Journal profile · Immunology and Microbiology-Microbiology
Environmental Microbiome
ISSN 2524-6372 · BioMed Central · ENGLAND · Founded 2009
Environmental Microbiome: CAS Zone 2 · Environmental Science & Ecology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 6.27; fully open access; APC about USD 2,590; median 148 days to acceptance (105 articles, last 24 months); 182 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Environmental Microbiome is published by BioMed Central and is in Zone 2 of Environmental Science & Ecology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology, Plant-Microbe Interactions and Immunity and Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plant Interactions, together about 44.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Ecology and Plant Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Microorganisms can be found across all environments on Earth: adapting to external change; being central to Earth’s systems and cycles; an essential part of agricultural practices; and - through applied microbiology - providing solutions to our everyday needs. Environmental Microbiome acknowledges this universal presence and importance and is seeking submissions that advance our understanding of how microbial communities shape processes across natural, managed and engineered environments; bolster environmental resilience; or provide potential sustainable solutions. Topics include, but are not limited to: Aquatic, atmospheric and terrestrial microbiomes - microbial interactions, networks, community assembly and function Functional microbiomics, including metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, metabolomics and systems-level analyses Plant-associated microbiomes, including rhizosphere, phyllosphere and endosphere communities Plant–microbe–soil interactions and microbiome-enabled agriculture Geomicrobiology, biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem processes Climate change impacts, environmental resilience and microbial adaptation Microbiomes of built and engineered environments Environmental viromes Environmental mycobiomes Microbiome focused bioremediation and environmental biotechnology Microbiomes of extreme environments including astrobiology Environmental Microbiome publishes studies that provide robust, broadly relevant insights into the ecology, function, dynamics, and interactions of environmental microbial communities. Studies should support causal, functional, and temporal conclusions with experimental designs and measurements appropriate to those claims. The journal prioritizes studies that generate insights of relevance beyond the specific site, host, treatment, disease, or environmental system under investigation.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Immunology and Microbiology-Microbiology
Editor-in-chief Joy WattsPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 28 in mainland China (about 22%); most named Mainland China 28, United Kingdom 25, United States 14, Germany 7, Hong Kong, China 6 (126 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Microbial Community Ecology and PhysiologyEnvironmental Science21.5%
- Plant-Microbe Interactions and ImmunityAgricultural and Biological Sciences13.6%
- Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plant InteractionsAgricultural and Biological Sciences9.1%
- Soil Carbon and Nitrogen DynamicsAgricultural and Biological Sciences6.5%
- Genomics and Phylogenetic StudiesBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.5%
- Bacteriophages and microbial interactionsEnvironmental Science3.8%
- Gut microbiota and healthBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology3.7%
- Legume Nitrogen Fixing SymbiosisAgricultural and Biological Sciences3.7%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Genetics & Heredity | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Microbiology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Genetics & Heredity | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Microbiology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Genetics & Heredity | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Microbiology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
EmbaseCASCAB AbstractsPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Astrophysics Data System, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS
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
- 6.27LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 6.2Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 7.3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 8LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.74LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.29LetPub ·
- h-index
- 44OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 265OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 6.75OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 3.2%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.73%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 181LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 1,100,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 622 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 124 | 124 | 69 |
| 2025 | 182 | 182 | 1,090 |
| 2024 | 113 | 113 | 1,668 |
| 2023 | 87 | 87 | 1,971 |
| 2022 | 61 | 61 | 1,973 |
| 2021 | 25 | 25 | 1,369 |
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
148 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 118 days – 206 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 15 days (105 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 163 days
- Sample
- 105 articles with submission and acceptance dates (347 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 13 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 25 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 13 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 2,190 / USD 2,590 / GBP 1,890 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 2,590 / EUR 2,190 / GBP 1,890 | — | — | |
| LetPub | GBP 1,690 / USD 2,390 / EUR 1,990 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | GBP 189 / GBP 1,890 / USD 2,590 / EUR 2,190 | — | — |
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)
Open calls for papers1, by deadline
Publisher websiteWhat to prepare1 items from the author guidelines
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
Article types accepted9
- brief reportResearch Comment Correspondence Meeting report Methodology Review Brief report Software Preparing your manuscript PerspectiveLength not stated
- commentResearch Comment Correspondence Meeting report Methodology Review Brief report Software Preparing your manuscript PerspectiveLength not stated
- correspondenceResearch Comment Correspondence Meeting report Methodology Review Brief report Software Preparing your manuscript PerspectiveLength not stated
- meeting reportResearch Comment Correspondence Meeting report Methodology Review Brief report Software Preparing your manuscript PerspectiveLength not stated
- methodologyResearch Comment Correspondence Meeting report Methodology Review Brief report Software Preparing your manuscript PerspectiveLength not stated
- perspectiveResearch Comment Correspondence Meeting report Methodology Review Brief report Software Preparing your manuscript PerspectiveLength not stated
- researchResearch Comment Correspondence Meeting report Methodology Review Brief report Software Preparing your manuscript PerspectiveLength not stated
- reviewResearch Comment Correspondence Meeting report Methodology Review Brief report Software Preparing your manuscript PerspectiveLength not stated
- softwareResearch Comment Correspondence Meeting report Methodology Review Brief report Software Preparing your manuscript PerspectiveLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteData availability, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- Data availability Formatting the 'Availability of data and materials' section of your manuscript
The following format for the 'Availability of data and materials section of your manuscript should be used:
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Licensing and copyright
Creative Commons licences Open access articles in Springer Nature journals are published under Creative Commons licences. These provide an industry-standard framework to support easy re-use of open access material. Under Creative Commons licences, authors retain copyright of their articles. Environmental Microbiome articles are published open access under a CC BY-NC-ND (Creative Commons Attributio…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Benefits of open access
Publishing open access (OA) offers a number of benefits, including greater reach and readership for your work: Cited more 1.6x more citations of OA articles than non-OA articles across all subjects Downloaded more 4x more downloads of OA articles than non-OA articles Greater impact 2.5x more Altmetric attention. OA articles attracted 1.9x more news mentions and 1.2x more policy mentions Open acces…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review policy
Editorial policies are hosted on the BioMed Central website. Model summary
Peer review is the process used to evaluate the quality of a manuscript before publication. Independent researchers in the relevant field assess submitted manuscripts to check their validity and robustness. Their feedback guides editors in making publication decisions. Typically, two or more experts evaluate each manuscript based on three main criteria: scientific robustness: is the research metho…
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
- BioMed Central
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Founded
- 2009
- ISSN
- 2524-6372
- 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 Environmental Microbiome
What CAS zone is Environmental Microbiome in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Environmental Microbiome is in Zone 2 of Environmental Science & Ecology, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Genetics & Heredity / Microbiology. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Environmental Science & Ecology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Environmental Microbiome?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 6.27; CiteScore 8, h-index 44.
How long does peer review take at Environmental Microbiome?
Based on the dates recorded on 105 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 148 days (interquartile range 118–206 days); authors report an average review time of about 13 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 Environmental Microbiome based?
Of the 126 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 28 (about 22%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (28), United Kingdom (25) and United States (14). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Environmental Microbiome?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Environmental Microbiome is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Embase, CAS and CAB Abstracts; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Environmental Microbiome open access, and what is the APC?
Environmental Microbiome is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 2,590.
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: .