Journal profile · IMMUNOLOGY-MICROBIOLOGY
Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology
ISSN 2235-2988 · Frontiers Media S.A. · SWITZERLAND
Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology: CAS Zone 2 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 5.5; fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 59 days to acceptance (196 articles, last 24 months); 1,548 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology is published by Frontiers Media S.A. and is in Zone 2 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Gut microbiota and health, Antibiotic Resistance in Bacteria and Bacterial biofilms and quorum sensing, together about 27% of its articles. Its main subfields are Infectious Diseases. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology is a multidisciplinary journal focused on all pathogenic microorganisms and their interactions with hosts. The journal is led by Field Chief Editor Prof Yousef Abu Kwaik (University of Louisville, USA) and indexed in MEDLINE, PubMed Central (PMC), Scopus, Web of Science (SCIE), and DOAJ. Submissions on all types of microbial pathogens are welcome, along with studies on microbiota, the effect of microbes on host health and disease, and treatment of microbial infections. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: adaptive and innate immunity in infection antibiotic resistance antimicrobial drugs and vaccines bacteria, fungi, parasites, viruses, endosymbionts, prions, and their hosts biofilms clinical microbiology intestinal and oral microbiome molecular bacterial and viral pathogenesis veterinary and zoonotic infection. Research approaches can include molecular microbiology, cellular microbiology, gene regulation, proteomics, signal transduction, pathogenic evolution, genomics, structural biology, virulence factors, and model hosts. The journal particularly welcomes research that supports and advances the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), notably SDG 3: good health and well-being; and SDG 6: clean water and sanitation. Manuscripts that focus on the study of non-pathogenic microorganisms or non-microbial organisms, such as plants and animals, are not suitable for publication in this journal. Additionally, studies that primarily focus on the development of novel therapeutic strategies or the investigation of molecular signaling pathways in non-microbial systems are not within the scope of this journal. Furthermore, research that is purely statistical or computational, such as systematic meta-analyses or high-throughput sequence analysis, without a foundation in cellular or infection microbiology, is not appropriate for this journal. Manuscripts that consist solely of Bibliometric studies, Mendelian Randomization, or computational studies of public data are not accepted for publication in Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology. Such manuscripts might be submitted to another Frontiers Journal when appropriate and must adhere to the Frontiers Standards for research methodology policy. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology is committed to advancing our understanding and treatment of infectious disease by communicating scientific knowledge to researchers and the public alike, to
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): IMMUNOLOGY-MICROBIOLOGY
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 5, France 3, United Kingdom 2, South Korea 1, India 1 (16 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Gut microbiota and healthBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology14.3%
- Antibiotic Resistance in BacteriaBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology7.7%
- Bacterial biofilms and quorum sensingBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5%
- Oral microbiology and periodontitis researchDentistry4.8%
- Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens researchMedicine4.7%
- Antifungal resistance and susceptibilityMedicine4.4%
- Mosquito-borne diseases and controlMedicine4.2%
- Tuberculosis Research and EpidemiologyMedicine4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Immunology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Microbiology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Immunology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Microbiology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Microbiology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Immunology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of ScienceMEDLINEPMCEmbasePublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, CLOCKSS, 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
- 5.5LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 5.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 9.6LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 9.6Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.4LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.34LetPub ·
- h-index
- 53LetPub ·
- h-index
- 187OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 6,739OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.73OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 1.8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.9%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 1,421LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 12,520 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1,642 | 1,642 | 886 |
| 2025 | 1,548 | 1,548 | 7,338 |
| 2024 | 1,208 | 1,208 | 12,581 |
| 2023 | 1,511 | 1,511 | 25,020 |
| 2022 | 2,076 | 2,076 | 47,768 |
| 2021 | 1,417 | 1,417 | 47,564 |
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
59 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 43 days – 88 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 22 days (196 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 84 days
- Sample
- 196 articles with submission and acceptance dates (3,383 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 14 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 14 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 | CHF 3,150 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | CHF 3,150 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 3,295 | Yes | — |
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 prepare1 items from the author guidelines
- Keywords
- 5–8
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Conflicts of interest, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- AI use Use of AI to create written or visual content
Authors should not list a generative AI technology as a co-author or author of any submitted manuscript. Generative AI technologies cannot be held accountable for all aspects of a manuscript and consequently do not meet the criteria required for authorship. If the author of a submitted manuscript has used written or visual content produced by or edited using a generative AI technology, this use mu…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Safeguards against financial conflicts of interest
Only leading researchers acting as Associate Editors, who are not part of Frontiers' staff, can make acceptance decisions based on reviews performed by external experts acting as Community Reviewers or Reviewers. None have a financial incentive to accept articles, i.e. they are not paid for their role as Associate Editor or community Reviewer, and any award scheme is not linked to acceptances of m…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Open access and copyright
All Frontiers' articles from July 2012 onwards are published with open access under the Creative Commons CC-BY license (the current version is CC-BY, version 4.0). This means that the author(s) retains copyright, but the content is free to download, distribute, and adapt for commercial or non-commercial purposes, given appropriate attribution to the original article. Upon submission, the author(s)…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access and copyright
All Frontiers' articles from July 2012 onwards are published with open access under the Creative Commons CC-BY license (the current version is CC-BY, version 4.0). This means that the author(s) retains copyright, but the content is free to download, distribute, and adapt for commercial or non-commercial purposes, given appropriate attribution to the original article. Upon submission, the author(s)…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review
Our rigorous, transparent peer review process combines expert review and constructive dialogue to strengthen your manuscript.
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
- Frontiers Media S.A.
- Country or region
- SWITZERLAND
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2235-2988
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- 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 Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology
What CAS zone is Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology is in Zone 2 of Medicine, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Immunology / Microbiology. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Medicine. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 5.5; CiteScore 9.6, h-index 187.
How long does peer review take at Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology?
Based on the dates recorded on 196 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 59 days (interquartile range 43–88 days); authors report an average review time of about 14 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 Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology based?
Of the 16 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (5), France (3) and United Kingdom (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science, MEDLINE, PMC and Embase; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology open access, and what is the APC?
Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, Publisher website, 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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .