Journal of Plant Physiology

Journal of Plant Physiology is published by Urban und Fischer Verlag GmbH und Co. KG 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 Plant Stress Responses and Tolerance, Photosynthetic Processes and Mechanisms and Plant tissue culture and regeneration, together about 33.3% of its articles. Its main subfields are Plant Science and Molecular Biology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)

Mechanisms of Plant Function: from Molecular to Ecosystem ScalesThe Journal of Plant Physiology is a broad-spectrum journal that welcomes high-quality submissions in all major areas of plant physiology, including plant biochemistry, functional biotechnology, computational and synthetic plant biology, growth and development (including reproduction), photosynthesis and respiration, transport and translocation, plant-microbe interactions, biotic and abiotic stress. Studies are welcome at all levels of integration ranging from molecules and cells to organisms and their environments and are expected to use state-of-the-art methodologies. Pure gene expression studies are not within the focus of our journal. To be considered for publication, papers must significantly contribute to the mechanistic understanding of physiological processes, and not be merely descriptive, or confirmatory of previous results. We encourage the submission of papers that explore the physiology of non-model as well as accepted model species and those that bridge basic and applied research. For instance, studies on agricultural plants that show new physiological mechanisms to improve agricultural efficiency are welcome. Studies performed under uncontrolled situations (e.g. field conditions) not providing mechanistic insight will not be considered for publication.The Journal of Plant Physiology publishes several types of articles: Original Research Articles, Humboldt Reviews, Early-Career Researcher Reviews, Invited Reviews, Perspectives, Opinion Articles and Short Communications. Reviews, Perspectives and Opinion Articles will be solicited by the Editors; unsolicited reviews are also welcome but only from authors with a strong track record in the field of the review. Original research papers comprise the majority of published contributions.Humboldt Reviews are expected take a broad approach, one that spans multiple areas of biological inquiry, and one that distinguishes itself from that taken in most regular review works by a deeper philosophical line of thought and a more global reach. Humboldt Reviews are also expected to be thoroughly respectful of the historical developments in a given field (i.e. not limit themselves to covering the literature of only the previous one to two decades) and speak to both its fundamental and applied aspects. They are named after Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), one of the most influential German natural philosophers of the 18th and 19th centuries. Our editors-in-chief take great inspiration from Alexander von Humboldt's profound and wide-ranging contributions. The Journal of Plant Physiology was founded in 1909 but it traces back to 1818 and to the geographic region Alexander von Humboldt was most active in. The Journal of Plant Physiology has consistently published landmark papers in plant physiology, and is one of the world's oldest international journals in the botanical sciences. For these reasons, we consider Alexander von Humboldt a particularly appropriate scholar after whom to name our prestigious review series.Early-Career Researcher Reviews: This new category is specifically aimed at early-career scientists starting their independent research careers. Suitable candidates will be nominated by senior scholars. Nomination letters should include a brief curriculum vitae and a justification for the selection. Nominees will be evaluated by the Editors-in-Chief and officially invited to submit articles. ECR Reviews should not exceed 8,000 words and contain no more than 150 references plus figures and tables.Early Career Researchers are within their first eight years of academic or other research-related employment, following completion of postgraduate research training.Founded in 1909, with roots tracing back to 1818, the Journal of Plant Physiology has consistently published landmark papers in plant physiology, and is one of the world's oldest international journals in the botanical sciences.An official journal of the

From the journal's Aims & Scope

Research area (LetPub): Plant Sciences

Editor-in-chief Herbert J. KronzuckerPublisher website

Editorial board by country: 36 in mainland China (about 43%); most named Mainland China 36, Germany 11, Australia 8, India 3, Canada 3 (83 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website · 2026-10-01

CAS Journal Ranking

Database indexing

SCIEScopusLetPub

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.

Impact

Impact factor

4.65LetPub · 2026-09-13

Impact factor (publisher)

4.8Publisher website · 2026-10-01

CiteScore 2026-06

8.8LetPub · 2026-09-13

CiteScore (publisher)

8.8Publisher website · 2026-10-01

SJR 2026-06

1.17LetPub · 2026-09-13

SNIP 2026-06

1.14LetPub · 2026-09-13

h-index

109LetPub · 2026-09-13

h-index

199OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

i10-index

6,680OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

2-year mean citedness

4.54OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

Self-citation rate

2.1%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Share of gold OA articles

17.42%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Volume

Articles per year

157LetPub · 2026-09-13

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.

Other sources

Average acceptance (community reports)

20%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Submission to first decision

2 daysPublisher website · 2026-10-01

First decision after review

29 daysPublisher website · 2026-10-01

Submission to acceptance

76 daysPublisher website · 2026-10-01

Acceptance to publication

2 daysPublisher website · 2026-10-01

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.

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.

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.

Publisher

Urban und Fischer Verlag GmbH und Co. KG

Country or region

GERMANY

Language

Multi-Language

Frequency

Monthly

Founded

1984

ISSN

0176-1617

Electronic ISSN

1618-1328

Society / sponsor

Federation of European Societies of Plant Biology

Official links

• Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
• Submission system ↗Publisher website
• Special issues ↗Publisher website