Journal profile · PLANT SCIENCES
Journal of Cotton Research
ISSN 2096-5044 · eISSN 2523-3254 · BMC · United Kingdom
Journal of Cotton Research: CAS Zone 4 · Biology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.6 (journal website); diamond open access (no APC); no APC; median 195 days to acceptance (80 articles, last 24 months); 43 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Cotton Research is published by BMC and is in Zone 4 of Biology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Research in Cotton Cultivation, Plant Virus Research Studies and Insect Resistance and Genetics, together about 48.6% of its articles. Its main subfields are Plant Science and Molecular Biology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The journal sets out to unite researchers conducting cotton research in agricultural, biological, bioengineering and material fields. Publications shall contribute to promote multidisciplinary development of cotton science and technology. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: Germplasm resources & evolution, genetics & breeding Agricultural study: Agronomy, integrated pest management & bio-safety, weed science and agricultural engineering Biotechnology & bioengineering Bioinformatics Cotton molecular and cell biology, physiology and pathology Fiber process & inspection
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): PLANT SCIENCES
Editor-in-chief Guoli SongPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 62 in mainland China (about 58%); most named Mainland China 62, United States 12, Pakistan 7, Australia 5, Egypt 5 (106 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Research in Cotton CultivationAgricultural and Biological Sciences34.5%
- Plant Virus Research StudiesAgricultural and Biological Sciences7.7%
- Insect Resistance and GeneticsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology6.4%
- Plant Molecular Biology ResearchAgricultural and Biological Sciences6.1%
- Plant tissue culture and regenerationBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology3.7%
- Insect-Plant Interactions and ControlAgricultural and Biological Sciences3.6%
- Plant and Fungal Interactions ResearchBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology3.2%
- Plant Stress Responses and ToleranceAgricultural and Biological Sciences3%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Biology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Plant Sciences | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Biology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Plant Sciences | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Biology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Plant Sciences | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
CASCAB AbstractsPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Astrophysics Data System, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS
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 (publisher) 2025
- 3.6Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.5LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.55LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.98LetPub ·
- h-index
- 28OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 103OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.78OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 11.1%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 40LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 241,600Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 279 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 38 | 38 | 27 |
| 2025 | 43 | 43 | 169 |
| 2024 | 38 | 38 | 254 |
| 2023 | 24 | 24 | 230 |
| 2022 | 29 | 29 | 365 |
| 2021 | 32 | 32 | 722 |
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
195 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 140 days – 273 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 58 days (80 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 255 days
- Sample
- 80 articles with submission and acceptance dates (86 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 15 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 41 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 15 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
Diamond open access (no APC)DOAJ
Every article is open access and authors pay no article processing charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | No APC | No | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | USD 0 | — | — | |
| LetPub | No APC | No | — | |
| Publisher website | No APC | — | — |
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 accepted4
- commentFormatting guidelines for specific article types can be found below. Research Review Comment CorrespondenceLength not stated
- correspondenceFormatting guidelines for specific article types can be found below. Research Review Comment CorrespondenceLength not stated
- researchFormatting guidelines for specific article types can be found below. Research Review Comment CorrespondenceLength not stated
- reviewFormatting guidelines for specific article types can be found below. Research Review Comment CorrespondenceLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Data availability, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- Authorship
Manuscripts must be submitted by an author, not a third party. Model summary
Please note that a manuscript can only be submitted by an author of the manuscript and may not be submitted by a third party.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Formatting the 'Availability of data and materials' section of your manuscript
Data availability: datasets should be deposited in public repositories or included in the paper/additional files; 'Availability of data and materials' section required. Model summary
The following format for the 'Availability of data and materials section of your manuscript should be used:
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Licensing and copyright
Open access under CC BY licence; authors retain copyright. Model summary
Creative Commons licences Open access articles in Springer Nature journals are published under Creative Commons licences. These provide an industry-standard framework to support easy re-use of open access material. Under Creative Commons licences, authors retain copyright of their articles. Journal of Cotton Research articles are published open access under a CC BY licence (Creative Commons Attrib…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Benefits of open access
Publishing open access (OA) offers a number of benefits, including greater reach and readership for your work: Cited more 1.6x more citations of OA articles than non-OA articles across all subjects Downloaded more 4x more downloads of OA articles than non-OA articles Greater impact 2.5x more Altmetric attention. OA articles attracted 1.9x more news mentions and 1.2x more policy mentions Open acces…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review policy
Authors may suggest peer reviewers in cover letter. Model summary
Peer review is the process used to evaluate the quality of a manuscript before publication. Independent researchers in the relevant field assess submitted manuscripts to check their validity and robustness. Their feedback guides editors in making publication decisions. Typically, two or more experts evaluate each manuscript based on three main criteria: scientific robustness: is the research metho…
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
- BMC
- Country or region
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2096-5044
- Electronic ISSN
- 2523-3254
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Cotton Research
What CAS zone is Journal of Cotton Research in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Cotton Research is in Zone 4 of Biology, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Plant Sciences. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Biology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Journal of Cotton Research?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 3.6 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 4.5, h-index 28.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Cotton Research?
Based on the dates recorded on 80 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 195 days (interquartile range 140–273 days); authors report an average review time of about 15 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Journal of Cotton Research based?
Of the 106 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 62 (about 58%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (62), United States (12) and Pakistan (7). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Journal of Cotton Research?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Cotton Research is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists CAS and CAB Abstracts; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Journal of Cotton Research open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Cotton Research is a diamond open-access journal (no APC). It charges no article processing charge.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .