Copyright Transfer Agreement to transfer rights to AGU.
- If you are publishing your paper as an open access article, you will be asked to sign an open access agreement with a Creative Commons license that allows you to keep the copyright.
For more information on copyright and licensing, please visit the Wiley Author Services guidance.
You can find more information about AGU’s permissions policy, including the rights granted to authors, here.
Sharing your work is an important part of the research process. Once your paper is published online, please
- Post to your social media accounts. Please tag AGU’s main, or journal specific (if they exist), account handles and use #AGUPubs so that we can amplify your post.
- Email your colleagues, employer, and friends so they can promote your science through their own channels.
- Post your article to your institutional repository.
- Notify AGU’s press office ([email protected]) if your institution is planning a press release.
- Complete a publicity request to let us know what you think is interesting about your research and how it will shape future research or understanding in this field.
