Journal profile · Medicine-Biochemistry (medical)
Life Metabolism
ISSN 2755-0230 · Oxford University Press · United Kingdom
Life Metabolism: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 4.4 (journal website); diamond open access (no APC); no APC; median 109 days to acceptance (63 articles, last 24 months); 46 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Life Metabolism is published by Oxford University Press and is in Zone 4 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Adipose Tissue and Metabolism, Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment and Pancreatic function and diabetes, together about 26.8% of its articles. Its main subfields are Molecular Biology and Physiology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Life Metabolism is a fully open access, peer-reviewed journal that publishes one volume, including six issues, per year online. All papers published in Life Metabolism are made freely available online under an open access license, with applicable charges. The journal aims to provide a platform for the publication of works of high significance and broad interest in all areas of metabolism, including but not limited to energy metabolism; nutrient sensing and signalling; immunometabolism; neurometabolism; exercise metabolism; circadian rhythms; aging; microbiome metabolism; plant metabolism; obesity and metabolic syndrome; cancer metabolism; and metabolism-related clinical studies and advanced technologies. The journal is jointly published by Higher Education Press and Oxford University Press. Abstracting and Indexing Information Life Metabolism is covered by major indexing/abstracting services, including: DOAJ Scopus Biological Abstracts BIOSIS Previews Emerging Sources Citation Index PMC Central Journal metrics Citation metrics Clarivate 2025 Impact Factor 6.3 Scopus 2025 CiteScore 4.4 About metrics Disclaimer Statements of fact and opinion in the articles in Life Metabolism are those of the respective authors and contributors and not of the Journal, Higher Education Press Limited Company, or Oxford University Press, unless otherwise expressly indicated. Neither Oxford University Press, Higher Education Press Limited Company, nor the Journal make any representation, express or implied, in respect of the accuracy of the material in the Journal and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made. Readers should make their own evaluation as to the appropriateness or otherwise of the information included.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Medicine-Biochemistry (medical)
Editor-in-chief Peng LiPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 20 in mainland China (about 74%); most named Mainland China 20, United States 5, United Kingdom 1, Japan 1 (27 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Adipose Tissue and MetabolismMedicine12.9%
- Liver Disease Diagnosis and TreatmentMedicine7.1%
- Pancreatic function and diabetesMedicine6.8%
- Diet and metabolism studiesMedicine6.8%
- RNA modifications and cancerBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.8%
- Dietary Effects on HealthMedicine4.5%
- Mitochondrial Function and PathologyBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.2%
- Metabolomics and Mass Spectrometry StudiesBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology3.9%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Endocrinology & Metabolism | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Biology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Endocrinology & Metabolism | Zone 4 |
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
PMCPublisher 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
- 4.4Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.4LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 4.4Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.34LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.66LetPub ·
- h-index
- 20OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 43OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.58OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 4.8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 28LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2,024Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 210 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 32 | 32 | 10 |
| 2025 | 46 | 46 | 140 |
| 2024 | 41 | 41 | 395 |
| 2023 | 51 | 51 | 471 |
| 2022 | 40 | 40 | 402 |
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 PubMed · to
109 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 58 days – 142 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 4 days (63 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 111 days
- Sample
- 63 articles with submission and acceptance dates (85 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 10 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 10 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 | — |
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 websiteOpen access
- Open access Open access
Fully open access, peer-reviewed journal Model summary
All content published in this journal is open access (OA). Benefits of publishing OA include: Impact and citations Freely available to read and download Comply with funder mandates Learn more about publishing OA
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
- Oxford University Press
- Country or region
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2755-0230
- Print ISSN
- 2097-2555
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 5, Issue 5 (October 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- 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 Life Metabolism
What CAS zone is Life Metabolism in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Life Metabolism is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Endocrinology & Metabolism. 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 Life Metabolism?
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 4.4, h-index 20.
How long does peer review take at Life Metabolism?
Based on the dates recorded on 63 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 109 days (interquartile range 58–142 days); authors report an average review time of about 10 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 Life Metabolism based?
Of the 27 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 20 (about 74%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (20), United States (5) and United Kingdom (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Life Metabolism?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Life Metabolism is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists PMC; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Life Metabolism open access, and what is the APC?
Life Metabolism 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: .