Journal profile · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology-Biochemistry
Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences
ISSN 2296-889X · Frontiers Media S.A. · Switzerland
Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences: CAS Zone 3 · Biology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 4.38; fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 58 days to acceptance (115 articles, last 24 months); 534 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus; flagged on an early-warning list or for an indexing change: check before submitting.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences is published by Frontiers Media S.A. and is in Zone 3 of Biology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are RNA modifications and cancer, Ferroptosis and cancer prognosis and Protein Structure and Dynamics, together about 24.8% of its articles. Its main subfields are Molecular Biology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences is a multidisciplinary journal focusing on understanding biological processes at the molecular level. It is currently indexed in the BIOSIS, SciFinder, Web of Science, Embase, DOAJ, SCIE, Scopus, and PubMed Central (PMC), among others. The journal is led by Field Chief Editor Prof Cecilia Giulivi (University of California, Davis, US). The journal welcomes submissions in all areas of molecular bioscience research that illustrate the molecular mechanisms regulating the basic and applied metabolism of proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, lipids, and metabolites in health and disease states, including aging, pharmacological interventions, and genetic and acquired diseases, among others. Topics of interest include: biological modeling and simulation cellular biochemistry genome organization and dynamics glycoscience lipids, membranes and, membranous organelles metabolomics molecular biophysics molecular diagnostics and therapeutics molecular evolution molecular recognition nanobiotechnology protein biochemistry for basic, and applied sciences RNA networks and biology structural biology. The Journal encompasses several empirical disciplines, including structural biology, enzymology, biochemistry, molecular biology, and biophysics. In addition to presenting novel discoveries, methodologies, and practical applications, Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences encourages the submission of testable hypotheses to inspire diverse perspectives and foster scientific discourse. Integrating in silico, in vitro, and in vivo approaches is particularly interesting. Please note that this journal does not publish manuscripts solely focused on clinical oncology, cancer epidemiology, or cancer prognosis that lack a clear molecular mechanisms perspective within the biosciences. Likewise, studies that offer only descriptive accounts and do not provide mechanistic insights into the molecular underpinnings of biological processes fall outside the journal's scope. 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 Molecular Biosciences is dedicated to advancing molecular bioscience research by disseminating scientific knowledge to researchers and the general public, thus facilitating future
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology-Biochemistry
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 9, United Kingdom 2, France 2, Italy 2, Japan 1 (17 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- RNA modifications and cancerBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology9%
- Ferroptosis and cancer prognosisMedicine8.9%
- Protein Structure and DynamicsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology6.9%
- Cancer-related molecular mechanisms researchBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology6.9%
- RNA and protein synthesis mechanismsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology6.9%
- RNA Research and SplicingBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.1%
- Metabolomics and Mass Spectrometry StudiesBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5%
- MicroRNA in disease regulationBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.7%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Biology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Biology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Biology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
Early warning / risk: CAS Early Warning Journal List: listed in the 2021 edition (low risk); not listed in the other 5 editions.LetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
PMCPublisher 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
- 4.38LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 4.4Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 8.9LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 8.9Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.23LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.97LetPub ·
- h-index
- 123OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 3,199OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.45OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 2.3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.88%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 459LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 6,187 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 436 | 436 | 274 |
| 2025 | 534 | 534 | 2,093 |
| 2024 | 527 | 527 | 4,288 |
| 2023 | 819 | 819 | 10,377 |
| 2022 | 1,521 | 1,521 | 27,357 |
| 2021 | 1,355 | 1,355 | 34,844 |
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
58 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 38 days – 94 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 28 days (115 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 87 days
- Sample
- 115 articles with submission and acceptance dates (1,028 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 prepare3 items from the author guidelines
- Keywords
- 5–8
- Reference style
- Harvard
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, 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 ·- Authorship
Authors must select appropriate article type and comply with word count limits. Model summary
Frontiers requires authors to select the appropriate article type for their manuscript and to comply with the article type descriptions defined in the journal's 'Article types' page, which can be seen from the 'For authors' menu on every Frontiers journal page. Please pay close attention to the word count limits.
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
Figures, tables, and images published under CC-BY; permission required for copyrighted material from other sources. Model summary
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
Open access under CC-BY v4.0; authors retain copyright. Model summary
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
- 2296-889X
- 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 ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences
What CAS zone is Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences is in Zone 3 of Biology, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. 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 Molecular Biosciences?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 4.38; CiteScore 8.9, h-index 123.
How long does peer review take at Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences?
Based on the dates recorded on 115 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 58 days (interquartile range 38–94 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.
What are the manuscript requirements of Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences?
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 Molecular Biosciences based?
Of the 17 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (9), United Kingdom (2) and France (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists PMC; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences open access, and what is the APC?
Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences 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: .