Journal profile · Ecology
Fungal Ecology
ISSN 1754-5048 · eISSN 1878-0083 · Elsevier BV · ENGLAND · Quarterly · Founded 2008
Fungal Ecology: CAS Zone 3 · Environmental Science & Ecology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.45; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,500; review about 182 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); community-reported acceptance: fairly easy; 49 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Fungal Ecology is published by Elsevier BV 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 Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plant Interactions, Plant Pathogens and Fungal Diseases and Forest Ecology and Biodiversity Studies, together about 45.8% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Published by Elsevier on behalf of The British Mycological SocietyFungal Ecology publishes investigations into all aspects of fungal ecology, including the following (not exclusive): population dynamics; adaptation; evolution; role in ecosystem functioning, nutrient cycling, decomposition, carbon allocation; ecophysiology; intra- and inter-specific mycelial interactions, fungus-plant (pathogens, mycorrhizas, lichens, endophytes), fungus-invertebrate and fungus-microbe interaction; genomics and (evolutionary) genetics; conservation and biodiversity; remote sensing; bioremediation and biodegradation; quantitative and computational aspects - modelling, indicators, complexity, informatics. The usual prerequisites for publication will be originality, clarity, and significance as relevant to a better understanding of the ecology of fungi.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Ecology
Editor-in-chief Allison K. WalkerPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 3 in mainland China (about 7%); most named United States 11, United Kingdom 8, Germany 7, Mainland China 3, Canada 2 (45 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plant InteractionsAgricultural and Biological Sciences21.9%
- Plant Pathogens and Fungal DiseasesBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology13.8%
- Forest Ecology and Biodiversity StudiesAgricultural and Biological Sciences10.2%
- Lichen and fungal ecologyAgricultural and Biological Sciences7.7%
- Plant and fungal interactionsAgricultural and Biological Sciences3.8%
- Educational Robotics and EngineeringComputer Science3.3%
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics StudiesEnvironmental Science3.3%
- Human auditory perception and evaluationEngineering3.2%
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 4 |
| Minor | Mycology | Zone 4 |
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 |
| Minor | Mycology | 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 |
| Minor | Mycology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
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
- 3.45LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 3.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.9LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 4.9Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.81LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.97LetPub ·
- h-index
- 42LetPub ·
- h-index
- 95OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 904OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.71OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 45.86%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 41LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,469 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 39 | 25 | 3 |
| 2025 | 49 | 33 | 116 |
| 2024 | 43 | 27 | 236 |
| 2023 | 62 | 32 | 644 |
| 2022 | 51 | 26 | 433 |
| 2021 | 61 | 26 | 642 |
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
Publisher-reported review time from the journal's website
182 dayssubmission to acceptance · community reports about 3 months
The publisher's own definition applies; dates from this journal's articles in the last 24 months are not available yet, so the publisher's figure is used.
Figures by source
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 3 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly easyLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 25%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 6 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 182 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer reviewPublisher website
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
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 3,500 / EUR 3,270 / GBP 2,800 / JPY 434,110 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 3,600 | — | — |
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- Page charges
- No page charges
- Submission fee
- No submission fee
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 prepare5 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 150 words
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 3,500 words
- Reference style
- Harvard
- Cover letter
- Required
- Not considered
- AI tools as author
Article types accepted11, with length limits
- commentaryShort Reviews and Commentaries: Fungal Ecology review articles (about 3500 words) and commentaries are usually solicited by the Senior Editor or Editorial Board…Length not stated
- editorialShort Reviews and Commentaries: Fungal Ecology review articles (about 3500 words) and commentaries are usually solicited by the Senior Editor or Editorial Board…Length not stated
- full articleShort Reviews and Commentaries: Fungal Ecology review articles (about 3500 words) and commentaries are usually solicited by the Senior Editor or Editorial Board…Length not stated
- methodological papersMethodological papers: This section of Fungal Ecology publishes articles that describe the development of tools for studying fungal ecology.Length not stated
- regular research articleShort Reviews and Commentaries: Fungal Ecology review articles (about 3500 words) and commentaries are usually solicited by the Senior Editor or Editorial Board…Length not stated
- research paperShort Reviews and Commentaries: Fungal Ecology review articles (about 3500 words) and commentaries are usually solicited by the Senior Editor or Editorial Board…Length not stated
- reviewShort Reviews and Commentaries: Fungal Ecology review articles (about 3500 words) and commentaries are usually solicited by the Senior Editor or Editorial Board…Length not stated
- review articleShort Reviews and Commentaries: Fungal Ecology review articles (about 3500 words) and commentaries are usually solicited by the Senior Editor or Editorial Board…Length not stated
- short communicationShort Reviews and Commentaries: Fungal Ecology review articles (about 3500 words) and commentaries are usually solicited by the Senior Editor or Editorial Board…Length not stated
- short reviewShort Reviews and Commentaries: Fungal Ecology review articles (about 3500 words) and commentaries are usually solicited by the Senior Editor or Editorial Board…main text ≤ 3,500 words
- short reviews and commentariesShort Reviews and Commentaries: Fungal Ecology review articles (about 3500 words) and commentaries are usually solicited by the Senior Editor or Editorial Board…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- AI use Declaration of generative AI in scientific writing
Authors must declare the use of generative AI tools in the manuscript preparation process upon submission of the paper.Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies (“AI tools”) have been rapidly adopted in research and scholarly publishing, offering significant benefits while requiring clear standards for responsible and transparent use.Authors preparing a manuscript for this journal may use AI tool…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Author contributions
For transparency, we require corresponding authors to provide co-author contributions to the manuscript using the relevant CRediT roles. The CRediT taxonomy includes 14 different roles describing each contributor's specific contribution to the scholarly output. The roles are: Conceptualization; Data curation; Formal analysis; Funding acquisition; Investigation; Methodology; Project administration;…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Declaration of competing interest
Corresponding authors, on behalf of all the authors of a submission, must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright
Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' (see more information on this). An e-mail will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript together with a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' form or a link to the online version of this agreement.Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles includ…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access
Please visit our Open Access page for more information about open access publishing in this journal.Please submit your article via https://www.editorialmanager.com/funeco
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review
Single anonymized review process Model summary
This journal operates a single anonymized review process. All contributions will be initially assessed by the editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then typically sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The Editor is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. The Editor'…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
Preprints can be shared anywhere at any time Model summary
Please note that preprints can be shared anywhere at any time, in line with Elsevier's sharing policy. Sharing your preprints e.g. on a preprint server will not count as prior publication (see 'Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication' for more information).
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
- Elsevier BV
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Quarterly
- Founded
- 2008
- ISSN
- 1754-5048
- Electronic ISSN
- 1878-0083
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Fungal Ecology
What CAS zone is Fungal Ecology in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Fungal Ecology is in Zone 3 of Environmental Science & Ecology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Ecology / Mycology. 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 Fungal Ecology?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.45; CiteScore 4.9, h-index 95.
How long does peer review take at Fungal Ecology?
The publisher reports about 182 days (submission to acceptance); authors report an average review time of about 3 months; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly easy”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 25%. 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 Fungal Ecology?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 150 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 3,500 words; Reference style: Harvard; Cover letter: Required. 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 Fungal Ecology based?
Of the 45 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 3 (about 7%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (11), United Kingdom (8) and Germany (7). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Fungal Ecology?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Fungal Ecology is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is Fungal Ecology open access, and what is the APC?
Fungal Ecology is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,500.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex; 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: .