Journal profile · Biochemical Research Methods
Journal of Biophotonics
ISSN 1864-063X · eISSN 1864-0648 · Wiley-VCH Verlag · GERMANY · Bimonthly · Founded 2008
Journal of Biophotonics: CAS Zone 3 · Physics & Astronomy (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.98; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,370; median 82 days to acceptance (97 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: about 75%; 286 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Biophotonics is published by Wiley-VCH Verlag and is in Zone 3 of Physics & Astronomy in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Photoacoustic and Ultrasonic Imaging, Spectroscopy Techniques in Biomedical and Chemical Research and Advanced Fluorescence Microscopy Techniques, together about 34.1% of its articles. Its main subfields are Biomedical Engineering and Biophysics. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Scope Journal of Biophotonics (JBIO) is the first international journal dedicated to the publication of research articles and reviews from the exciting field of biophotonics, i.e. the development and application of photonic technologies especially for (bio)medicine, but also life and environmental sciences. The journal provides a platform where technology developers (physicists, chemists, engineers, etc.) communicate with endusers (in particular research clinicians) and where clinical practitioners learn about the latest tools for disease diagnosis and therapy . As such, the journal has a strong interdisciplinary focus and publishes innovative research in the field of interaction of light with biological material. Coverage ranges from fundamental research to specific developments, including the latest applications or clinical trials/case reports. Topics Fields of Application: Medicine Health Biology Environment and Nutrition Featured Technologies: Microscopy / Imaging / Endoscopy(e.g. general microscopy, fluorescence imaging, vibrational microscopy, optical coherence tomography, photoacoustic imaging, near field microscopy, etc.) Spectroscopy(IR, Raman, diffuse optics, fluorescence, luminescence, THz, UV/Vis, light scattering etc.) Photonic therapeutic approaches(PDT, laser surgery, LIBS, photo coagulation, etc.) Photonic point-of-care(biochips, bioassays, micro-array technology etc.) Please note that publication of a pure technological development without testing on real biomedical samples demonstrating the benefit of the presented photonic approach for biomedical analysis/diagnosis or therapy is not subject of JBIO. Biophotonics goes hand in hand with the development of artificial intelligence (AI)-based analysis routines (e.g., image analysis, image processing, chemometrics etc.). However, the publication of purely theoretical papers that "only" report on AI-based algorithms is not subject of JBIO. The photonic content is expected to take center stage for manuscripts published in JBIO. ISSN: Previously 1864-063X (print). 1864-0648 (online). Currently 12 issues per year. How to cite: To make sure that references to this journal are correctly recorded and resolved (for example in CrossRef, PubMed, or ISI Web of Knowledge), please use the following abbreviated title in any citations: "J. Biophotonics" (punctuation may vary according to the style of the citing journal). Readership Keywords Abstracting and Indexing Information Advanced Technologies & Aerospa
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Biochemical Research Methods
Editor-in-chief Jürgen PoppPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 4 in mainland China (about 12%); most named United States 6, Germany 5, Mainland China 4, United Kingdom 3, Italy 2 (34 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Photoacoustic and Ultrasonic ImagingEngineering13%
- Spectroscopy Techniques in Biomedical and Chemical ResearchBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology11.5%
- Advanced Fluorescence Microscopy TechniquesBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology9.6%
- Optical Coherence Tomography ApplicationsEngineering9.5%
- Optical Imaging and Spectroscopy TechniquesMedicine9.3%
- Laser Applications in Dentistry and MedicineMedicine6.7%
- Spectroscopy and Chemometric AnalysesChemistry4.9%
- Photodynamic Therapy Research StudiesMedicine4.5%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Physics & Astronomy Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Physics & Astronomy | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Biophysics | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Biochemical Research Methods | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Optics | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Physics & Astronomy Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Physics & Astronomy | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Biochemical Research Methods | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Biophysics | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Optics | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Physics & Astronomy Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Physics & Astronomy | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Biophysics | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Biochemical Research Methods | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Optics | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
MEDLINEPubMedCASPublisher website
Other: ProQuest
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
- 1.98LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.3LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 4.3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 4.3Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.5LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.76LetPub ·
- h-index
- 56LetPub ·
- h-index
- 93OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,801OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.02OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 10%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 21.71%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 247LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 247Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 380,776Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 4,142 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 167 | 94 | 29 |
| 2025 | 286 | 142 | 432 |
| 2024 | 286 | 162 | 1,032 |
| 2023 | 280 | 153 | 1,743 |
| 2022 | 271 | 95 | 2,035 |
| 2021 | 237 | 95 | 2,324 |
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
82 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 59 days – 121 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 15 days (97 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 100 days
- Sample
- 97 articles with submission and acceptance dates (502 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 monthLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- 75%LetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 35%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 35%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 3 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 3 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 76 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 18 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 3,370 / EUR 2,810 / GBP 2,250 | — | — | |
| 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.
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 prepare6 items from the author guidelines
- Reference style
- Numbered, in order of citation
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Required, 3
- Graphical abstract
- Required
- Cover letter
- Optional
Article types accepted8, with length limits
- letterResearch Articles: Reports of original research that make a significant contribution to knowledge, with methods, findings and conclusions. A length of about 4,0…Length not stated
- lettersLetters: Brief observations and research reports that do not warrant a full-length paper. Must be complete, self-contained papers, and not preliminary reports. …Length not stated
- original researchResearch Articles: Reports of original research that make a significant contribution to knowledge, with methods, findings and conclusions. A length of about 4,0…Length not stated
- research articleResearch Articles: Reports of original research that make a significant contribution to knowledge, with methods, findings and conclusions. A length of about 4,0…Length not stated
- research articlesResearch Articles: Reports of original research that make a significant contribution to knowledge, with methods, findings and conclusions. A length of about 4,0…Length not stated
- research reportResearch Articles: Reports of original research that make a significant contribution to knowledge, with methods, findings and conclusions. A length of about 4,0…Length not stated
- reviewResearch Articles: Reports of original research that make a significant contribution to knowledge, with methods, findings and conclusions. A length of about 4,0…main text ≤ 7,000 words
- reviewsReviews: Overview of developments in fields or the current lines of thought. Will usually be written at the invitation of the Editors.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- Authorship Authorship
All listed authors should have contributed to the manuscript substantially and have agreed to the final submitted version. Review editorial standards and scroll down for a description of authorship criteria.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflict of Interest Statement
Authors will be asked to provide a conflict of interest statement during the submission process. For details on what to include in this section, see the 'Conflict of Interest' information in Section 4. Submitting authors should ensure they liaise with all co-authors to confirm agreement with the final statement.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data Sharing and Data Availability
Data sharing and data availability Model summary
This journal expects that data supporting the results in the paper will be archived in an appropriate public repository. Authors are required to provide a Data Availability Statement (DAS) to describe the availability or the absence of shared data. When data have been shared, authors are required to include in their Data Availability Statement a link to the repository they have used, and to cite t…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics 4. EDITORIAL POLICIES AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Peer Review This journal operates under a single-blind peer review model. Papers will only be sent to review if the Editor-in-Chief determines that the paper meets the appropriate quality and relevance requirements. All contributions will be evaluated according to the standard procedures of peer review, usually by two referees. To facilitate the refereeing process, please provide the names and ema…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Reproduction of Copyright Material
Creative Commons license Model summary
If excerpts from copyrighted works owned by third parties are included, credit must be shown in the contribution. It is the author’s responsibility to also obtain written permission for reproduction from the copyright owners.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access
Open access option Model summary
This journal is a subscription journal that offers an open access option. You’ll have the option to choose to make your article open access after acceptance, which will be subject to an Article Publication Charge (APC).
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer Review
Single-blind peer review model Model summary
This journal operates under a single-blind peer review model. Papers will only be sent to review if the Editor-in-Chief determines that the paper meets the appropriate quality and relevance requirements.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprint your Manuscript on Authorea
You can now opt to seamlessly preprint your manuscript at submission, through Wiley’s Under Review service, powered by Authorea. Make your work citable and discoverable, before it is accepted or published.
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-VCH Verlag
- Country or region
- GERMANY
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Bimonthly
- Founded
- 2008
- ISSN
- 1864-063X
- Electronic ISSN
- 1864-0648
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 19, Issue 9 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Biophotonics
What CAS zone is Journal of Biophotonics in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Biophotonics is in Zone 3 of Physics & Astronomy, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Biophysics / Biochemical Research Methods / Optics. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Physics & Astronomy. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Journal of Biophotonics?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.98; CiteScore 4.3, h-index 93.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Biophotonics?
Based on the dates recorded on 97 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 82 days (interquartile range 59–121 days); authors report an average review time of about 1 month; the community-reported acceptance is “about 75%”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 35% (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.
What are the manuscript requirements of Journal of Biophotonics?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Reference style: Numbered, in order of citation; Templates: LaTeX and Word; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Required, 3; Graphical abstract: Required; 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 Biophotonics based?
Of the 34 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 4 (about 12%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (6), Germany (5) and Mainland China (4). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Journal of Biophotonics?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Biophotonics is indexed in SCIE and Scopus. The journal's website also lists MEDLINE, PubMed and CAS; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Journal of Biophotonics open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Biophotonics is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,370.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .