Journal profile · Agricultural and Biological Sciences-Plant Science
Legume Science
ISSN 2639-6181 · Wiley · United States
Legume Science: CAS Zone 3 · Agricultural & Forestry Sciences (2026 Xinrui edition); impact factor 4.4 (journal website); fully open access; APC about USD 3,230; median 131 days to acceptance (91 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 27% (journal website); 62 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Legume Science is published by Wiley and is classed under Agricultural & Forestry Sciences in the CAS Journal Ranking. By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Agricultural pest management studies, Food composition and properties and Genetic and Environmental Crop Studies, together about 36.7% of its articles. Its main subfields are Plant Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Legume Science is intended to be the leading international peer-review journal for the publication and dissemination of high-impact research from across the entire spectrum of legume science. The journal further supports communication of research outputs and collaboration among this interdisciplinary field as a gold open-access publication. Legume Science's broad scientific scope covers all aspects of legume research. Areas of focus include plant science, agronomy, food science and technology, packaging, environmental science and sustainability, plant–microbe interactions, food security, human health, and nutrition. Papers describing research on the applications of legumes for both food and non-food uses will also be welcome. In addition to timely reviews and high-impact research articles, the journal will also be a prime source of news and views appraising the status and future visions of specific areas of legume science and rapid communications from community leaders. Papers submitted to Legume Science should be innovative, novel and offer new insights into the research area of legume science.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Agricultural and Biological Sciences-Plant Science
Editor-in-chief Jasim AhmedPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 3 in mainland China (about 6%); most named United States 8, Canada 6, Australia 6, United Kingdom 4, Mainland China 3 (48 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Agricultural pest management studiesAgricultural and Biological Sciences13%
- Food composition and propertiesNursing12.8%
- Genetic and Environmental Crop StudiesAgricultural and Biological Sciences11%
- Proteins in Food SystemsAgricultural and Biological Sciences8.3%
- Legume Nitrogen Fixing SymbiosisAgricultural and Biological Sciences6.8%
- Phytase and its ApplicationsAgricultural and Biological Sciences5.5%
- Agronomic Practices and Intercropping SystemsAgricultural and Biological Sciences4.5%
- Soybean genetics and cultivationAgricultural and Biological Sciences4.3%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Agricultural & Forestry Sciences Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Agricultural & Forestry Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Food Science & Technology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of ScienceCASPublisher 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)
- 4.4Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 4.4Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 9.1LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 9.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 9.1Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.84LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.66LetPub ·
- h-index
- 37OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 129OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 4.5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 52LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 53Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 205,405Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 425 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 77 | 77 | 27 |
| 2025 | 62 | 62 | 112 |
| 2024 | 66 | 66 | 476 |
| 2023 | 37 | 37 | 405 |
| 2022 | 49 | 49 | 886 |
| 2021 | 69 | 69 | 1,967 |
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
131 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 83 days – 172 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 21 days (91 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 154 days
- Sample
- 91 articles with submission and acceptance dates (145 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 6 weeksLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 27%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 27%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 18 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 18 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 141 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 20 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 6 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 3,230 / GBP 2,310 / EUR 2,770 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | USD 3,080 / EUR 2,640 / GBP 2,310 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 3,080 / GBP 2,310 / EUR 2,640 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- 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
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Keywords
- 3–7
- Reference style
- APA
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Graphical abstract
- Required
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted8, with length limits
- book reviewBook Review - Begin by stating the title, author(s), publisher, date, page count, price, and ISBN number for the work reviewed.Length not stated
- commentaryCommentary - Evidence-based opinion pieces involving areas of broad interest.Length not stated
- comprehensive reviewComprehensive Review - Critical reviews of the literature, including systematic reviews and meta-analyses.Length not stated
- data insightData Insight - Articles analysing datasets/databases.Length not stated
- mini reviewations in the field of legume research. Mini Review - Concise review articles with a maximum of 2,000-5,000 words where the figures and tables should take a max…main text ≤ 5,000 words
- news and viewsNews and Views - Commentaries on recent advances and publications in the field of legume research.Length not stated
- original articleOriginal Article - Reports of new research findings or conceptual analyses that make a significant contribution to knowledge.Length not stated
- short communicationShort Communication - Brief observations and research reports that do not warrant a full-length paper. Should be no more than 3000 words, contain no more than 3…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, Preprints, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- Authorship Authorship
Author name change Model summary
Please refer to the journal’s authorship policy the Editorial Policies and Ethical Considerations section for details on eligibility for author listing.
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’ section in the Editorial Policies and Ethical Considerations section below. 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 Accessibility
Data sharing Model summary
Please review Wiley’s policy here. This journal expects data sharing.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Publication Ethics
Publication ethics Model summary
This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Note this journal uses iThenticate’s CrossCheck software to detect instances of overlapping and similar text in submitted manuscripts. Read Wiley’s Top 10 Publishing Ethics Tips for Authors here. Wiley’s Publication Ethics Guidelines can be found here.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprint policy:
Preprint policy Model summary
This journal will consider for review articles previously available as preprints on non-commercial servers such as ArXiv, bioRxiv, psyArXiv, SocArXiv, engrXiv, etc. Authors are requested to update any pre-publication versions with a link to the final published article. Authors may also post the final published version of the article immediately after publication.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Trial registration / reporting guidelines Clinical Trial Registration
The journal requires that clinical trials are prospectively registered in a publicly accessible database and clinical trial registration numbers should be included in all papers that report their results. Authors are asked to include the name of the trial register and the clinical trial registration number at the end of the abstract. If the trial is not registered, or was registered retrospectivel…
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
- Country or region
- United States
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2639-6181
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 8, Issue 3 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Legume Science
What CAS zone is Legume Science in?
In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Agricultural & Forestry Sciences. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Legume Science?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 4.4 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 9.1, h-index 37.
How long does peer review take at Legume Science?
Based on the dates recorded on 91 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 131 days (interquartile range 83–172 days); authors report an average review time of about 6 weeks; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 27% (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 Legume Science?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Keywords: 3–7; Reference style: APA; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Graphical abstract: Required; Cover letter: Required. 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 Legume Science based?
Of the 48 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 3 (about 6%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (8), Canada (6) and Australia (6). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Legume Science?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Legume Science is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science and CAS; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Legume Science open access, and what is the APC?
Legume Science is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,230.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .