Journal profile · Cell Biology
Cell Structure and Function
ISSN 0386-7196 · eISSN 1347-3700 · Japan Society for Cell Biology · JAPAN · Semiannual · Founded 1975
Cell Structure and Function: CAS Zone 4 · Biology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.75; fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; review over 12 weeks (community reports); community-reported acceptance: fairly easy; 19 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Cell Structure and Function is published by Japan Society for Cell Biology and is in Zone 4 of Biology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Microtubule and mitosis dynamics, Cellular transport and secretion and Cellular Mechanics and Interactions, together about 24.8% of its articles. Its main subfields are Cell Biology and Molecular Biology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Cell Structure and Function is a fully peer-reviewed, fully Open Access journal. As the official English-language journal of the Japan Society for Cell Biology, it is published continuously online and biannually in print. Cell Structure and Function publishes important, original contributions in all areas of molecular and cell biology. The journal welcomes the submission of manuscripts on research areas such as the cell nucleus, chromosomes, and gene expression; the cytoskeleton and cell motility; cell adhesion and the extracellular matrix; cell growth, differentiation and death; signal transduction; the protein life cycle; membrane traffic; and organelles. The journal publishes four article types: Research Articles; Mini-Reviews and Reviews; Technical Notes; and Perspectives. Research Articles reports original research not published elsewhere. The remaining article types can be summaries of previous research, but must add important insight or a fresh perspective. The audience of Cell Structure and Function includes research scientists in academia or industry who work on cell biology or related life sciences, individuals working on the application of research in these fields, clinicians, students and other interested individuals. The journal strives to be an important outlet for the publication of excellent research and an essential part of communication in molecular and cell biology.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Cell Biology
Editor-in-chief Michiyuki MatsudaPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 5%); most named United States 6, Australia 3, Singapore 3, United Kingdom 2, South Korea 2 (22 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Microtubule and mitosis dynamicsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology10.3%
- Cellular transport and secretionBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology7.4%
- Cellular Mechanics and InteractionsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology7.1%
- Cell Adhesion Molecules ResearchMedicine5.5%
- Glycosylation and Glycoproteins ResearchBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.2%
- Lipid Membrane Structure and BehaviorBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.6%
- Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and DiseaseBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.4%
- Pancreatic function and diabetesMedicine4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Biology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Cell Biology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Biology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Cell Biology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Biology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Cell Biology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
MEDLINEPMCPublisher website
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
- 1.75LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.1LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 3.1Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.68LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.44LetPub ·
- h-index
- 58LetPub ·
- h-index
- 81OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 864OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.69OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 11.1%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 19LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 1Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,890 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 20 | 20 | 5 |
| 2025 | 19 | 19 | 36 |
| 2024 | 13 | 13 | 47 |
| 2023 | 16 | 16 | 106 |
| 2022 | 12 | 12 | 141 |
| 2021 | 9 | 9 | 138 |
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)
- over 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly easyLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 11 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 | JPY 100,000 | No | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | JPY 100,000 | — | — | |
| LetPub | JPY 100,000 | No | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 670 | — | — |
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- Submission fee
- No submission fee
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
- ≤ 250 words
- Keywords
- ≤ 5
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 6,000 words
- Reference style
- Harvard
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
- Graphical abstract
- Required
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted13, with length limits
- editorialThe journal uses single-blind peer review. When a manuscript is submitted to the journal, it is assigned to the Editor-in-Chief or one of the Editors, who perfo…Length not stated
- full articlesThe journal publishes five article types: Full Articles; Short Communications; Mini-Reviews and Reviews; Technical Notes; and Perspectives.Length not stated
- mini-reviews and reviewsThe journal publishes five article types: Full Articles; Short Communications; Mini-Reviews and Reviews; Technical Notes; and Perspectives.Length not stated
- opinionCell Structure and Function welcomes four manuscript types, all of which are subject to single-anonymized peer review. Research Articles Full and comprehensive …Length not stated
- original researchCell Structure and Function welcomes four manuscript types, all of which are subject to single-anonymized peer review. Research Articles Full and comprehensive …Length not stated
- perspectiveCell Structure and Function welcomes four manuscript types, all of which are subject to single-anonymized peer review. Research Articles Full and comprehensive …main text ≤ 2,000 words
- perspectivesThe journal publishes five article types: Full Articles; Short Communications; Mini-Reviews and Reviews; Technical Notes; and Perspectives.Length not stated
- research articleCell Structure and Function welcomes four manuscript types, all of which are subject to single-anonymized peer review. Research Articles Full and comprehensive …Length not stated
- reviewCell Structure and Function welcomes four manuscript types, all of which are subject to single-anonymized peer review. Research Articles Full and comprehensive …main text ≤ 6,000 words
- short communicationsThe journal publishes five article types: Full Articles; Short Communications; Mini-Reviews and Reviews; Technical Notes; and Perspectives.Length not stated
- technical noteCell Structure and Function welcomes four manuscript types, all of which are subject to single-anonymized peer review. Research Articles Full and comprehensive …Length not stated
- technical notesThe journal publishes five article types: Full Articles; Short Communications; Mini-Reviews and Reviews; Technical Notes; and Perspectives.Length not stated
- viewpointCell Structure and Function welcomes four manuscript types, all of which are subject to single-anonymized peer review. Research Articles Full and comprehensive …Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints, Self-archiving
- AI use Use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools
As per the COPE position statement on Authorship and AI tools, authors must disclose and fully describe any use of generative or non-generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools (also known as large language models, or LLMs) in the Materials and Methods section. This includes, but is not limited to, using AI tools to collect or analyze data, produce or amend images or graphics used in the manuscr…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Author Contribution Statement
Authors are encouraged to include an Author Contribution Statement that follows CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy). Each author’s contribution should be described using one or more of the 14 CRediT categories. For example (where ‘Author X’ is replaced by the actual author initials without periods): Conceptualization: Author 1. Funding acquisition: Author 1. Investigation: Author 1, Author 2. Supe…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflict of Interest Statement
Authors are required to declare any competing financial or other conflicts of interest in relation to the work described. Please see the ‘Author competing interests and conflicts of interest’ section for detailed information. If there are no declared interests, authors should include the following statement in this section of their manuscript: “The authors declare no competing interests.”
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data Availability Statement
Authors are encouraged to include a Data Availability Statement in manuscripts that report results from research data. Following Hrynaszkiewicz et al. (2020, http://doi.org/10.5334/dsj-2020-005), statements should include information on where the manuscript’s data can be found and (where applicable) directly link to the data.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Scientific and publication ethics
Cell Structure and Function has a range of journal policies on authorship, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, experimentation, image integrity, unoriginal material and more, which are detailed in the Instructions to Authors. The journal follows the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines to manage cases of potential ethical concern.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright OPEN ACCESS, COPYRIGHT and LICENSING
Cell Structure and Function recently moved to a fully Open Access publication model. For more information on the journal’s Open Access policies, see the Open Access Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). Publication Fee There are many costs associated with publishing scholarly journals, such as those of managing peer review, copy editing, typesetting and online hosting. To cover these costs in the abs…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Self-archiving (Green Open Access) policy
Self-archiving, also known as Green Open Access, enables authors to deposit a copy of their manuscript in an online repository. Cell Structure and Function encourages authors of original Research Article manuscripts (and otherwise as appropriate) to upload their article to an institutional or public repository immediately after publication in the journal.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Editorial and peer review process
Archived in Portico Model summary
The journal uses single-blind peer review. When a manuscript is submitted to the journal, it is assigned to the Editor-in-Chief or one of the Editors, who performs initial screening. Manuscripts that do not fit the journal’s scope or are not deemed suitable for publication are rejected without review. The remaining manuscripts are assigned to an Associate Editor who assigns two reviewers to assess…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
The authors may post their research manuscripts on community-recognized preprint servers, either before or alongside submission to the journal. This policy applies only to the original version of a manuscript that describes primary research. Any version of a manuscript that has been revised in response to reviewers’ comments, accepted for publication or published in the journal should not be poste…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Self-archiving Self-archiving (Green Open Access) policy
Self-archiving, also known as Green Open Access, enables authors to deposit a copy of their manuscript in an online repository. Cell Structure and Function encourages authors of original Research Article manuscripts (and otherwise as appropriate) to upload their article to an institutional or public repository immediately after publication in the journal.
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
- Japan Society for Cell Biology
- Country or region
- JAPAN
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Semiannual
- Founded
- 1975
- ISSN
- 0386-7196
- Electronic ISSN
- 1347-3700
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Cell Structure and Function
What CAS zone is Cell Structure and Function in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Cell Structure and Function is in Zone 4 of Biology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Cell Biology. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 4 of Biology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Cell Structure and Function?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.75; CiteScore 3.1, h-index 81.
How long does peer review take at Cell Structure and Function?
Authors report an average review time of over 12 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly easy”. 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 Cell Structure and Function?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Keywords: ≤ 5; Manuscript length: ≤ 6,000 words; Reference style: Harvard; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Optional; 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 Cell Structure and Function based?
Of the 22 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 5%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (6), Australia (3) and Singapore (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Cell Structure and Function?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Cell Structure and Function is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists MEDLINE and PMC; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Cell Structure and Function open access, and what is the APC?
Cell Structure and Function is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, Publisher website, DOAJ; 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: .