《海洋學進展》發表篇幅較長、內容較全面的論文，大多數海洋學家有時認為，這些論文是公正對待他們的工作所必需的。貢獻一般要么是對海洋學的一個方面的評論，要么是關于一門正在擴大的海洋學學科的論文。這些文章涵蓋了海洋學的所有學科。偶爾也有幾卷專門用來收藏特別有興趣的文件和會議記錄。所有海洋學家的必讀書目。

Progress in Oceanography publishes the longer, more comprehensive papers that most oceanographers feel are necessary, on occasion, to do justice to their work. Contributions are generally either a review of an aspect of oceanography or a treatise on an expanding oceanographic subject. The articles cover the entire spectrum of disciplines within the science of oceanography. Occasionally volumes are devoted to collections of papers and conference proceedings of exceptional interest. Essential reading for all oceanographers.