Journal profile · Environmental Science-Ecology
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
ISSN 2296-701X · Frontiers Media S.A. · Switzerland
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution: CAS Zone 3 · Environmental Science & Ecology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.19; fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; review about 12 weeks (community reports); 273 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution is published by Frontiers Media S.A. and is in Zone 3 of Environmental Science & Ecology 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 30.2% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution is a multidisciplinary journal that provides ecological and evolutionary insights into our natural and anthropogenic world, and how these insights can inform its management. Led by Field Chief Editor Dr Dennis Murray (Trent University, Canada), this DOAJ, SCOPUS and SCIE indexed journal welcomes both fundamental and applied research in all domains of ecology and evolution, which address our understanding of all levels of biological diversity using contemporary ecological and evolutionary concepts and questions. Topics of interest include: behavioral and evolutionary ecology biogeography and macroecology chemical ecology coevolution conservation and restoration ecology ecophysiology evolutionary developmental biology evolutionary ecology of social behaviour evolutionary and population genetics models in ecology and evolution natural history insights paleoecology paleontology phylogenetics, phylogenomics, and systematics population, community, and ecosystem dynamics urban ecology In particular, the journal welcomes submissions which support and advance the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), notably SDG 13: climate action; and SDG 15: life on land. Manuscripts describing research that lacks a clear connection to contemporary ecological or evolutionary concepts are not appropriate for this journal, including those that focus primarily on human health, urbanization, or economic factors, and technical aspects of abiotic factors, including energy production, water treatment, or other engineering-based approaches to environmental management. Finally, research that is purely descriptive, or theoretical, and lacks a clear connection with contemporary ecological or evolutionary concepts is not appropriate for this journal. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution is committed to advancing developments in the field of ecology and evolution by allowing unrestricted access to articles and communicating scientific knowledge to researchers and the public alike, thereby facilitating future scientific insights. Authors should mention, in the methods or acknowledgements, any Field Stations or Marine Laboratories (FSMLs) where the research was conducted or that supported the research (e.g., assisted with permitting, facilitated land or data access, provided housing accommodations or research space, granted funding, etc.). This also includes others places of scientific infrastructure (e.g., botanical gardens, national laboratories, museums)
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Environmental Science-Ecology
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 6%); most named United States 4, United Kingdom 3, Italy 3, Mainland China 1, Spain 1 (17 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 Sciences12.2%
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics StudiesEnvironmental Science9.2%
- Wildlife Ecology and ConservationEnvironmental Science8.8%
- Species Distribution and Climate ChangeEnvironmental Science8.1%
- Animal Behavior and ReproductionAgricultural and Biological Sciences7.5%
- Insect and Arachnid Ecology and BehaviorBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.5%
- Land Use and Ecosystem ServicesEnvironmental Science5.1%
- Fish Ecology and Management StudiesEnvironmental Science3.5%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Ecology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Ecology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Ecology | 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 SciencePublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Astrophysics Data System, 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
- 3.19LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 3.2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 6.6LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 6.6Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.86LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.1LetPub ·
- h-index
- 110OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 3,239OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.27OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.94%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 246LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 6,272 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 344 | 344 | 99 |
| 2025 | 273 | 273 | 604 |
| 2024 | 399 | 399 | 2,615 |
| 2023 | 1,107 | 1,107 | 10,318 |
| 2022 | 1,315 | 1,315 | 16,848 |
| 2021 | 1,006 | 1,006 | 20,248 |
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
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 12 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 2,550 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | CHF 2,550 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 2,795 | 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 prepare3 items from the author guidelines
- Keywords
- 5–8
- Reference style
- Harvard
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Conflicts of interest, License & copyright, Open access
- 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 ·
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
- 2296-701X
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- 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 Ecology and Evolution
What CAS zone is Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution is in Zone 3 of Environmental Science & Ecology, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Ecology. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Environmental Science & Ecology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.19; CiteScore 6.6, h-index 110.
How long does peer review take at Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution?
Authors report an average review time of about 12 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.
What are the manuscript requirements of Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Keywords: 5–8; Reference style: Harvard; Templates: LaTeX and Word. 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution based?
Of the 17 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 6%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (4), United Kingdom (3) and Italy (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution open access, and what is the APC?
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .