Journal profile · Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
BioEssays
ISSN 0265-9247 · eISSN 1521-1878 · John Wiley and Sons Inc. · ENGLAND · Monthly · Founded 1984
BioEssays: CAS Zone 3 · Biology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.22; hybrid open access; APC about USD 5,330; median 125 days to acceptance (75 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: hard; 140 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
BioEssays is published by John Wiley and Sons Inc. and is in Zone 3 of Biology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics, RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms and CRISPR and Genetic Engineering, together about 19.4% of its articles. Its main subfields are Molecular Biology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
molecular – cellular – biomedical – physiology – translational research – systems - hypotheses encouraged A peer-reviewed, review-and-discussion journal which aims to publish novel insights, forward-looking reviews and commentaries in contemporary biology with a molecular, genetic, cellular, or physiological dimension, and serve as a discussion forum for new ideas in these areas. An additional goal is to encourage transdisciplinarity and integrative biology in the context of organismal studies, systems approaches, through to ecosystems, where appropriate. BioEssays does not consider original research, but is open to analyses based on formally published data. Mean time to first decision: 22 days Affiliated with EpiGeneSys , the European Network of Excellence for epigenetics research. ISSN: 0265-9247 (print). 1521-1878 (online). Currently 12 issues per year. How to cite: To make sure that references to this journal are correctly recorded and resolved (for example in CrossRef, PubMed, or ISI Web of Knowledge), please use the following abbreviated title in any citations: "BioEssays" (all one word, no spaces or punctuation).
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Editor-in-chief Emery BresnickPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Genomics and Chromatin DynamicsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology7.1%
- RNA and protein synthesis mechanismsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology6.6%
- CRISPR and Genetic EngineeringBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.7%
- RNA Research and SplicingBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.7%
- DNA Repair MechanismsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.3%
- Developmental Biology and Gene RegulationBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.3%
- Microtubule and mitosis dynamicsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.6%
- Genetics, Bioinformatics, and Biomedical ResearchBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.6%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Biology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Biology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Biology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Biology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Biology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Biology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of ScienceMEDLINEPubMedEmbaseCASCAB AbstractsCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest, AGRICOLA
As the journal's website lists them, not checked against each database; for Web of Science editions the records above apply.
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor
- 3.22LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 3.3Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.4LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 5.4Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 5.4Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.15LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.78LetPub ·
- h-index
- 170LetPub ·
- h-index
- 258OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 4,274OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.09OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 63.92%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 92LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 109Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 791,027Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 8,565 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 92 | 61 | 26 |
| 2025 | 140 | 96 | 505 |
| 2024 | 190 | 143 | 1,194 |
| 2023 | 189 | 154 | 1,485 |
| 2022 | 197 | 109 | 2,002 |
| 2021 | 216 | 135 | 3,450 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
Review time from article dates manuscript dates registered with Crossref · to
125 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 97 days – 199 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 14 days (76 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 140 days
- Sample
- 75 articles with submission and acceptance dates (265 in the window); the latest was accepted on
Only articles that were accepted and published are counted, not the time spent on rejected manuscripts, so this usually runs longer than a publisher's "time to first decision".
Other sources
- Average review time (community reports)
- 4–8 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- HardLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 37%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 37%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 5 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 5 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 114 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 13 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Single-anonymous peer reviewPublisher website · model-extracted
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 5,330 / EUR 4,430 / GBP 3,570 | — | — |
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
What to prepare3 items from the author guidelines
- Reference style
- APA
- Suggested reviewers
- Required
- Cover letter
- Required
Policy excerpts from the journal's websitePublication ethics, License & copyright, Open access
- Publication ethics
Publication ethics: COPE guidelines. Model summary
BioEssays adheres strongly to the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright policy
If your paper is accepted, the author identified as the formal corresponding author for the paper will receive an email prompting them to login into Author Services; where via the Wiley Author Licensing Service (WALS) they will be able to complete the license agreement on behalf of all authors on the paper.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access
Open Access is available to BioEssays authors who - upon publication - wish to make their article available to non-subscribers to the journal, or who are obliged, by the conditions of their funding agency, to archive the final version of their paper. With Open Access, the author, the author's funding agency, or the author's institution pays a fee to ensure that the article is made available to non…
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons Inc.
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Founded
- 1984
- ISSN
- 0265-9247
- Electronic ISSN
- 1521-1878
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 48, Issue 9 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about BioEssays
What CAS zone is BioEssays in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, BioEssays is in Zone 3 of Biology, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Biology / Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Biology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of BioEssays?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.22; CiteScore 5.4, h-index 258.
How long does peer review take at BioEssays?
Based on the dates recorded on 75 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 125 days (interquartile range 97–199 days); authors report an average review time of 4–8 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Hard”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 37% (2025). Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
What are the manuscript requirements of BioEssays?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Reference style: APA; Suggested reviewers: Required; Cover letter: Required. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Which databases index BioEssays?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, BioEssays is indexed in SCIE and Scopus. The journal's website also lists Web of Science, MEDLINE, PubMed, Embase, CAS, CAB Abstracts and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is BioEssays open access, and what is the APC?
BioEssays is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 5,330.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-26). Last updated: .