Cell Systems

Cell Systems is published by Cell Press and is in Zone 1 of Biology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Gene Regulatory Network Analysis, Single-cell and spatial transcriptomics and Bioinformatics and Genomic Networks, together about 30.7% of its articles. Its main subfields are Molecular Biology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)

Cell Systems was established in 2015 to provide a home at Cell Press for elegant work that addresses fundamental questions in systems biology. "Systems biology," as we broadly define it, is work that develops a rigorous understanding of any biological phenomenon where one plus one does not apparently equal two. Disciplines in the physical sciences have met this challenge for a long time, and we've found that our strongest papers tend to apply quantitative, inference-based approaches taken in physics, engineering, mathematics, and computer science to salient biological questions.We believe it's our responsibility to ensure that the next generation of scientists can begin their work on solid ground. Accordingly, we focus our review process on validity and scientific acuity, rather than more subjective feelings and opinions. We also believe that scientific transparency is of paramount importance. A study's structure and presentation should be candid and forthright (e.g. it should ensure fair comparisons; it should either use non-arbitrary cut-offs or clearly explained arbitrary cut-offs that do not affect outcomes; its data visualization choices should promote objective understanding; its limitations should not be obscured). Fundamentally good scientific practice also demands that studies be repeatable. We encourage authors to make their code and data FAIR, that is findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable, as defined by the NIH data commons. Although it is too early to formally require that all studies we publish be FAIR, we consider that requirement annually.As editors, we hold ourselves to the same standards of transparency but also recognize that living up to those standards requires constant effort. Like all journals, Cell Systems is a work in progress. A collection of editorials that document our thoughts and their evolution can be found here. We are always happy to talk to you.

From the journal's Aims & Scope

Research area (LetPub): Medicine-Pathology and Forensic Medicine

CAS Journal Ranking

Database indexing

SCIEScopusLetPub

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.

Impact

Impact factor

7.56LetPub · 2026-09-13

Impact factor (publisher)

7.5Publisher website · 2026-09-30

CiteScore 2026-06

11.5LetPub · 2026-09-13

CiteScore (publisher)

11.5Publisher website · 2026-09-30

SJR 2026-06

4.95LetPub · 2026-09-13

SNIP 2026-06

1.69LetPub · 2026-09-13

h-index

30LetPub · 2026-09-13

h-index

142OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

i10-index

847OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

2-year mean citedness

6.35OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

Self-citation rate

2.7%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Share of gold OA articles

32.06%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Volume

Articles per year

106LetPub · 2026-09-13

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.

Other sources

Submission to first decision

11 daysPublisher website · 2026-09-30

First decision after review

83 daysPublisher website · 2026-09-30

Submission to acceptance

274 daysPublisher website · 2026-09-30

Acceptance to publication

27 daysPublisher website · 2026-09-30

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.

A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.

The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.

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.

Publisher

Cell Press

Country or region

UNITED STATES

Language

English

ISSN

2405-4712

Electronic ISSN

2405-4720

Official links

• Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
• Submission system ↗Publisher website
• Special issues ↗Publisher website