Journal profile · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology-Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (miscellaneous)
Engineering Microbiology
ISSN 2667-3703 · Elsevier · Netherlands
Engineering Microbiology: CAS Zone 2 · Biology (2026 Xinrui edition); impact factor 6.1 (journal website); fully open access; APC about USD 1,960; median 84 days to acceptance (71 articles, last 24 months); 44 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Engineering Microbiology is published by Elsevier and is classed under Biology in the CAS Journal Ranking. By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Microbial Metabolic Engineering and Bioproduction, Microbial Natural Products and Biosynthesis and CRISPR and Genetic Engineering, together about 31.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Molecular Biology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Engineering Microbiology is dedicated to publishing rigorously peer-reviewed, high-quality original research papers that make significant, important, and novel contribution in the methodology, theory, mechanism, and application of engineering microbes (archaea, bacteria, eukaryotic microbes, viruses) with an ultimate goal of improving microbes for practical applications. Papers describing the improvement of microbial communities and microbial cellular and biochemical components (such as enzymes) are also welcome. Papers describing fundamental microbial biology that do not see an eventual application potential are not in the scope of the journal.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology-Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (miscellaneous)
Editor-in-chief Youming ZhangPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 18 in mainland China (about 43%); most named Mainland China 18, United States 6, Japan 3, Germany 3, United Kingdom 2 (42 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Microbial Metabolic Engineering and BioproductionBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology14.9%
- Microbial Natural Products and BiosynthesisMedicine8.2%
- CRISPR and Genetic EngineeringBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology8.2%
- Bacterial Genetics and BiotechnologyBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology7.1%
- Biofuel production and bioconversionEngineering7.1%
- Enzyme Catalysis and ImmobilizationBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.7%
- Bacteriophages and microbial interactionsEnvironmental Science5%
- Plant biochemistry and biosynthesisBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.3%
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)Biology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Microbiology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
PubMedPublisher website
Other: Crossref
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 (publisher)
- 6.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 10.1LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 10.1Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.38LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.32LetPub ·
- h-index
- 27OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 71OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 5.43OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 33LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 183 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 27 | 27 | 15 |
| 2025 | 44 | 44 | 163 |
| 2024 | 27 | 27 | 354 |
| 2023 | 42 | 42 | 785 |
| 2022 | 35 | 35 | 927 |
| 2021 | 8 | 8 | 210 |
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 PubMed · to
84 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 55 days – 122 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 5 days (71 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 95 days
- Sample
- 71 articles with submission and acceptance dates (79 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 9 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 16 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 | USD 1,960 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 1,960 / EUR 1,830 / GBP 1,570 / JPY 243,100 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 2,300 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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
- commentaryThe Engineering Microbiology journal publishes full length original research papers, review type articles, short communications, research highlights as well as …Length not stated
- editorialThe Engineering Microbiology journal publishes full length original research papers, review type articles, short communications, research highlights as well as …Length not stated
- original research paperThe Engineering Microbiology journal publishes full length original research papers, review type articles, short communications, research highlights as well as …Length not stated
- research paperThe Engineering Microbiology journal publishes full length original research papers, review type articles, short communications, research highlights as well as …Length not stated
- reviewThe Engineering Microbiology journal publishes full length original research papers, review type articles, short communications, research highlights as well as …Length not stated
- review articleThe Engineering Microbiology journal publishes full length original research papers, review type articles, short communications, research highlights as well as …Length not stated
- short communicationThe Engineering Microbiology journal publishes full length original research papers, review type articles, short communications, research highlights as well as …Length not stated
- technical noteThe Engineering Microbiology journal publishes full length original research papers, review type articles, short communications, research highlights as well as …Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- AI use Declaration of generative AI in scientific writing
Authors must declare the use of generative AI tools in the manuscript preparation process upon submission of the paper. Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies (“AI tools”) have been rapidly adopted in research and scholarly publishing, offering significant benefits while requiring clear standards for responsible and transparent use. Authors preparing a manuscript for this journal may use AI to…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Author contributions
For transparency, we require corresponding authors to provide co-author contributions to the manuscript using the relevant CRediT roles. The CRediT taxonomy includes 14 different roles describing each contributor's specific contribution to the scholarly output. The roles are: Conceptualization; Data curation; Formal analysis; Funding acquisition; Investigation; Methodology; Project administration;…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Declaration of competing interest
Corresponding authors, on behalf of all the authors of a submission, must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright
Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'License Agreement' (see more information on this). Permitted third party reuse of open access articles is determined by the author's choice of user license. Author rights As an author you (or your employer or institution) have certain rights to reuse your work. More information.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access
APC fees and language editing fees covered for accepted articles Model summary
Please visit our Open Access page for more information about open access publishing in this journal.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review
Peer reviewed, open access journal Model summary
This journal operates a single anonymized review process. All contributions will be initially assessed by the editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then typically sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The Editor is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. The Editor'…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
Please note that preprints can be shared anywhere at any time, in line with Elsevier's sharing policy. Sharing your preprints e.g. on a preprint server will not count as prior publication (see 'Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication' for more information).
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
- Elsevier
- Country or region
- Netherlands
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2667-3703
- Print ISSN
- 2097-4280
- Society / sponsor
- Shandong University Engineering Microbiology
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- 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 Engineering Microbiology
What CAS zone is Engineering Microbiology in?
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 Engineering Microbiology?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 6.1; this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 10.1, h-index 27.
How long does peer review take at Engineering Microbiology?
Based on the dates recorded on 71 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 84 days (interquartile range 55–122 days); authors report an average review time of about 9 weeks. 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 Engineering Microbiology based?
Of the 42 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 18 (about 43%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (18), United States (6) and Japan (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Engineering Microbiology?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Engineering Microbiology is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists PubMed; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Engineering Microbiology open access, and what is the APC?
Engineering Microbiology is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 1,960.
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: .