Journal profile · Evolutionary Biology
BMC Evolutionary Biology
ISSN 1471-2148 · BioMed Central · ENGLAND · Monthly · Founded 2001
BMC Evolutionary Biology: impact factor 3.35; fully open access; APC about USD 2,990; review about 6 months (community reports); community-reported acceptance: about 25%; indexed in Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
BMC Evolutionary Biology is published by BioMed Central. By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies, Genetic diversity and population structure and Evolution and Genetic Dynamics, together about 37.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Molecular Biology. (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): Evolutionary Biology
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
- Genomics and Phylogenetic StudiesBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology13.3%
- Genetic diversity and population structureBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology12.5%
- Evolution and Genetic DynamicsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology11.5%
- Chromosomal and Genetic VariationsAgricultural and Biological Sciences10.1%
- Animal Behavior and ReproductionAgricultural and Biological Sciences8%
- Evolution and Paleontology StudiesEarth and Planetary Sciences7.1%
- Plant Diversity and EvolutionAgricultural and Biological Sciences4.4%
- Developmental Biology and Gene RegulationBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology3.5%
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.
CiteScore quartiles (Scopus, June 2026 release)
| Subject | Quartile | Rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics | Q1 | 71/647 | 89th |
Scopus ranks journals by CiteScore within each subject: the 75th percentile and above is Q1, then a quartile every 25 points. A different system from the CAS zones.LetPub
Database indexing
ScopusDOAJLetPub
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
- 3.35LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.8LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.53LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.28LetPub ·
- h-index
- 105LetPub ·
- h-index
- 182OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 3,886OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0OpenAlex ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.38%LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 4,254 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 0 | 0 | 8,865 |
| 2025 | 0 | 0 | 13,036 |
| 2024 | 0 | 0 | 14,664 |
| 2023 | 0 | 0 | 15,131 |
| 2022 | 0 | 0 | 16,927 |
| 2021 | 0 | 0 | 21,142 |
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 6 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- 25%LetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 17 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 | — | — |
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- Other fees
- No other fees
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 prepare2 items from the author guidelines
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
- Not considered
- individual participant details; linking to data on a personal/departmental website; page breaks
Article types accepted6
- commentResearch article Review Matters Arising Comment Database article Software articleLength not stated
- database articleResearch article Review Matters Arising Comment Database article Software articleLength not stated
- matters arisingResearch article Review Matters Arising Comment Database article Software articleLength not stated
- research articleResearch article Review Matters Arising Comment Database article Software articleLength not stated
- reviewResearch article Review Matters Arising Comment Database article Software articleLength not stated
- software articleResearch article Review Matters Arising Comment Database article Software articleLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Data availability, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- Authorship
Authors retain copyright. Model summary
Under Creative Commons licences, authors retain copyright of their articles.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Formatting the 'Availability of data and materials' section of your manuscript
Data sharing strongly encouraged or required; deposit in public repositories where community expectation exists. 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 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
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
- Monthly
- Founded
- 2001
- ISSN
- 1471-2148
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- 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 Evolutionary Biology
What is the impact factor of BMC Evolutionary Biology?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.35; CiteScore 5.8, h-index 187.
How long does peer review take at BMC Evolutionary Biology?
Authors report an average review time of about 6 months; the community-reported acceptance is “about 25%”. 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 Evolutionary Biology 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 Evolutionary Biology?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, BMC Evolutionary Biology is indexed in Scopus and DOAJ.
Is BMC Evolutionary Biology open access, and what is the APC?
BMC Evolutionary Biology 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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .