Journal profile · Biology
BMC Biology
ISSN 1741-7007 · BioMed Central · ENGLAND · Irregular · Founded 2003
BMC Biology: CAS Zone 2 · Biology (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 5.36; fully open access; APC about USD 3,790; median 207 days to acceptance (110 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: about 50%; 395 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
BMC Biology is published by BioMed Central and is in Zone 2 of Biology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Developmental Biology and Gene Regulation, Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies and Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research, together about 23.6% of its articles. Its main subfields are Molecular Biology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
BMC Biology is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on all areas of biology. As a selective journal, published articles represents advances that are of high interest to a broad readership, as well as significant new findings, tools, and commentary in specialized sub-fields. The journal’s scope covers primary research papers in any aspect of fundamental or applied biological sciences, or that bring insights into biological phenomena from related fields. The journal publishes primary content in Research, Methodology, Software and Registered Reports articles. Commissioned frontmatter Reviews, Perspectives, Forums and Comments provide authoritative coverage of important topics for the community. Submissions are handled by our team of in-house professional editors and expert Editorial Board Members.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Biology
Editor-in-chief Graham BellPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 55 in mainland China (about 18%); most named United States 86, Mainland China 55, United Kingdom 29, Australia 12, Germany 11 (307 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Developmental Biology and Gene RegulationBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology8.7%
- Genomics and Phylogenetic StudiesBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology7.7%
- Neurobiology and Insect Physiology ResearchNeuroscience7.3%
- Chromosomal and Genetic VariationsAgricultural and Biological Sciences5.4%
- Invertebrate Immune Response MechanismsImmunology and Microbiology4.7%
- Genomics and Chromatin DynamicsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.6%
- Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model OrganismsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.5%
- Protist diversity and phylogenyBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology3.9%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Biology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Biology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Biology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Biology | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Biology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Biology | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
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
- 5.36LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 7.8LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.73LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.37LetPub ·
- h-index
- 90LetPub ·
- h-index
- 179OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 2,348OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 6.19OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 1.9%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.79%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 385LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 3,550 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 246 | 246 | 108 |
| 2025 | 395 | 395 | 2,078 |
| 2024 | 304 | 304 | 3,668 |
| 2023 | 303 | 303 | 5,500 |
| 2022 | 296 | 296 | 7,693 |
| 2021 | 268 | 268 | 9,851 |
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
207 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 151 days – 281 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 13 days (110 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 226 days
- Sample
- 110 articles with submission and acceptance dates (725 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)
- about 3 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- 50%LetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 9 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Unspecified peer reviewDOAJ
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
Fully open accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | EUR 3,090 / USD 3,790 / GBP 2,690 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 3,690 / EUR 2,990 / GBP 2,590 | — | — | |
| LetPub | GBP 2,390 / USD 3,390 / EUR 2,790 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | GBP 2,690 / USD 3,790 / EUR 3,090 | — | — |
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 prepare1 items from the author guidelines
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
Article types accepted8
- commentResearch Article Methodology Software Registered Report Comment Review Perspective Matters ArisingLength not stated
- matters arisingResearch Article Methodology Software Registered Report Comment Review Perspective Matters ArisingLength not stated
- methodologyResearch Article Methodology Software Registered Report Comment Review Perspective Matters ArisingLength not stated
- perspectiveResearch Article Methodology Software Registered Report Comment Review Perspective Matters ArisingLength not stated
- registered reportResearch Article Methodology Software Registered Report Comment Review Perspective Matters ArisingLength not stated
- research articleResearch Article Methodology Software Registered Report Comment Review Perspective Matters ArisingLength not stated
- reviewResearch Article Methodology Software Registered Report Comment Review Perspective Matters ArisingLength not stated
- softwareResearch Article Methodology Software Registered Report Comment Review Perspective Matters ArisingLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteData availability, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- Data availability Formatting the 'Availability of data and materials' section of your manuscript
The following format for the 'Availability of data and materials section of your manuscript should be used:
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Licensing and copyright
Open access licensing under CC BY-NC-ND or CC BY. Model summary
Creative Commons licences Open access articles in Springer Nature journals are published under Creative Commons licences. These provide an industry-standard framework to support easy re-use of open access material. Under Creative Commons licences, authors retain copyright of their articles. BMC Biology articles are published open access under a CC BY-NC-ND (Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commerc…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Benefits of open access
Publishing open access (OA) offers a number of benefits, including greater reach and readership for your work: Cited more 1.6x more citations of OA articles than non-OA articles across all subjects Downloaded more 4x more downloads of OA articles than non-OA articles Greater impact 2.5x more Altmetric attention. OA articles attracted 1.9x more news mentions and 1.2x more policy mentions Open acces…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review policy
Peer review is the process used to evaluate the quality of a manuscript before publication. Independent researchers in the relevant field assess submitted manuscripts to check their validity and robustness. Their feedback guides editors in making publication decisions. Typically, two or more experts evaluate each manuscript based on three main criteria: scientific robustness: is the research metho…
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
- BioMed Central
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Irregular
- Founded
- 2003
- ISSN
- 1741-7007
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗DOAJ
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗DOAJ
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about BMC Biology
What CAS zone is BMC Biology in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, BMC Biology is in Zone 2 of Biology, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Biology; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Biology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of BMC Biology?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 5.36; CiteScore 7.8, h-index 179.
How long does peer review take at BMC Biology?
Based on the dates recorded on 110 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 207 days (interquartile range 151–281 days); authors report an average review time of about 3 months; the community-reported acceptance is “about 50%”. 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.
Where are the editorial board members of BMC Biology based?
Of the 307 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 55 (about 18%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (86), Mainland China (55) and United Kingdom (29). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index BMC Biology?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, BMC Biology is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is BMC Biology open access, and what is the APC?
BMC Biology is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,790.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, DOAJ, 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: .