Geo-spatial Information Science

Geo-spatial Information Science is an international, peer-reviewed, Gold Open Access scholarly journal established in 1998 by Wuhan University and co-published globally in partnership with Taylor & Francis Group. Covering advanced research across surveying, photogrammetry, remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), cartography, and satellite geodesy, the journal holds a 2024–2026 Journal Impact Factor of 5.4 and an Elsevier Scopus CiteScore of 10.2, positioning it firmly in Quartile 1 (Q1) within earth and planetary sciences. Authors and academic institutions evaluate the journal for its rapid peer-review cycle, format-free initial submission policy, and full indexing across Clarivate Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).

What Geo-spatial Information Science is and its institutional history

The academic journal Geo-spatial Information Science (GSIS; pISSN 1009-5020, eISSN 1993-5153) was founded in 1998 in Wuhan, China. Its institutional origin lies within the historic Wuhan Technical University of Surveying and Mapping (WTUSM), an institution widely recognized internationally as one of the world’s most productive research hubs for geodetic engineering and spatial information science. Following the national higher-education restructuring in 2000, WTUSM was integrated into Wuhan University, which continues to serve as the journal’s foundational host institution.

To expand the international reach and dissemination of the journal’s peer-reviewed output, Wuhan University partnered with Informa UK / Taylor & Francis Group. Under this co-publishing arrangement, editorial management and scientific leadership remain anchored at Wuhan University, while Taylor & Francis administers global hosting on Taylor & Francis Online, digital dissemination, preservation pipelines, and international indexing compliance. In addition, the journal is indexed and hosted across prominent domestic scholarly infrastructure, including the SciOpen platform operated by Tsinghua University Press.

The journal’s editorial leadership is directed by Editor-in-Chief Professor Deren Li, an internationally renowned scientist in photogrammetry, remote sensing, and geomatics who holds dual academician appointments in the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering. The international editorial board includes leading scholars across North America, Europe, and Asia, ensuring that submissions undergo rigorous scientific scrutiny adhering to established international standards for Taylor & Francis peer-reviewed publications.

Researchers often distinguish the journal from the broader term ‘geo-spatial information science’ (commonly abbreviated as GIScience). While GIScience denotes the general academic discipline exploring the theoretical foundations of geographic information, spatial data structures, and spatial cognition, Geo-spatial Information Science refers specifically to this dedicated English-language research periodical.

Aims, scope, and accepted article types

Geo-spatial Information Science publishes original research, comprehensive reviews, and technical developments advancing both the theoretical foundations and applied engineering aspects of spatial data capture, processing, and analysis. The journal explicitly prioritizes interdisciplinary contributions where geospatial methodologies intersect with artificial intelligence, computer vision, environmental observation, and high-performance computing.

The primary thematic pillars covered within the journal’s defined scope include:

• Photogrammetry and Computer Vision: Multi-view 3D reconstruction, digital elevation model (DEM) generation, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery triangulation, close-range photogrammetry, and automated point cloud classification.
• Remote Sensing Systems and Image Processing: Optical, hyperspectral, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data analysis; satellite constellation calibration; land cover change detection; and environmental monitoring across terrestrial, atmospheric, and marine ecosystems.
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Spatial Data Science: Spatial algorithms, spatial indexing, spatial big data architectures, spatio-temporal data mining, trajectory analysis, and urban computing.
• Geodesy, Navigation, and Positioning: Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS, including GPS, BeiDou, Galileo, and GLONASS), precise point positioning (PPP), real-time kinematics (RTK), physical geodesy, gravity field modeling, and crustal movement monitoring.
• Cartography and Geovisualization: Dynamic map generation, 3D geographic digital twins, virtual geographic environments (VGE), thematic mapping, and visual analytics for spatial decision-support systems.
• Engineering Surveying and Geotechnical Mapping: High-precision infrastructure monitoring, tunnel and bridge deformation surveillance, mining subsidence mapping, and geophysical sensor integration.

The journal accepts three distinct categories of contributions: Original Research Articles presenting substantial, unreported empirical or theoretical findings; Review Articles synthesizing recent technological progressions and outlining critical research gaps; and Data Notes or Technical Notes detailing validated open-access benchmark datasets, novel sensor rigs, or reproducible scientific software tools.

Journal metrics, indexing status, and citation performance

Bibliographic metrics provide prospective authors with verifiable data on citation velocity, reach, and academic recognition. Geo-spatial Information Science is indexed in all major global citation databases and abstracting services, reflecting high editorial and production standards.

In Clarivate’s Web of Science, GSIS is indexed in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE). Its Journal Impact Factor (JIF) stands at 5.4, complemented by a 5-Year Impact Factor of 6.1. In Journal Citation Reports (JCR), this places the journal in the top tier of its category, aligning with Quartile 1 benchmarks. Understanding how citation windows influence these evaluations is detailed in CASRAI’s analysis of Journal Impact Factor quartile rankings.

In Elsevier’s Scopus database, the journal achieves a CiteScore of 10.2. In Scopus subject category assessments, GSIS ranks in Quartile 1 (Q1) for both Computers in Earth Sciences and Geography, Planning and Development. Similarly, the SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) metric measures the journal at 1.304, indicating strong citation prestige per citable document.

Open-access and catalog indexing is similarly comprehensive. The journal has been cataloged in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) since 1998, confirming adherence to open-access best practices. It is cataloged by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM Catalog ID 101595492, abbreviated as Geo Spat Inf Sci) and registered in Crossref with more than 1,730 persistent Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs). OpenAlex scholarly metadata records over 1,780 indexed works with more than 22,800 total citations, reflecting a two-year mean citedness of 5.81 and an h-index of 64.

Open access model, licensing options, and publishing fees

Geo-spatial Information Science operates under a fully Gold open access publishing model. Under Gold Open Access, every research paper, review, and dataset note is made freely, permanently, and universally accessible online immediately upon publication, without subscription firewalls, registration gates, or embargo periods.

Authors retain copyright over their intellectual work while granting the publisher a license to publish. Authors select from standard Creative Commons licensing frameworks during the post-acceptance production stage:

• CC BY 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International): Permits users to copy, distribute, transmit, and adapt the work for any purpose, including commercial uses, provided the original authors and publication source are properly credited. This license satisfies mandates from major international funding agencies including Plan S, Horizon Europe, and the UKRI.
• CC BY-NC 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International): Allows non-commercial reuse, distribution, and adaptation with attribution, while reserving commercial exploitation rights.

To sustain editorial infrastructure, platform hosting, digital object registration, and archiving services without charging readers, the journal levies an Article Processing Charge (APC) upon accepted manuscripts. As recorded in DOAJ and Taylor & Francis official author fee registers, the standard APC for Geo-spatial Information Science is $2,195 USD (or £1,756 GBP, €2,110 EUR, $3,060 AUD plus applicable local value-added taxes).

Authors typically fund publication through institutional research allowances, grant sub-accounts, or national open-access agreements. Detailed strategies for identifying institutional subsidies are outlined in our guide to article processing charges (APCs). Taylor & Francis maintains transformative open-access agreements with dozens of university library consortia worldwide, enabling corresponding authors at affiliated institutions to publish with partial or full APC coverage. The journal charges no submission fees or page charges; fees apply solely to accepted manuscripts.

Published articles are deposited into international long-term digital preservation vaults, including CLOCKSS, LOCKSS, and Portico. Author self-archiving policies are registered on the Jisc Open Policy Finder (Sherpa Romeo publication record 16424), permitting authors to deposit accepted or published versions in institutional repositories without restriction.

How to prepare and submit a manuscript: step-by-step workflow

Publishing in Geo-spatial Information Science follows a structured, transparent peer-review and editorial production sequence. Understanding the exact interface terms, formatting expectations, and evaluation stages helps prospective authors navigate the submission pipeline efficiently.

The journal employs a single-anonymous peer review system. In this model, the identities of independent reviewers are masked from the authors, while reviewers have visibility into author identities and institutional affiliations to evaluate technical context, potential conflicts of interest, and prior literature contributions.

Authors can execute the submission process through the following practical steps:

1. Initial Manuscript Formatting (Format-Free Policy): GSIS supports a flexible format-free submission policy for initial submissions. Authors may submit their draft in any clean single-column or double-column layout with standard margins and legible fonts, provided all figures, data tables, and complete references are embedded. There is no strict universal word ceiling for original research articles, though manuscripts must remain focused and concise. The abstract must be 300 words or fewer, accompanied by 3 to 8 targeted keywords.
2. Template Selection for Final Preparation: Authors working in LaTeX can utilize the official Overleaf template package based on the custom gsis.cls document class provided by Taylor & Francis and Wuhan University. Authors preparing in Microsoft Word should maintain standard heading structures and clear equation numbering.
3. Accessing the Submission Portal: Authors navigate to the Taylor & Francis Online submission interface for journal code TGSI (Editorial Manager portal). Authors log in using their Taylor & Francis or ORCID credentials; all corresponding authors must link an authenticated ORCID iD.
4. Uploading Files and Assets: Authors upload the primary manuscript document (.docx or .tex with accompanying figures and .bib bibliography), separate high-resolution image files (minimum 300 DPI for TIFF/JPEG; vector PDF/EPS preferred), and optional supplementary data archives.
5. Entering Metadata and Disclosures: In the portal metadata fields, authors paste the title, structured abstract, and author affiliations. Authors must complete mandatory disclosure sections: a Funding Statement specifying grant codes, a Conflict of Interest Declaration, an Ethics Approval Statement (if involving field trials), and an explicit Data Availability Statement detailing where underlying geospatial datasets can be accessed.
6. Integrity and Similarity Screening: Upon submission, the editorial office screens every manuscript using Crossref Similarity Check (powered by iThenticate) to identify text recycling, redundant publication, or improper attribution. Submissions exhibiting significant unoriginal text or missing citations are desk-rejected prior to reviewer assignment.
7. Peer Review and Revision Stages: The Editor-in-Chief and assigned Associate Editor assess scope fit and novelty. The average timeframe from initial submission to first editorial decision is approximately 28 days. Manuscripts advancing to external review are assigned to at least two subject specialists, with the post-review decision timeline averaging approximately 62 days. Authors receive formal revision notices (Minor Revision, Major Revision, or Reject) with point-by-point response expectations.

Strengths, trade-offs, and practical limits for authors

Choosing where to submit geospatial research requires balancing audience reach, publication speed, indexing prestige, and financial overhead. Evaluating GSIS against these criteria reveals several distinct operational characteristics.

Key Strengths: First, the journal provides robust visibility within both Western and Asian surveying and geomatics networks, backed by Wuhan University’s international reputation in spatial sciences. Second, its dual Q1 standing in SCIE (JIF 5.4) and Scopus (CiteScore 10.2) satisfies demanding institutional promotion and tenure requirements. Third, the format-free submission system minimizes preparatory friction, allowing researchers to gauge editorial interest before spending hours adjusting typography and citation syntax. Fourth, editorial triage is comparatively prompt, giving authors an initial verdict within four weeks.

Trade-offs and Limitations: First, the Gold Open Access fee model requires an APC of $2,195 USD. Unlike diamond open-access journals funded entirely by academies, authors without institutional transformative agreements or dedicated grant support must bear this cost. DOAJ records note that the journal does not offer automatic blanket waivers for middle-income authors, though individual fee assistance can be requested during submission under demonstrable hardship. Second, the acceptance rate is approximately 39%, reflecting selective evaluation. Manuscripts presenting routine local GIS case studies without algorithmic, theoretical, or sensor-level innovation are routinely rejected or advised to transfer to regional periodicals.

Comparison with alternative geospatial and remote sensing journals

Researchers evaluating publication venues often consider sibling periodicals across geomatics, remote sensing, and computational geosciences. The choice depends on whether the manuscript emphasizes algorithmic development, environmental earth observation, or software architectures.

The table below summarizes key operational parameters between Geo-spatial Information Science and leading peer journals across related disciplines. For downloadable data tables and complete schema definitions, review the page dataset presented further below.

Journal Name	Publisher	Publishing Model	Impact Factor (JIF)	Scopus CiteScore	Standard APC	Primary Editorial Scope
Geo-spatial Information Science	Taylor & Francis / Wuhan University	Gold Open Access	5.4	10.2	$2,195 USD	Integrated surveying, photogrammetry, remote sensing, GIS, and GNSS geodesy
International Journal of Digital Earth	Taylor & Francis / ISDE	Gold Open Access	5.1	9.8	$2,490 USD	Digital Earth concepts, earth observation big data, and virtual globe systems
ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing	Elsevier / ISPRS	Hybrid Open Access	10.6	21.4	$4,450 USD (optional OA)	Advanced computer vision, sensor modeling, and photogrammetric theory
Computers & Geosciences	Elsevier	Hybrid Open Access	4.2	8.5	$3,650 USD (optional OA)	Geoscientific computing, spatial algorithms, code, and numerical modeling
Transactions in GIS	Wiley	Hybrid Open Access	2.4	5.2	$3,550 USD (optional OA)	Spatial database structures, GIS theory, spatial analysis, and spatial modeling

As reflected in comparative metrics, GSIS occupies an effective niche for authors seeking an established Q1 Gold Open Access outlet with lower APC requirements than European society flagships like the ISPRS Journal, while maintaining higher citation performance than general GIS theory periodicals.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Journal Impact Factor of Geo-spatial Information Science?

According to Clarivate Journal Citation Reports, Geo-spatial Information Science holds a Journal Impact Factor (JIF) of 5.4, alongside a 5-Year Impact Factor of 6.1. It ranks within Quartile 1 (Q1) across its primary subject categories in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE).

Who publishes Geo-spatial Information Science and where is it based?

The journal is founded and scientifically led by Wuhan University in Wuhan, China, and co-published internationally in partnership with Taylor & Francis Group (Informa UK). The Editor-in-Chief is Professor Deren Li of Wuhan University.

Is Geo-spatial Information Science indexed in Scopus and Web of Science?

Yes. The journal is fully indexed in Clarivate’s Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) within the Web of Science Core Collection and in Elsevier’s Scopus database, where it maintains a CiteScore of 10.2 (Q1 in Computers in Earth Sciences and Geography, Planning and Development). It is also indexed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).

What is the Article Processing Charge (APC) for the journal?

Because Geo-spatial Information Science operates as a Gold Open Access journal, authors or their sponsoring institutions pay an Article Processing Charge upon formal acceptance. The standard APC is $2,195 USD (or £1,756 GBP, €2,110 EUR, $3,060 AUD plus local taxes). The journal charges no submission fees.

What peer-review model does Geo-spatial Information Science use?

The journal employs a single-anonymous peer review system. Reviewer identities remain confidential throughout the review process, while reviewers are aware of author identities and institutional affiliations to evaluate context and disclosures.

How fast is the review process for Geo-spatial Information Science?

Editorial triage and initial decision times average approximately 28 days from submission. Manuscripts that advance to external expert peer review receive a post-review decision in an average of 62 days.

Does Geo-spatial Information Science offer a LaTeX submission template?

Yes. The journal supports an official Overleaf / LaTeX template based on the custom gsis.cls document class. Additionally, the journal permits format-free initial submissions in Word or PDF format to streamline early peer review.

Sources

• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). ‘Geo-spatial Information Science Journal Profile and Metadata.’ Accessed 2026-11-15. https://doaj.org/toc/1993-5153
• Taylor & Francis Online. ‘Geo-spatial Information Science: Aims and Scope, Journal Metrics, and Author Guidelines.’ Accessed 2026-11-15. https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/tgsi20
• OpenAlex. ‘Source Entity: Geo-spatial Information Science (S36798160).’ Accessed 2026-11-15. https://openalex.org/S36798160
• Crossref. ‘Journal Record: Geo-spatial Information Science (ISSN 1009-5020).’ Accessed 2026-11-15. https://api.crossref.org/journals/1009-5020
• National Library of Medicine (NLM). ‘NLM Catalog: Geo Spat Inf Sci (Catalog ID 101595492).’ Accessed 2026-11-15. https://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/esummary.fcgi?db=nlmcatalog&id=101595492
• SciOpen Platform / Wuhan University. ‘Geo-Spatial Information Science Publishing Profile.’ Accessed 2026-11-15. https://www.sciopen.com/journal/1009-5020