- Known to have helped invent "hard science fiction", a genre ever-increasingly popular in fiction as well as movies and TV.
- As editor, he helped launch the careers of Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, A.E. van Vogt, and Theodore Sturgeon.
- Created the fantasy magazine Unknown, which ran 1939-1943. It featured "hard fantasy" as well as modern horror fiction, such as Fritz Leiber's Conjure Wife, which was filmed as Weird Woman (1944) and Night of the Eagle (1962).
- In 1938, he became editor of Astounding Stories of Super Science, and changed the name to Astounding Science Fiction. While there, he established a new standard in maturity and scientific acuracy in science fiction pulp magazine writing. He is credited with creating "The Golden Age of Science Fiction," which lasted from 1938 to 1950 and especially during World War II. In the sixties, he changed the name again to Analog Science Fiction and Fact. He remained editor until his death.
- In 2018, a manuscript for a book called "Frozen Hell" was found, which turned out to be a longer version of his famous short story "Who goes there?" (the story that inspired The Thing from Another World (1951) and The Thing (1982)). It was discovered by writer Alec Nevala-Lee during a research on a biography of Campbell. Following a successful Kickstarter campaign, the book was published in 2019.
- Campbell invented the pseudonym "Don A. Stuart" from his first wife's name, Dona Stuart.
- Has had two Awards for science fiction writing named after him; The John W. Campbell, Jr., Award and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award.
- He was a political right-winger, and this influenced his work in science fiction. Famous author Isaac Asimov once said that he could never read a Campbell editorial without losing his temper.
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