Journal profile · Microbiology
Environmental Microbiology
ISSN 1462-2912 · eISSN 1462-2920 · Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd · ENGLAND · Monthly · Founded 1999
Environmental Microbiology: CAS Zone 2 · Biology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.88; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,640; median 147 days to acceptance (107 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: fairly hard; 233 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Environmental Microbiology is published by Wiley-Blackwell Publishing 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 Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology, Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies and Protist diversity and phylogeny, together about 37.7% of its articles. Its main subfields are Molecular Biology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Environmental Microbiology provides a high profile vehicle for publication of the most innovative, original and rigorous research in the field. The journal publishes full length research articles as well as brief reports, minireviews, opinion articles and highlights. The scope of the Journal encompasses the diversity of current research on microbial processes in the environment, microbial communities, interactions and evolution and includes, but is not limited to, the following: the structure, activities and communal behaviour of microbial communities microbial community genetics and evolutionary processes microbial symbioses, microbial interactions and interactions with plants, animals and abiotic factors microbes in the tree of life, microbial diversification and evolution microbiomes and holobionts population biology and clonal structure microbial metabolic and structural diversity microbial physiology, growth and survival primary and secondary metabolism in the environment microbes and surfaces, adhesion and biofilm responses to environmental signals and stress factors modelling and theory development pollution microbiology microbial ecology of pathogens extremophiles and life in extreme and unusual little-explored habitats element cycles and biogeochemical processes microbes in a changing world, microbially-influenced global changes systems biology and computational predictions evolution and diversity of archaeal and bacterial viruses new technological developments in microbial ecology and evolution, in particular for the study of activities of microbial communities, non-culturable microorganisms and emerging pathogens single cell microbial ecology Interdisciplinary studies of fundamental problems are particularly welcome. Abstracting and Indexing Information Abstracts in Anthropology (Sage) Abstracts on Hygiene & Communicable Diseases (CABI) Academic Search (EBSCO Publishing) Academic Search Alumni Edition (EBSCO Publishing) Academic Search Premier (EBSCO Publishing) AgBiotech News & Information (CABI) AgBiotechNet (CABI) AGRICOLA Database (National Agricultural Library) Agricultural & Environmental Science Database (ProQuest) Agricultural Engineering Abstracts (CABI) Animal Breeding Abstracts (CABI) Biocontrol News & Information (CABI) Biofuels Abstracts (CABI) Biological Science Database (ProQuest) Biotechnology Citation Index (Clarivate Analytics) Botanical Pesticides (CABI) CAB Abstracts® (CABI) Crop Physiology Abstracts (CABI) Current Contents:
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Microbiology
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Microbial Community Ecology and PhysiologyEnvironmental Science24.1%
- Genomics and Phylogenetic StudiesBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology8.6%
- Protist diversity and phylogenyBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.1%
- Marine and coastal ecosystemsEarth and Planetary Sciences4.8%
- Bacteriophages and microbial interactionsEnvironmental Science4.4%
- Methane Hydrates and Related PhenomenaEnvironmental Science4.3%
- Bacterial biofilms and quorum sensingBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology3.7%
- Gut microbiota and healthBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology3.6%
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 | Microbiology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Biology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Microbiology | Zone 3 |
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 | Microbiology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
MEDLINEPubMedCAB AbstractsCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest, AGRICOLA
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
- 3.88LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 4Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 9LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 9Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.27LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.06LetPub ·
- h-index
- 164LetPub ·
- h-index
- 275OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 6,122OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.38OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 2.5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 67.57%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 198LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 8,184 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 244 | 140 | 96 |
| 2025 | 233 | 179 | 824 |
| 2024 | 176 | 141 | 1,287 |
| 2023 | 262 | 189 | 2,804 |
| 2022 | 478 | 268 | 8,491 |
| 2021 | 493 | 239 | 13,258 |
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
147 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 99 days – 203 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 15 days (107 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 169 days
- Sample
- 107 articles with submission and acceptance dates (449 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 2 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly hardLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 12%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 9 daysPublisher website ·
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
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 4,640 / EUR 3,980 / GBP 3,300 | — | — |
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.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
What to prepare3 items from the author guidelines
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Highlights
- Optional
- Graphical abstract
- Required
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Peer review, Preprints
- Authorship CRediT (Contribution Roles Taxonomy)
Name change policy: Wiley will update and republish the paper and redeliver metadata to indexing services; no correction notice or co-author notification for privacy. Model summary
EMI is requesting CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy), enabling authors to provide information on submission, allowing for detailed information about individual contributions to the work. If not provided on submission, this information can be provided at subsequent revision stages, facilitated by the Editorial Office. The submitting author is responsible for ensuring that contributions of all auth…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflict of Interest
EMI requires that all authors disclose any potential sources of conflict of interest. Any interest or relationship, financial or otherwise, that might be perceived as influencing an author’s objectivity is considered a potential source of conflict of interest. These must be disclosed when directly relevant or indirectly related to the work that the authors describe in their manuscript. Potential s…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data sharing
Data sharing is mandated and peer reviewed. Model summary
This journal mandates and peer reviews data sharing. You can learn more about data sharing in Data Sharing Policy | Wiley.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics
Exclusive submission required; if accepted, authors retain copyright and grant the Publisher the exclusive right to publish. Model summary
Papers must be submitted exclusively to EMI and are accepted on the understanding that they are entirely original and have not been, and will not be, published elsewhere. If accepted, authors will retain copyright of the article, and grant the Publisher the exclusive right to publish.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Reproduction of Copyright Material
If excerpts from copyrighted works owned by third parties are included, credit must be shown in the contribution. It is your responsibility to also obtain written permission for reproduction from the copyright owners. For more information visit Wiley’s Obtaining Permission to Reproduce Material.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review 1. Submission and Peer Review Process
New submissions should be made via the Wiley Authors submission portal. You may check the status of your submission at any time by logging on to submission.wiley.com and clicking the “My Submissions” button. For technical help with the submission system, please review our FAQs or contact submissionhelp@wiley.com. Refer and Transfer Program
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprint Policy
Preprint policy: preprints on non-commercial servers may be submitted and posted at any time; pre-publication versions should be updated with a link to the final published article. Model summary
Environmental Microbiology will consider for review articles previously available as preprints on non-commercial servers such as ArXiv, bioRxiv, psyArXiv, SocArXiv, engrXiv, etc. Authors may also post the submitted version of their manuscript to non-commercial servers at any time. Authors are requested to update any pre-publication versions with a link to the final published article.´
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
- Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Founded
- 1999
- ISSN
- 1462-2912
- Electronic ISSN
- 1462-2920
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 28, Issue 9 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Environmental Microbiology
What CAS zone is Environmental Microbiology in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Environmental Microbiology is in Zone 2 of Biology, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Microbiology. 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 Environmental Microbiology?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.88; CiteScore 9, h-index 275.
How long does peer review take at Environmental Microbiology?
Based on the dates recorded on 107 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 147 days (interquartile range 99–203 days); authors report an average review time of about 2 months; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly hard”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 12%. 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 Environmental Microbiology?
According to the journal's author guidelines: First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Highlights: Optional; Graphical abstract: 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.
Which databases index Environmental Microbiology?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Environmental Microbiology is indexed in SCIE and Scopus. The journal's website also lists MEDLINE, PubMed, CAB Abstracts and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Environmental Microbiology open access, and what is the APC?
Environmental Microbiology is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,640.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex; 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: .