Palaeontologia Electronica among the most influential palaeontological journals

Carolin Haug, Matúš Hyžný, Russell Bicknell, Oleksandr Kovalchuk,
Heinrich Mallison, Diana Elizabeth Fernández, and Gabriela Sobral

Article number: 27.2.2E
July 2024

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Palaeontologia Electronica was founded in 1997, with the first issue published in 1998. Being the first fully online palaeontology journal in the world, its publication concept was rather unique among scientific journals. The virtual component was revolutionary during a time when digital platforms were novel and their longevity uncertain. Additionally, its open access and double-blind peer review aspects were pioneering features that have since become central to democratizing scientific knowledge and ensuring equitable publishing processes. Being the longest running open-access, peer-reviewed electronic journal, Palaeontologia Electronica has withstood the test of time.

The impact of the research published in Palaeontologia Electronica has seen a gradual evolution since its beginnings. Initially, as an avant-garde electronic journal, it took time to gain traction within the scientific community. Over the years, however, its commitment to quality, open-access publishing without cost to authors, and innovative content has led to a steady increase in its impact, reflecting its growing influence in the palaeontological community.

It is thus with great pleasure that we announce that Palaeontologia Electronica is now ranked by GoogleScholar among the 10 most influential palaeontological journals and is ranked 31^st among 113 palaeontology journals by Thomson Reuters. With its 27 years of publication history and well over 900 published articles, Palaeontologia Electronica now belongs with well-established journals, matching reference journals with a much longer publishing record. This journey from an online experiment to one of the most influential palaeontology journals has been made possible only by the hard, voluntary work of passionate palaeontologists from around the globe. It is also thanks to our Sponsors and Patrons that Palaeontologia Electronica continues to offer a no-fee service to the community, fostering a diversity of contributions and maintaining open access to cutting-edge research.

Please note: Cover art from our very first issue by Oyvind Hammer. Diving into a shallow, sunlit ocean in the Paleozoic, we find a group of straight-shelled nautiloids, 2 m long, perhaps congregating for mating. The movie was made using the "Povray" ray tracer on an SGI computer.  For more information and to see animation.