Journal profile · SOCIAL SCIENCES, BIOMEDICAL
BioSocieties
ISSN 1745-8552 · eISSN 1745-8560 · Springer Nature · 4 issues per year
BioSocieties: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.2; hybrid open access; APC about USD 2,990; median 340 days to acceptance (25 articles, last 24 months); 30 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
BioSocieties is published by Springer Nature and is in Zone 4 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Race, Genetics, and Society, Biomedical Ethics and Regulation and Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations, together about 37.1% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
BioSocieties is a journal dedicated to research on the interrelationship between the life sciences and society. It explores how biotechnology, biomedicine, and bioscience impact contemporary society, and analyses the sociohistorical, economic, and policy forces shaping life sciences. BioSocieties provides an integrative intellectual platform for critical scholarship concerning the life science-society interface. Work in the journal considers the social, ethical, and policy implications of past and emerging developments in life science, biomedicine, and biotechnology; engages with shifts in the culture and content of scientific, clinical, and technical discourses and professions; and explores the mutual transformation of life and the sciences that study it. We publish qualitative empirical research and innovative theoretical advances accessible to the interdisciplinary audience of readers engaged in these topics. Both novel developments and long-standing issues of life science and society, from gene editing to biosecurity, from new proteins to old pollutants, are generating social, ethical, legal and regulatory dilemmas alongside thoroughgoing cultural change. Understanding and addressing these topics requires us to break out from narrow disciplinary boundaries within the social sciences and humanities, and between these disciplines and the natural sciences. We therefore aim to develop new ways of thinking about the relations between biology and sociality and between the life sciences and social sciences. The journal is international in scope, examining new research and developments globally. BioSocieties is published quarterly, with occasional special issues that highlight critical questions and problematics of modern biomedicine, bioscience and biotechnology.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): SOCIAL SCIENCES, BIOMEDICAL
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 7, United Kingdom 5, Australia 4, Canada 2, Japan 1 (21 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Race, Genetics, and SocietyBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology14.8%
- Biomedical Ethics and RegulationMedicine12.5%
- Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical InnovationsNeuroscience9.8%
- Geographies of human-animal interactionsSocial Sciences5.9%
- Ethics in Clinical ResearchMedicine5.8%
- Reproductive Health and TechnologiesMedicine5.7%
- CRISPR and Genetic EngineeringBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology3.9%
- Mental Health and PsychiatryArts and Humanities3.5%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Biomedical | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Biomedical | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Biomedical | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
SCIEPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS
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
- 1.2LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.2Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.7Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.3LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.46LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.97LetPub ·
- h-index
- 58OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 339OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.46OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 70.59%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 27LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 167,900Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 830 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 20 | 16 | 8 |
| 2025 | 30 | 24 | 54 |
| 2024 | 29 | 25 | 53 |
| 2023 | 21 | 17 | 75 |
| 2022 | 29 | 22 | 308 |
| 2021 | 54 | 38 | 491 |
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
340 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 233 days – 394 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 34 days (47 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 368 days
- Sample
- 25 articles with submission and acceptance dates (58 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
- Submission to first decision
- 12 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Double anonymous peer reviewPublisher 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
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 2,990 / EUR 2,390 / GBP 2,090 | — | — |
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 prepare8 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 200 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 3
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 10,000 words
- Reference style
- Harvard
- Suggested reviewers
- Required
- Highlights
- Required
- Graphical abstract
- Required
- Cover letter
- Required
Policy excerpts from the journal's websitePublication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Self-archiving
- Publication ethics
Ethical review required for human subjects research Model summary
Articles that describe the results of studies involving human subjects must give evidence that such studies have been subjected to appropriate ethical review.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright and Permissions
Using third-party material in your articleAuthors are responsible for ensuring that any third-party material (e.g. figures, tables, photos, illustrations, trade literature, or data) is not used without permission. If such material is copyrighted, permission must be obtained and submitted with the final manuscript. The Editor and Publisher must be informed of any restricted-use content at submissio…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access & Self Archiving
Self-archiving (green open access)Where articles are published via the subscription route, authors are permitted to self-archive the accepted manuscript (the version post-peer review, but prior to copy-editing and typesetting) on their own personal website and/or in their funder or institutional repositories, for public release after an embargo period of 12 months after first publication.Learn mor…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Double-blind peer review Model summary
BioSocieties adheres to a strict policy of double-blind peer review, in which the identity of the authors is, as much as possible, kept from reviewers, so as to facilitate a fair and un-biased review process.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Self-archiving Open Access & Self Archiving
Self-archiving / sharing guidance via Springer Nature sharedit Model summary
Self-archiving (green open access)Where articles are published via the subscription route, authors are permitted to self-archive the accepted manuscript (the version post-peer review, but prior to copy-editing and typesetting) on their own personal website and/or in their funder or institutional repositories, for public release after an embargo period of 12 months after first publication.Learn mor…
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
- Springer Nature
- Frequency
- 4 issues per year
- ISSN
- 1745-8552
- Electronic ISSN
- 1745-8560
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 21, Issue 3 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about BioSocieties
What CAS zone is BioSocieties in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, BioSocieties is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Social Sciences, Biomedical. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Medicine. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of BioSocieties?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.2; CiteScore 4.3, h-index 58.
How long does peer review take at BioSocieties?
Based on the dates recorded on 25 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 340 days (interquartile range 233–394 days). 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 BioSocieties?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 200 words; Keywords: ≥ 3; Manuscript length: ≤ 10,000 words; Reference style: Harvard; Suggested reviewers: Required; Highlights: Required; Graphical abstract: 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.
Where are the editorial board members of BioSocieties based?
Of the 21 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (7), United Kingdom (5) and Australia (4). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index BioSocieties?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, BioSocieties is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists SCIE; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is BioSocieties open access, and what is the APC?
BioSocieties is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 2,990.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, Publisher website; 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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .