Journal profile · Ecology
Journal of Biogeography
ISSN 0305-0270 · eISSN 1365-2699 · Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd · ENGLAND · Monthly · Founded 1974
Journal of Biogeography: CAS Zone 2 · Environmental Science & Ecology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.46; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,830; median 178 days to acceptance (106 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: about 25%; 272 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Biogeography is published by Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd and is in Zone 2 of Environmental Science & Ecology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies, Species Distribution and Climate Change and Genetic diversity and population structure, together about 41% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
SCOPE: The Journal of Biogeography publishes research at the intersection of biology and geography that is scientifically important and of broad general interest. We seek papers describing patterns and revealing mechanisms that shape biodiversity, through time, throughout the planet, from the deep past into the future, and from local to global scales. Papers in any area of biogeography are welcome, and should clearly articulate their theoretical foundations and the conceptual advances they contribute. Diverse approaches are encouraged—including ecological, evolutionary, genomic, geographic, empirical, theoretical—from molecules to ecosystems and from microbes to plants and megafauna. Through this broad and inclusive scope, we aim for papers in Journal of Biogeography to address understudied, vexing, and urgent questions and to advance basic understanding of the origins, distributions, and fates of all life on Earth. Manuscripts submitted to Journal of Biogeography should be original and innovative, concise, well written, rigorously analyzed and argued, and consequential. While many such studies will be multifaceted, comparative, and draw generalities, we also welcome exceptional case studies that illustrate particularly interesting deviations that, in their aggregate, shift preconceptions. Journal of Biogeography supports FAIR principles and open data, accessibility to publish and read, and a constructive peer-review process. VISION: The Journal of Biogeography is the discipline’s first and foremost journal. Its established history publishing influential papers in biogeography, its topical breadth, and its strong reputation in the community, provide the foundation for the journal to continue to grow as the most respected journal in the field. Nonetheless, as disciplinary and publishing trends change, to remain at the forefront of biogeography, the journal must innovate such that it represents not only core biogeography but also novel advances in emerging areas. Biogeography is an integrative discipline and the journal aims to increasingly complement its strong foundations with the most exciting multidisciplinary research. The journal was established in 1974 and is a sister publication to Global Ecology and Biogeography and Diversity and Distributions. The three journals have distinct but complementary focus areas within the broad field of biogeography. Global Ecology and Biogeography (GEB) welcomes papers that investigate broad-scale (in space, time and/or
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Ecology
Editorial board by country: 2 in mainland China (about 7%); most named Brazil 8, Italy 4, Mainland China 2, Canada 2, Australia 2 (30 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics StudiesEnvironmental Science17.5%
- Species Distribution and Climate ChangeEnvironmental Science15.1%
- Genetic diversity and population structureBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology8.4%
- Plant and animal studiesAgricultural and Biological Sciences8.1%
- Wildlife Ecology and ConservationEnvironmental Science7%
- Evolution and Paleontology StudiesEarth and Planetary Sciences4.6%
- Geology and Paleoclimatology ResearchEarth and Planetary Sciences4.4%
- Plant Diversity and EvolutionAgricultural and Biological Sciences3.5%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Ecology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Geography, Physical | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Ecology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Geography, Physical | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Ecology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Geography, Physical | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
PubMedCAB AbstractsGeoRefCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest, AGRICOLA
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
- 3.46LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 3.5Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 6LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 6Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 6Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.36LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.46LetPub ·
- h-index
- 141LetPub ·
- h-index
- 230OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 5,310OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.4OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 50.5%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 236LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 237Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 815,633Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 7,781 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 247 | 157 | 80 |
| 2025 | 272 | 196 | 547 |
| 2024 | 225 | 155 | 1,161 |
| 2023 | 236 | 165 | 2,465 |
| 2022 | 245 | 138 | 3,841 |
| 2021 | 245 | 116 | 4,214 |
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 Crossref · to
178 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 126 days – 220 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 15 days (106 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 200 days
- Sample
- 106 articles with submission and acceptance dates (564 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 3 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- 25%LetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 41%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 41%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 32 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 32 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 159 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 13 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Double 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 4,830 / EUR 4,010 / GBP 3,230 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
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)
Article types accepted11
- correspondenceThe Journal publishes articles under the following main headers: 1) Research Article, 2) Letter, 3) Methods and Tools, 4) Data papers, 5) Review and Synthesis, …Length not stated
- data paperThe Journal publishes articles under the following main headers: 1) Research Article, 2) Letter, 3) Methods and Tools, 4) Data papers, 5) Review and Synthesis, …Length not stated
- data papersThe Journal publishes articles under the following main headers: 1) Research Article, 2) Letter, 3) Methods and Tools, 4) Data papers, 5) Review and Synthesis, …Length not stated
- editorialThe Journal publishes articles under the following main headers: 1) Research Article, 2) Letter, 3) Methods and Tools, 4) Data papers, 5) Review and Synthesis, …Length not stated
- hypothesisThe Journal publishes articles under the following main headers: 1) Research Article, 2) Letter, 3) Methods and Tools, 4) Data papers, 5) Review and Synthesis, …Length not stated
- letterThe Journal publishes articles under the following main headers: 1) Research Article, 2) Letter, 3) Methods and Tools, 4) Data papers, 5) Review and Synthesis, …Length not stated
- methods and toolsThe Journal publishes articles under the following main headers: 1) Research Article, 2) Letter, 3) Methods and Tools, 4) Data papers, 5) Review and Synthesis, …Length not stated
- perspectiveThe Journal publishes articles under the following main headers: 1) Research Article, 2) Letter, 3) Methods and Tools, 4) Data papers, 5) Review and Synthesis, …Length not stated
- research articleThe Journal publishes articles under the following main headers: 1) Research Article, 2) Letter, 3) Methods and Tools, 4) Data papers, 5) Review and Synthesis, …Length not stated
- reviewThe Journal publishes articles under the following main headers: 1) Research Article, 2) Letter, 3) Methods and Tools, 4) Data papers, 5) Review and Synthesis, …Length not stated
- review and synthesisThe Journal publishes articles under the following main headers: 1) Research Article, 2) Letter, 3) Methods and Tools, 4) Data papers, 5) Review and Synthesis, …Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Peer review, Preprints
- AI use Artificial Intelligence Generated Content
Please find Wiley’s policy on Artificial Intelligence Generated Content (AIGC) here. In accordance with COPE’s position statement on AI tools, AIGC tools cannot fulfill the role of, nor be listed as, an author of an article. If an author has used this kind of tool to develop any portion of a manuscript, its use must be described, transparently and in detail, in the Materials and Methods section. T…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Authorship
The list of authors should accurately illustrate who contributed to the work and how. Authorship criteria should follow COPE (https://publicationethics.org/node/34946) and CREDiT (https://credit.niso.org/ and https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-37039-1) requirements. All those listed as authors should qualify for authorship according to all of the following criteria: Have made substantial c…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflict of Interest
Refer & Transfer program Model summary
The journal requires that all authors disclose any potential sources of conflict of interest. Any interest or relationship, financial or otherwise that might be perceived as influencing an author's objectivity is considered a potential source of conflict of interest. These must be disclosed when directly relevant or directly related to the work that the authors describe in their manuscript. Potent…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability
Data sharing required in public repository Model summary
Journal of Biogeography supports open research, therefore as a condition for publication, requires that the data supporting the results in the paper will be archived in an appropriate public repository, such as Dryad, TreeBASE, NERC data centre, Neotoma, GenBank, figshare or another archive of the author’s choice that provides comparable access and guarantee of preservation.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics 5. EDITORIAL POLICIES AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Editorial Review and Acceptance We follow COPE’s guidelines for conducting editorial process (https://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines/ethics-toolkit-editors). The acceptance criteria for all papers are the quality and originality of the research and its significance to journal readership. Papers will only be sent to review if the Senior Editors determine that the paper meets the appropr…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright & Licensing
You may choose to publish under the terms of the journal’s standard copyright agreement, or Open Access under the terms of a Creative Commons License. Standard re-use and licensing rights vary by journal. Note that certain funders mandate a particular type of CC license be used. This journal uses the CC-BY/CC-BY-NC/CC-BY-NC-ND Creative Commons License.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Double anonymous peer review Model summary
Important: the journal operates a double anonymous peer review policy.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
Preprints on non-commercial servers allowed Model summary
Journal of Biogeography will consider for review articles previously available as preprints on non-commercial servers. Authors may also post the submitted version of a manuscript to non-commercial servers at any time. Authors are requested to update any pre-publication versions with a link to the final published article.
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
- Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- Multi-Language
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Founded
- 1974
- ISSN
- 0305-0270
- Electronic ISSN
- 1365-2699
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 53, Issue 9 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Biogeography
What CAS zone is Journal of Biogeography in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Biogeography is in Zone 2 of Environmental Science & Ecology, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Ecology / Geography, Physical. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Environmental Science & Ecology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Journal of Biogeography?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.46; CiteScore 6, h-index 230.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Biogeography?
Based on the dates recorded on 106 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 178 days (interquartile range 126–220 days); authors report an average review time of about 3 months; the community-reported acceptance is “about 25%”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 41% (2025). 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 Journal of Biogeography based?
Of the 30 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 2 (about 7%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Brazil (8), Italy (4) and Mainland China (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Journal of Biogeography?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Biogeography is indexed in SCIE and Scopus. The journal's website also lists PubMed, CAB Abstracts, GeoRef and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Journal of Biogeography open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Biogeography is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,830.
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 2026-08-24). Last updated: .