Journal profile · Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Journal of Biological Chemistry
ISSN 0021-9258 · eISSN 1083-351X · American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Inc. · UNITED STATES · Weekly
Journal of Biological Chemistry: CAS Zone 2 · Biology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 4.1; fully open access; APC about USD 3,430; median 115 days to acceptance (136 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: about 38.82%; 2,855 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Biological Chemistry is published by American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Inc. 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 RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms, Glycosylation and Glycoproteins Research and Protein Kinase Regulation and GTPase Signaling, together about 19% of its articles. Its main subfields are Molecular Biology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The Journal of Biological Chemistry (JBC) publishes research across the full breadth of the molecular and cellular life sciences. The journal’s core commitment is to advancing biological understanding through insight, rigor, and relevance. Complete mechanistic resolution is not required: JBC welcomes studies that deliver conceptual advances, establish a foundation for mechanistic insight, or make rigorous and substantive contributions to the molecular life sciences. JBC welcomes contributions spanning biochemistry, chemical biology, molecular biology, structural biology, cell biology, and allied disciplines, including both hypothesis-driven mechanistic investigations and quantitative studies that open new scientific directions or establish conceptual frameworks for future investigation. Areas of particular strength include, but are not limited to, protein synthesis, structure, and regulation; DNA and RNA structure, function, and regulation; epigenetics and chromatin biology; metabolism; lipids and membranes; membrane biology and transporters; signal transduction and pharmacology; redox biology; cellular stress responses; glycobiology and extracellular matrices; cancer biology and cell cycle regulation; immunology and inflammation; neurobiology; microbiology; cell and developmental biology; mechanisms of DNA repair; and plant biology and natural products.JBC also welcomes studies employing contemporary large-scale and computational approaches, including genome-wide, proteome-wide, metabolome-wide, and lipidome-wide analyses; single-cell and spatial profiling; and machine learning or structure prediction methods, provided these are deployed to define biological questions. Studies that are purely descriptive, correlative without biological grounding, or incremental without conceptual advance fall outside the journal’s scope; hypothesis-generating work and studies that lay a foundation for future mechanistic investigation are explicitly encouraged. Translational work connecting molecular mechanisms to human disease, therapeutic targets, or physiological processes is similarly encouraged, as are methodological and resource papers that introduce new experimental or computational tools of broad utility to the field. Across all of these areas, JBC requires that submissions demonstrate rigor and reproducibility, offer novelty beyond incremental extension of prior work, and make a meaningful contribution to biological understanding at the molecular or cellular level.For more information, go to https://www.jbc.org/
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Editor-in-chief Alex TokerPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 28 in mainland China (about 4%); most named United States 402, Canada 33, Mainland China 28, Japan 24, United Kingdom 23 (640 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- RNA and protein synthesis mechanismsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology7.2%
- Glycosylation and Glycoproteins ResearchBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology6.7%
- Protein Kinase Regulation and GTPase SignalingBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.1%
- Enzyme Structure and FunctionMaterials Science4.9%
- Ion channel regulation and functionBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.5%
- Mitochondrial Function and PathologyBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.3%
- Receptor Mechanisms and SignalingBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.3%
- RNA Research and SplicingBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.2%
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 | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Zone 2 |
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 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 | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
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
- 4.1LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 4.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 6.9LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 6.9Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.64LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.05LetPub ·
- h-index
- 477LetPub ·
- h-index
- 786OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 185,705OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.89OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 2.4%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.97%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 1,202LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 214,419 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2,396 | 2,396 | 382 |
| 2025 | 2,855 | 2,855 | 4,227 |
| 2024 | 2,462 | 2,462 | 9,995 |
| 2023 | 2,633 | 2,633 | 17,303 |
| 2022 | 1,295 | 1,295 | 24,117 |
| 2021 | 1,307 | 1,307 | 37,850 |
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
115 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 72 days – 163 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 8 days (136 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 125 days
- Sample
- 136 articles with submission and acceptance dates (2,498 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 1.7 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- 38.82%LetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 4 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 27 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 115 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 7 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 22 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 | USD 3,430 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 3,430 / EUR 3,210 / GBP 2,750 / JPY 425,420 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 3,430 | — | — |
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 prepare9 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Keywords
- 5–10
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 4,000 words
- Reference style
- Numbered, in order of citation
- Templates
- Word
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Required, 3
- Cover letter
- Optional
- Not considered
- artificial intelligence software as author; novelty claims
Article types accepted4, with length limits
- letters to the editorJBC publishes the following article types: Research Articles, JBC Communications, JBC Reviews, Meeting Reports, Letters to the Editor, as well as article types …main text ≤ 250 words
- regular paperJBC publishes the following article types: Research Articles, JBC Communications, JBC Reviews, Meeting Reports, Letters to the Editor, as well as article types …Length not stated
- research articleJBC publishes the following article types: Research Articles, JBC Communications, JBC Reviews, Meeting Reports, Letters to the Editor, as well as article types …Length not stated
- reviewJBC publishes the following article types: Research Articles, JBC Communications, JBC Reviews, Meeting Reports, Letters to the Editor, as well as article types …Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- Authorship Author contributions
An explicit statement describing each author's contributions to the manuscript is no longer required in the manuscript document; this information is collected during the submission process following CRediT taxonomy. JBC's policies related to authorship criteria can be found here. Generative AI cannot be considered an author. However, the use of generative AI during manuscript preparation is accept…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflict of interest
Must include a statement disclosing whether there are any actual or perceived conflicts of interest on the part of any author, as described in ASBMB's editorial policies.If there are no conflicts of interest for any author, the following statement should be inserted: "The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest with the contents of this article."
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability
Must indicate where the data described in the manuscript are located. If all data are contained within the manuscript, then the statement should indicate so. If data are to be shared upon request, then the individual along with their contact information must be indicated.For datasets that were deposited into a publicly accessible repository, the location and identifying information (i.e., accessio…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Co-author consent and copyright
All listed authors must concur in the submission and the final version must be seen and approved by all authors. All authors are responsible for the content of the manuscript. Learn more about authorship requirements here. All authors must grant the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, exclusive license to publish their work (this policy replaces JBC's former policy, for manusc…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access
Article Publishing Charge (APC): USD 3,430 (excluding taxes). Review this journal’s open access policy.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review process
The identity of all reviewers remains unknown to the authors. Every manuscript is treated by the Editors and reviewers as privileged information, and they are instructed to exclude themselves from the review of any manuscript that might involve a conflict of interest or the appearance thereof. During initial submission, prospective authors are encouraged to recommend one or more Associate Editors …
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
- American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Inc.
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Weekly
- ISSN
- 0021-9258
- Electronic ISSN
- 1083-351X
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗DOAJ
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗DOAJ
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Biological Chemistry
What CAS zone is Journal of Biological Chemistry in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Biological Chemistry is in Zone 2 of Biology, and in Zone 2 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 Journal of Biological Chemistry?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 4.1; CiteScore 6.9, h-index 786.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Biological Chemistry?
Based on the dates recorded on 136 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 115 days (interquartile range 72–163 days); authors report an average review time of about 1.7 months; the community-reported acceptance is “about 38.82%”. 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 Journal of Biological Chemistry?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Keywords: 5–10; Manuscript length: ≤ 4,000 words; Reference style: Numbered, in order of citation; Templates: Word; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Required, 3; Cover letter: Optional. 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 Journal of Biological Chemistry based?
Of the 640 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 28 (about 4%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (402), Canada (33) and Mainland China (28). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Journal of Biological Chemistry?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Biological Chemistry is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Journal of Biological Chemistry open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Biological Chemistry is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,430.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, 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 2026-08-24). Last updated: .