Journal profile · Plant Sciences
BMC Plant Biology
ISSN 1471-2229 · BioMed Central · ENGLAND · Monthly · Founded 2001
BMC Plant Biology: CAS Zone 2 · Biology (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 5.55; fully open access; APC about USD 3,190; median 105 days to acceptance (191 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: about 50%; 1,980 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
BMC Plant 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 Plant Molecular Biology Research, Plant Gene Expression Analysis and Plant Stress Responses and Tolerance, together about 38% of its articles. Its main subfields are Plant Science and Molecular Biology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
BMC Plant Biology is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on all aspects of plant biology, including molecular, cellular, tissue, organ and whole organism research. The journal welcomes studies on plants and other photosynthetic organisms that describe the biological understanding of morphology, physiology, whole organism or its interaction with environmental cues. Submissions are also encouraged in the manipulation of plants towards use in agricultural and food research. The journal welcomes manuscripts in the following broad sub-topics of plant biology: Biochemistry and physiology Development and cell biology Genetics and crop biotechnology Genomics and evolution Plant-abiotic interactions Plant-biotic interactions Reproductive biology As a BMC Series journal, BMC Plant Biology does not make editorial decisions based on the perceived interest or potential impact of a study. Manuscripts are considered for publication if they are scientifically valid. For research articles, this includes having a clearly defined and sound research question, appropriate methodology and analysis, and adherence to community-agreed standards relevant to the field.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Plant Sciences
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Plant Molecular Biology ResearchAgricultural and Biological Sciences15.7%
- Plant Gene Expression AnalysisBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology11.6%
- Plant Stress Responses and ToleranceAgricultural and Biological Sciences10.7%
- Plant nutrient uptake and metabolismAgricultural and Biological Sciences5.5%
- Plant-Microbe Interactions and ImmunityAgricultural and Biological Sciences5.4%
- Genetic Mapping and Diversity in Plants and AnimalsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.3%
- Plant Reproductive BiologyBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.1%
- Plant responses to water stressAgricultural and Biological Sciences3.7%
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 | Plant Sciences | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Biology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Plant Sciences | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Biology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Plant Sciences | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
MEDLINECASCAB AbstractsPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, AGRICOLA, 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
- 5.55LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 5.6Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 6Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 6.6LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.19LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.31LetPub ·
- h-index
- 95LetPub ·
- h-index
- 201OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 6,396OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.97OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 7.1%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 1,947LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 9,300,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 11,378 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1,997 | 1,997 | 756 |
| 2025 | 1,980 | 1,980 | 9,614 |
| 2024 | 1,281 | 1,281 | 15,748 |
| 2023 | 668 | 668 | 11,828 |
| 2022 | 621 | 621 | 15,452 |
| 2021 | 606 | 606 | 19,656 |
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
105 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 77 days – 154 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 11 days (191 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 124 days
- Sample
- 191 articles with submission and acceptance dates (4,307 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 4 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- 50%LetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 11 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 19 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 2,790 / USD 3,190 / GBP 2,490 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 3,090 / EUR 2,690 / GBP 2,390 | — | — | |
| LetPub | GBP 2,290 / USD 2,990 / EUR 2,590 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | GBP 2,490 / USD 3,190 / EUR 2,790 | — | — |
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)
Open calls for papers3, by deadline
- Plant symbiosisDeadline
- Circadian rhythms in plants and algaeDeadline
- Plant disease resistance - Part IIDeadline
What to prepare1 items from the author guidelines
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
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 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
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 Plant Biology articles are published open access under a CC BY-NC-ND (Creative Commons Attribution Non-C…
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
- 1471-2229
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- 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 Plant Biology
What CAS zone is BMC Plant Biology in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, BMC Plant Biology is in Zone 2 of Biology, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Plant Sciences; 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 Plant Biology?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 5.55; CiteScore 6.6, h-index 201.
How long does peer review take at BMC Plant Biology?
Based on the dates recorded on 191 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 105 days (interquartile range 77–154 days); authors report an average review time of about 4 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.
Which databases index BMC Plant Biology?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, BMC Plant Biology is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists MEDLINE, CAS and CAB Abstracts; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is BMC Plant Biology open access, and what is the APC?
BMC Plant Biology is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,190.
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: .