Computers & Geosciences publishes high impact, original research at the interface between Computer Sciences and Geosciences. Publications should apply modern computer science paradigms, whether computational or informatics-based, to address problems in the geosciences.

Computational/informatics elements may include: computational methods; algorithms; data models; database retrieval; information retrieval; near and remote sensing data analysis; data processing; artificial intelligence; computer graphics; computer visualization; programming languages; parallel systems; distributed systems; the World-Wide Web; social media; ontologies; and software engineering.

Geoscientific topics of interest include: mineralogy; petrology; geochemistry; geomorphology; paleontology; stratigraphy; structural geology; sedimentology; hydrology; hydrogeology; oceanography; atmospheric sciences; climatology; meteorology; geophysics; geomatics; seismology; geodesy; paleogeography; environmental science; soil science; glaciology.

Other fields may be considered but are not regarded as a priority.

Computers & Geosciences does not consider:

    Geoscience manuscripts that do not contain a significant computer science innovation. Pure methodological developments (e.g. geophysics, hydrology) are not considered. Pure analytical developments are not considered, unless they have significant implications on computational geoscientific problems.
    Computer science manuscripts with no clear application to the geosciences (as defined above).
    Manuscripts aiming at solving a geoscientific engineering problem rather than answering a scientific question
    Standard code of already well-established, or previously published methods
    Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs), unless they provide an original solution to a non-trivial input-handling problem.
    Manuscripts that use GIS tools in standard ways

Code and Data: Computers & Geosciences aims to publish code and supporting data from accepted manuscripts using state-of-the-art technologies. Code should be original and demonstrate a development in research. It should also have clear design and be reproducible, reusable, extensible and maintainable. Manuscripts presenting code, software or implementation of described algorithms need to include a link to a repository where the code can be downloaded. In such cases the open source license should be clearly indicated in submitted manuscripts. Manuscripts that describe code that is not open source are desk rejected. The journal editors offer to fork source code or data repositories that accompany published papers on GitHub https://github.com/CAGEO, to help the community find the author's original repository.

Paper Types and maximum lengths (lengths mentioned below are not including abstract, references and figure captions):

    Research paper (5,000 words): Providing a novel and original contribution to the scientific fields of study outlined above.

    Case study (5,000 words): Describing a real-world case study on the scientific fields of study outlined above.

    Review paper (10,000 words): Critically describing the state-of-the art of applications of computer science in the geosciences, as a stand-alone contribution or to frame a special issue. Criteria for assessment shall be: completeness, depth, novelty, timeliness, quality, and interest to the Journal's readership. Before submitting review paper manuscripts, a review outline should be approved by one of the editors of the Journal.

    Book or software reviews (1500 words): Describing and evaluating a new or significant publication or piece of software, not written by the author, that is relevant to computation or informatics in the geosciences.

    Letter to the Editor: Commenting on published articles. Criteria for assessment shall be the merit of the question or comment raised. The author(s) of the commented-on article shall be offered the opportunity to prepare a reply, to be published alongside the comment.

Manuscripts can also be submitted to Computers & Geosciences? open access companion title, Applied Computing & Geosciences .