Journal profile
BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS OF THE CAMBRIDGE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
ISSN 0006-3231 · Quarterly
BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS OF THE CAMBRIDGE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY: impact factor 10.9 (journal website); subscription journal; APC about USD 5,390; median 178 days to acceptance (10 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: easy; 146 articles in 2025.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS OF THE CAMBRIDGE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY's largest topics are Plant and animal studies, Animal Behavior and Reproduction and Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies, together about 29.4% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Biological Reviews publishes synthetic reviews, based on the literature, covering important biological questions that are interesting to a broad readership and are timely (e.g. from a fast-moving field, or due to new discoveries or conceptual advances). A 'synthetic review' goes beyond compiling information, rather it should analyse the information and build a new theoretical or conceptual framework that can substantially reshape the area. Definition of review Our concept of a review is one that comprehensively surveys the literature in order to answer a key biological question, or to identify new biological questions that need to be addressed to advance the field. This includes using data from the literature (for example, in meta-analyses). A review contrasts with primary research, which is the generation of new data. Thus, taxonomic or phylogenetic reviews, which draw conclusions from new data (even if made from “published” specimens or archived sequence data) typically fall out of scope as being primary research. Also out of scope are “opinion pieces” where they are based on an incomplete survey of the literature, where studies are only included that fit a specified hypothesis. Reviews suitable for Biological Reviews synthesise the literature and from this draw novel insights which contribute to the reshaping of an area. To help authors with some concrete guidance, a reviewer described what we are looking for in the following ways: “Excellent reviews provide new conceptual insight not present in the primary literature. For example, they may bring together literature items (e.g. empirical or theoretical) that were previously disconnected to show where they do in fact overlap; or the review may generate significant new ideas and hypotheses. Such reviews are rare but, if they are readable and clear, they can form the basis for a new research direction. Good reviews explain difficult topics and make use of examples to illustrate how phenomena or theories are connected, or provide synthetic overviews of a large body of literature (empirical or theoretical). They can be the first entry into a new literature and may often allow readers to extract information or insights (e.g., about key experiments to be done) that are difficult to see from reading the primary literature or existing summaries. There are also not-so-useful reviews. These are more like summaries. They summarize recent opinions or results of one or several fields, restate conclusions that are eas
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Editor-in-chief John WelchPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United Kingdom 10, United States 2, Canada 1, Australia 1, New Zealand 1 (15 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Plant and animal studiesAgricultural and Biological Sciences12.5%
- Animal Behavior and ReproductionAgricultural and Biological Sciences9.9%
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics StudiesEnvironmental Science7%
- Insect and Arachnid Ecology and BehaviorBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.7%
- Wildlife Ecology and ConservationEnvironmental Science5.3%
- Physiological and biochemical adaptationsEnvironmental Science4.9%
- Evolution and Paleontology StudiesEarth and Planetary Sciences4.3%
- Species Distribution and Climate ChangeEnvironmental Science4.2%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
Indexed in: no record yet.
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
SCIEScopusMEDLINEPubMedCASCAB AbstractsGeoRefCurrent 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 (publisher)
- 10.9Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 10.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 24.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 24.5Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 304OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 2,631OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 12.21OpenAlex ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 0%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 129Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 1,552,045Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 3,736 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 90 | 67 | 101 |
| 2025 | 146 | 109 | 1,128 |
| 2024 | 139 | 107 | 3,349 |
| 2023 | 121 | 97 | 4,182 |
| 2022 | 108 | 77 | 8,073 |
| 2021 | 153 | 97 | 10,550 |
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 PubMed · to
178 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 135 days – 200 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 19 days (10 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 210 days
- Sample
- 10 articles with submission and acceptance dates (14 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 acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 22%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 22%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 12 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 12 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 303 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 14 daysPublisher website ·
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
Subscription journalLetPub
A subscription journal: articles are read by subscription or purchase, and authors usually pay no publication charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 5,390 / EUR 4,480 / GBP 3,620 | — | — |
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 prepare4 items from the author guidelines
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 20,000 words
- Suggested reviewers
- Required, 5
- Cover letter
- Required
- Not considered
- presubmission enquiries
Article types accepted1
- reviewReviewLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access
- Open access Open Access for hybrid titles
You may choose to publish under the terms of the journal’s standard copyright agreement, or Open Access under the terms of a Creative Commons License.
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
- Frequency
- Quarterly
- ISSN
- 0006-3231
- Society / sponsor
- Cambridge Philosophical Society
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 101, Issue 5 (October 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS OF THE CAMBRIDGE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
What is the impact factor of BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS OF THE CAMBRIDGE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 10.9 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; h-index 304.
How long does peer review take at BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS OF THE CAMBRIDGE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY?
Based on the dates recorded on 10 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 178 days (interquartile range 135–200 days); the community-reported acceptance is “Easy”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 22% (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 BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS OF THE CAMBRIDGE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Manuscript length: ≤ 20,000 words; Suggested reviewers: Required, 5; 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.
Where are the editorial board members of BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS OF THE CAMBRIDGE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY based?
Of the 15 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (10), United States (2) and Canada (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS OF THE CAMBRIDGE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY?
The journal's website lists SCIE, Scopus, MEDLINE, PubMed, CAS, CAB Abstracts, GeoRef and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS OF THE CAMBRIDGE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY open access, and what is the APC?
BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS OF THE CAMBRIDGE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY is a subscription journal. APC about USD 5,390.
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 2026-08-24). Last updated: .