Journal profile · ECOLOGY
Ecology and Evolution
ISSN 2045-7758 · John Wiley and Sons Ltd · UNITED STATES
Ecology and Evolution: CAS Zone 2 · Biology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.56; fully open access; APC about USD 2,700; median 135 days to acceptance (188 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: easy; 2,024 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Ecology and Evolution is published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd and is in Zone 2 of Biology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Plant and animal studies, Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies and Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, together about 31.6% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The Philosophy of the Journal Be Author Friendly Ecology and Evolution is intended to be a bit different. Our overriding philosophy is to be "author-friendly". We intend to provide a forum for authors to present their evidence-based views, as long as they are not factually incorrect (or, you know, wacky). In practice, this means that we allow authors to disagree with reviewers but we expect them to acknowledge and address disagreements in the manuscript. We think this will lead to dialogues within the research community. Impact comes in many forms. We are not chasing an Impact Factor; we are looking to have research read and commented upon. Look for Reasons to Publish To implement the journal philosophy, we look for reasons to publish a manuscript rather than looking for reasons to reject. We do not have a target for rejections and there is no page limit for a manuscript, or for an issue of the journal. There is no curve. But just like class marks, there will always be some that do not pass. However, we don’t have to work to make sure there are papers rejected. Rather than reject a paper, we hope to find ways to overcome concerns. Our experience is that there are rarely fatal flaws. More often, reviewers disagree with the orientation of a paper, or feel there are better methods, or feel the data are over-interpreted. We also see comments such as "this is not novel" or "there are more modern approaches". None of these are reasons for rejection at Ecology and Evolution. Judging "quality" is not easy and always subjective. If the science isn't flawed, there is always value. Many journals have gone to a "reject without review" decision to reduce their workload given they can only publish a small fraction of the papers they receive. Because we are online, we have no such limits. We would be delighted to publish 100% of what is submitted. There are no page limits with online open access. Therefore we aim to review nearly everything submitted. We are aware, however, that the reviewer community is under stress. We therefore encourage editors to make firm decisions. If a paper is rejected, it is flawed. If it can be revised, we encourage editors to interpret reviewer concerns and, with rare exceptions, we do not expect papers to be sent back to referees after the authors have revised their work. With the cooperation of the author, editors should be able to make a decision on a revised paper without further review. Our Scope is Broad Journals typically reject papers
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): ECOLOGY
Editor-in-chief Allen MoorePublisher website
Editorial board by country: 9 in mainland China (about 7%); most named United States 37, United Kingdom 17, Canada 13, Brazil 11, Mainland China 9 (135 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Plant and animal studiesAgricultural and Biological Sciences10.8%
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics StudiesEnvironmental Science10.7%
- Wildlife Ecology and ConservationEnvironmental Science10.2%
- Species Distribution and Climate ChangeEnvironmental Science10%
- Genetic diversity and population structureBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology7.1%
- Animal Behavior and ReproductionAgricultural and Biological Sciences6.8%
- Fish Ecology and Management StudiesEnvironmental Science4.5%
- Avian ecology and behaviorEnvironmental Science4.3%
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 | Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Evolutionary Biology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Biology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Evolutionary Biology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Biology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Evolutionary Biology | Zone 4 |
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
- 2.56LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2.6Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.6Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.5LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 3.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 3.5Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.8LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.99LetPub ·
- h-index
- 47LetPub ·
- h-index
- 146OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 7,894OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.62OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 7.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 1,932LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 1,950Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 4,883,386Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 16,265 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1,649 | 1,649 | 516 |
| 2025 | 2,024 | 2,024 | 4,153 |
| 2024 | 1,647 | 1,647 | 9,291 |
| 2023 | 1,169 | 1,169 | 10,949 |
| 2022 | 1,214 | 1,214 | 15,156 |
| 2021 | 1,378 | 1,378 | 23,886 |
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
135 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 101 days – 185 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 17 days (188 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 158 days
- Sample
- 188 articles with submission and acceptance dates (4,014 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)
- 3–6 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 68%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 68%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 47 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 47 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 129 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 18 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 20 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 2,210 / GBP 1,960 / USD 2,700 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | USD 2,570 / EUR 2,100 / GBP 1,870 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 2,350 / GBP 1,710 / EUR 1,920 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | No APC | — | — |
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 accepted8
- correspondenceResearch Article Review Article Viewpoint Nature Notes Genetics Notes Academic Practice in Ecology and Evolution Registered Report Letter to the Editor (Invitat…Length not stated
- data noteResearch Article Review Article Viewpoint Nature Notes Genetics Notes Data Notes Academic Practice in Ecology and Evolution Registered Report Letter to the Edit…Length not stated
- editorialResearch Article Review Article Viewpoint Nature Notes Genetics Notes Data Notes Academic Practice in Ecology and Evolution Registered Report Letter to the Edit…Length not stated
- letter to the editorResearch Article Review Article Viewpoint Nature Notes Genetics Notes Data Notes Academic Practice in Ecology and Evolution Registered Report Letter to the Edit…Length not stated
- registered reportResearch Article Review Article Viewpoint Nature Notes Genetics Notes Data Notes Academic Practice in Ecology and Evolution Registered Report Letter to the Edit…Length not stated
- research articleResearch Article Review Article Viewpoint Nature Notes Genetics Notes Data Notes Academic Practice in Ecology and Evolution Registered Report Letter to the Edit…Length not stated
- review articleResearch Article Review Article Viewpoint Nature Notes Genetics Notes Data Notes Academic Practice in Ecology and Evolution Registered Report Letter to the Edit…Length not stated
- viewpointResearch Article Review Article Viewpoint Nature Notes Genetics Notes Data Notes Academic Practice in Ecology and Evolution Registered Report Letter to the Edit…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Data availability, Peer review
- Authorship
Free format submission Model summary
We place very few restrictions on the way in which you prepare your article for submission (beyond the requirement of a Data Accessibility Statement) and it is not necessary to try to replicate the layout of the journal.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability
Data archiving policy requiring data, metadata and code on submission Model summary
Ecology and Evolution requires authors to (a) provide all data, metadata and code on submission for review by editors and referees and (b) adhere to our minimum standards in data and code archiving set out here.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Single-blind confidential peer-review process Model summary
Ecology and Evolution operates a single-blind confidential peer-review process. Editors and reviewers are expected to handle the manuscripts confidentially and must not disclose any details to anyone outside of the review process.
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
- John Wiley and Sons Ltd
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2045-7758
- 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 Ecology and Evolution
What CAS zone is Ecology and Evolution in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Ecology and Evolution is in Zone 2 of Biology, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Ecology / Evolutionary Biology. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Biology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Ecology and Evolution?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.56; CiteScore 3.5, h-index 146.
How long does peer review take at Ecology and Evolution?
Based on the dates recorded on 188 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 135 days (interquartile range 101–185 days); authors report an average review time of 3–6 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Easy”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 68% (2025). 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 Ecology and Evolution based?
Of the 135 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 9 (about 7%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (37), United Kingdom (17) and Canada (13). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Ecology and Evolution?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Ecology and Evolution is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Ecology and Evolution open access, and what is the APC?
Ecology and Evolution is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 2,700.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, 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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .