Journal profile · MICROBIOLOGY
Frontiers in Microbiology
ISSN 1664-302X · Frontiers Media S.A. · SWITZERLAND
Frontiers in Microbiology: CAS Zone 2 · Biology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 5.73; fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 51 days to acceptance (193 articles, last 24 months); 3,248 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Frontiers in Microbiology is published by Frontiers Media S.A. 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 Gut microbiota and health, Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology and Antibiotic Resistance in Bacteria, together about 28.9% of its articles. Its main subfields are Molecular Biology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Frontiers in Microbiology is a leading journal in its field, exploring strategies to mitigate the detrimental effects of anthropogenic activities on the abundance, diversity, and activity of microbial communities. Indexed in PubMed Central (PMC), Scopus and the DOAJ, the journal explores the habitable world and the potential of microbial life. Led by Field Chief Editor Prof Paul D. Cotter (Co-founder and CTO of SeqBiome; Senior Principal Research Office, Teagasc Food Research Centre), this multidisciplinary journal welcomes submissions across the entire spectrum of microbiology and advances our understanding of the role microbes play in human lives, from health care to climate change. Topics include, but are not limited to: ancient DNA and forensic microbiology antimicrobials, resistance and chemotherapy aquatic microbiology biology of archaea extreme microbiology food microbiology infectious agents and disease microbe and virus interactions with plants microbial physiology and metabolism microbial symbioses microbiological chemistry and geomicrobiology microbiotechnology microorganisms in vertebrate digestive systems phage biology systems microbiology terrestrial microbiology virology. Manuscripts that focus solely on clinical aspects of diseases, such as treatment outcomes, clinical trials, patient management, and epidemiological studies, are not suitable for publication in this journal. Additionally, studies that are purely descriptive, such as the characterization of bacterial isolates or the description of new methods, without providing significant biological insights, are not within the scope of this journal. Furthermore, papers focused on the study of microscopic structures of macroorganisms that do not specifically focus on microbiological interactions with these structures, are out of scope for Frontiers in Microbiology. Frontiers’ journals require that manuscripts primarily comprising computational studies of public data, must include appropriate validation. Please refer to the Frontiers Standards for research methodology policy, for more information. Manuscripts not adhering to these standards will not be considered. Frontiers in Microbiology is committed to advancing developments in microorganism interactions by allowing unrestricted access to articles and communicating scientific knowledge to researchers and the public alike, to enable the scientific breakthroughs of the future. Frontiers in Microbiology is a member of the Committee on Publica
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): MICROBIOLOGY
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 6, Italy 2, United Kingdom 1, Japan 1, France 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 Biology11.5%
- Microbial Community Ecology and PhysiologyEnvironmental Science10.8%
- Antibiotic Resistance in BacteriaBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology6.6%
- Bacteriophages and microbial interactionsEnvironmental Science6%
- Plant-Microbe Interactions and ImmunityAgricultural and Biological Sciences5.9%
- Genomics and Phylogenetic StudiesBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.7%
- Probiotics and Fermented FoodsAgricultural and Biological Sciences5.5%
- Bacterial biofilms and quorum sensingBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.7%
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 2 |
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 3 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of SciencePMCEmbasePublisher 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
- 5.73LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 5.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 9.9LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 9.9Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.26LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.3LetPub ·
- h-index
- 88LetPub ·
- h-index
- 348OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 27,974OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 5.61OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5.2%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.98%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 3,016LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 42,029 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 3,106 | 3,106 | 1,947 |
| 2025 | 3,248 | 3,248 | 16,418 |
| 2024 | 3,232 | 3,232 | 35,389 |
| 2023 | 4,189 | 4,189 | 74,424 |
| 2022 | 5,578 | 5,578 | 120,542 |
| 2021 | 4,270 | 4,270 | 130,187 |
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
51 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 37 days – 77 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 20 days (193 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 77 days
- Sample
- 193 articles with submission and acceptance dates (6,868 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
- 1664-302X
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Frontiers in Microbiology
What CAS zone is Frontiers in Microbiology in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Frontiers in 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 Frontiers in Microbiology?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 5.73; CiteScore 9.9, h-index 348.
How long does peer review take at Frontiers in Microbiology?
Based on the dates recorded on 193 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 51 days (interquartile range 37–77 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 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 (6), Italy (2) and United Kingdom (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Frontiers in Microbiology?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Frontiers in Microbiology is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science, PMC and Embase; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Frontiers in Microbiology open access, and what is the APC?
Frontiers in 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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .