Journal profile · Multiple
Journal of Crop Improvement
ISSN 1542-7528 · eISSN 1542-7536 · Taylor & Francis
Journal of Crop Improvement: CAS Zone 4 · Agricultural & Forestry Sciences (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1 (journal website); subscription journal; APC about USD 3,890; median 150 days to acceptance (52 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 4% (journal website); 24 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Crop Improvement is published by Taylor & Francis and is in Zone 4 of Agricultural & Forestry Sciences in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Genetics and Plant Breeding, Crop Yield and Soil Fertility and Rice Cultivation and Yield Improvement, together about 23.7% of its articles. Its main subfields are Plant Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The Journal of Crop Improvement provides an international forum to evaluate and review the latest advancements in basic and applied aspects of crop improvement and production, including seed science and technology. The journal directly addresses emerging issues, new strategies for new needs, and future challenges of crop improvement, production, and seed science, especially those leading to a secure world food supply and resource conservation using environmentally-friendly technologies. The Journal of Crop Improvement intends to create a unique niche in the crop improvement, production, and seed science literature by not only publishing research and review articles on varied issues but also by developing a series of thematic issues on cutting-edge topics or research fronts in the field. The journal is a welcome and respected source of unparalleled, preeminent knowledge. Articles aim to: reveal novel concepts; achieve a new synthesis based on multifaceted, multilevel, and multidisciplinary approaches; identify key gaps in the knowledge that might be addressed by further research; and offer technical solutions to critical global problems in crop improvement, production, and seed science. Articles are presented in an understandable format, which can be directly used by students, teachers, researchers, practitioners, and advisors in the fields of genetics and plant breeding, molecular biology and biotechnology, transgenic crop technology, agronomy, soil science, crop physiology and biochemistry, ecology, agroclimatology, plant pathology, integrated pest management, seed science and technology, agrobiodiversity and other cognate sciences that are of prime interest to crop improvement and production. For publications in the Journal of Crop Improvement, we are now requiring that experiments to be repeated, i.e., at least two years of data or multi-location studies or two rounds of lab or greenhouse studies. The exception is for some highly precise genetics/plant breeding kind of work. This is to ensure that the results are consistent over years or locations.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Multiple
Editor-in-chief Anil ShresthaPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Genetics and Plant BreedingAgricultural and Biological Sciences11.5%
- Crop Yield and Soil FertilityAgricultural and Biological Sciences6.3%
- Rice Cultivation and Yield ImprovementAgricultural and Biological Sciences5.9%
- Legume Nitrogen Fixing SymbiosisAgricultural and Biological Sciences5.6%
- Soybean genetics and cultivationAgricultural and Biological Sciences5.4%
- Agronomic Practices and Intercropping SystemsAgricultural and Biological Sciences5.1%
- Wheat and Barley Genetics and PathologyAgricultural and Biological Sciences4.6%
- Soil Carbon and Nitrogen DynamicsAgricultural and Biological Sciences4.3%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Agricultural & Forestry Sciences Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Agricultural & Forestry Sciences | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Agronomy | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Plant Sciences | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Agricultural & Forestry Sciences Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Agricultural & Forestry Sciences | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Agronomy | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Plant Sciences | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- CiteScore Q2 · 2025
Publisher-reported: JCR figures are Clarivate's and CiteScore figures Scopus's to confirm; both are a different system from the CAS zones.Publisher website
Database indexing
ESCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
ProQuest, OCLC, CABI, CSA, De Gruyter Saur (IBZ), EBSCOhost, Food Science and Technology Abstracts, OCLC (ArticleFirst, Electronic Collections Online), VINTI RAN (Referatiynyi Zhurnal)Publisher website
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
- 1Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.6Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.4LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 3.4Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.31LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.31Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.46LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 0.46Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 47OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 406OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.53OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 3.23%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 24LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 49,000Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2024
- 49,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 948 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 27 | 1 | 9 |
| 2025 | 24 | 2 | 27 |
| 2024 | 32 | 5 | 91 |
| 2023 | 8 | 1 | 19 |
| 2022 | 52 | 9 | 337 |
| 2021 | 57 | 8 | 484 |
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
150 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 112 days – 195 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 14 days (52 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 169 days
- Sample
- 52 articles with submission and acceptance dates (56 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
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 4%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2024
- 4%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 2 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2024
- 2 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 67 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review 2024
- 67 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 13 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2024
- 13 daysPublisher 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
Subscription journalLetPub
A subscription journal: articles are read by subscription or purchase, and authors usually pay no publication charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publisher website | USD 3,890 | — | — |
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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteData availability, Open access
- Data availability
Experiments must be repeated (at least two years of data, multi-location studies, or two rounds of lab/greenhouse studies), with exceptions for some highly precise genetics/plant breeding work, to ensure results are consistent over years or locations. Model summary
For publications in the Journal of Crop Improvement, we are now requiring that experiments to be repeated, i.e., at least two years of data or multi-location studies or two rounds of lab or greenhouse studies. The exception is for some highly precise genetics/plant breeding kind of work. This is to ensure that the results are consistent over years or locations.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access
Journal of Crop Improvement is a hybrid open access journal that is part of the Taylor & Francis Open Select publishing program, giving you the option to publish open access. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership, and impact of your research. Why choose open access? Increase the discoverability…
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
- Taylor & Francis
- ISSN
- 1542-7528
- Electronic ISSN
- 1542-7536
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 40, Issue 5 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Crop Improvement
What CAS zone is Journal of Crop Improvement in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Crop Improvement is in Zone 4 of Agricultural & Forestry Sciences, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Agronomy / Plant Sciences. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 4 of Agricultural & Forestry Sciences. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Journal of Crop Improvement?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 1 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 3.4, h-index 47.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Crop Improvement?
Based on the dates recorded on 52 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 150 days (interquartile range 112–195 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 4% (2024). 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.
Which databases index Journal of Crop Improvement?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Crop Improvement is indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Is Journal of Crop Improvement open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Crop Improvement is a subscription journal. APC about USD 3,890.
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: .