Journal profile · Multiple
BMC Ecology and Evolution
ISSN 1472-6785 · eISSN 2730-7182 · Springer Nature · United Kingdom
BMC Ecology and Evolution: CAS Zone 3 · Environmental Science & Ecology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.75; fully open access; APC about USD 2,990; review about 32 weeks (community reports); 145 articles a year; indexed in SCIE and Scopus; the journal's website says submissions are paused or closed.
The journal's website says submissions are paused or closed: BMC Ecology is now archived and no longer receiving submissions with this publisher. All articles published in the journal during its time with Springer will remain fully searchable through our websites. Source ↗Publisher website ·
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
BMC Ecology and Evolution is published by Springer Nature and is in Zone 3 of Environmental Science & Ecology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies, Species Distribution and Climate Change and Animal Behavior and Reproduction, together about 26.7% of its articles. Its main subfields are Ecology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
BMC Ecology and Evolution is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal interested in all aspects of ecological and evolutionary biology. The journal welcomes manuscripts in the following broad sub-topics of ecology and evolution: Behavioural ecology. Research on how animal behaviour is shaped by ecological and evolutionary pressures. Topics include acoustic ecology, chemical signalling, predator-prey interactions, sexual selection, movement ecology, and insect behaviour. Conservation biology. Studies on protecting biodiversity and ecosystems, managing species, and responding to environmental change. Topics include conservation genetics, habitat restoration, biodiversity monitoring (e.g. eDNA, remote sensing, citizen science), invasive species, climate change impacts and nature finance. Ecological developmental biology . Research exploring how development interacts with ecological pressures to influence biodiversity and evolution. Evolutionary developmental biology and biodiversity. Research exploring how developmental processes shape evolutionary change and contribute to patterns of biodiversity. Experimental evolution. Controlled experiments that examine evolutionary processes such as selection, adaptation, and fitness in lab settings. Topics include microbial evolution, artificial selection, and evolutionary responses to stressors. Genome evolution and evolutionary systems biology. Studies on the evolution of genomes, regulatory networks, and systems-level genetic interactions. Human evolution and ecology. Studies investigating how evolutionary processes and ecological interactions have shaped human anatomy, genetics and health. Topics include ancient DNA, palaeoanthropology and evolutionary medicine. Macroecology. Research exploring ecological patterns and processes across large spatial, temporal, or taxonomic scales. Phylogenetics and phylogeography. Studies on evolutionary relationships among taxa, lineage diversification, and the reconstruction of evolutionary histories. Topics include phylogenomics, systematics, ancient DNA, and paleobiology. Population ecology. Research on the dynamics of species populations within their environments. Speciation and evolutionary genetics. Investigations into the mechanisms of species formation, genetic divergence, evolutionary biomechanics, and the drivers of evolutionary change. Theories and models. Research that presents a testable theory in the framework of current knowledge, backed by data/ analyses. As a BMC Serie
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Multiple
Editorial board by country: 33 in mainland China (about 15%); most named United States 36, Mainland China 33, India 19, United Kingdom 17, Germany 14 (217 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics StudiesEnvironmental Science9.7%
- Species Distribution and Climate ChangeEnvironmental Science8.7%
- Animal Behavior and ReproductionAgricultural and Biological Sciences8.4%
- Wildlife Ecology and ConservationEnvironmental Science8.4%
- Animal Ecology and Behavior StudiesEnvironmental Science5.9%
- Plant and animal studiesAgricultural and Biological Sciences5.3%
- Avian ecology and behaviorEnvironmental Science4.9%
- Genetic diversity and population structureBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.7%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Genetics & Heredity | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Evolutionary Biology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Evolutionary Biology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Genetics & Heredity | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Evolutionary Biology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Genetics & Heredity | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview 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
- 2.75LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.3LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.82LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.13LetPub ·
- h-index
- 79OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 534OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 145LetPub ·
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
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 32 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 22 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous 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 2,590 / USD 2,990 / GBP 2,290 | Yes | CC BY, CC0 | |
| OpenAlex | USD 2,290 / EUR 1,870 / GBP 1,570 | — | — | |
| LetPub | GBP 1,570 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | GBP 2,290 / USD 2,990 / EUR 2,590 | — | — |
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)
Article types accepted6
- commentFormatting guidelines for specific article types can be found below. Research article Review Matters Arising Comment Database article Software articleLength not stated
- database articleFormatting guidelines for specific article types can be found below. Research article Review Matters Arising Comment Database article Software articleLength not stated
- matters arisingFormatting guidelines for specific article types can be found below. Research article Review Matters Arising Comment Database article Software articleLength not stated
- research articleFormatting guidelines for specific article types can be found below. Research article Review Matters Arising Comment Database article Software articleLength not stated
- reviewFormatting guidelines for specific article types can be found below. Research article Review Matters Arising Comment Database article Software articleLength not stated
- software articleFormatting guidelines for specific article types can be found below. Research article Review Matters Arising Comment Database article Software articleLength 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
Mandatory submission to community-endorsed public repository where there is a widely established community expectation for data archiving. Model summary
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 articles published under CC BY-NC-ND or CC BY licence; authors retain copyright. 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 Ecology and Evolution articles are published open access under a CC BY-NC-ND (Creative Commons Attributi…
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
Editorial decisions based on scientific validity, not perceived interest or impact (BMC Series policy). Model summary
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
- Springer Nature
- Country or region
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1472-6785
- Electronic ISSN
- 2730-7182
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about BMC Ecology and Evolution
What CAS zone is BMC Ecology and Evolution in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, BMC Ecology and Evolution is in Zone 3 of Environmental Science & Ecology, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Ecology / Genetics & Heredity / Evolutionary Biology. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Environmental Science & Ecology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of BMC Ecology and Evolution?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.75; CiteScore 4.3, h-index 79.
How long does peer review take at BMC Ecology and Evolution?
Authors report an average review time of about 32 weeks. 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 Ecology and Evolution based?
Of the 217 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 33 (about 15%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (36), Mainland China (33) and India (19). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index BMC Ecology and Evolution?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, BMC Ecology and Evolution is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is BMC Ecology and Evolution open access, and what is the APC?
BMC Ecology and Evolution is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 2,990.
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 2026-08-24). Last updated: .