Journal profile · Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Microbial Cell Factories
ISSN 1475-2859 · BioMed Central · ENGLAND · Monthly · Founded 2002
Microbial Cell Factories: CAS Zone 2 · Biology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 5.84; fully open access; APC about USD 3,690; median 90 days to acceptance (106 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: fairly easy; 282 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Microbial Cell Factories is published by BioMed Central 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 Microbial Metabolic Engineering and Bioproduction, Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology and Biofuel production and bioconversion, together about 34.6% of its articles. Its main subfields are Molecular Biology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Microbial Cell Factories is an open access peer-reviewed journal that covers any topic related to the development, use and investigation of microbial cells as producers of recombinant proteins and natural products, or as catalyzers of biological transformations of industrial interest. Microbial Cell Factories is the world leading, primary research journal fully focusing on Applied Microbiology. The journal is divided into the following editorial sections: Metabolic engineering Synthetic biology Whole-cell biocatalysis Microbial regulations Recombinant protein production/bioprocessing Production of natural compounds Systems biology of cell factories Microbial production processes Cell-free systems
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Editor-in-chief Grzegorz WegrzynPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 20 in mainland China (about 10%); most named United States 36, Mainland China 20, India 18, Germany 16, Spain 14 (204 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Microbial Metabolic Engineering and BioproductionBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology19.8%
- Bacterial Genetics and BiotechnologyBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology7.6%
- Biofuel production and bioconversionEngineering7.2%
- Fungal and yeast genetics researchBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology7.2%
- Enzyme Catalysis and ImmobilizationBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology6.6%
- Microbial Natural Products and BiosynthesisMedicine4.9%
- Viral Infectious Diseases and Gene Expression in InsectsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.4%
- Microbial metabolism and enzyme functionBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Biology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Biology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Biology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology | Zone 1 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
MEDLINEEmbaseCASCAB AbstractsPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS, Semantic Scholar
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
- 5.84LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 5.8Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 6.7Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 9.4LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.18LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.31LetPub ·
- h-index
- 80LetPub ·
- h-index
- 168OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 2,990OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 7.76OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 3.4%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.88%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 277LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 4,800,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 4,117 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 217 | 217 | 120 |
| 2025 | 282 | 282 | 2,004 |
| 2024 | 350 | 350 | 4,466 |
| 2023 | 262 | 262 | 5,504 |
| 2022 | 281 | 281 | 6,733 |
| 2021 | 239 | 239 | 9,195 |
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
90 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 67 days – 119 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 15 days (106 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 107 days
- Sample
- 106 articles with submission and acceptance dates (582 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 1 monthLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly easyLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 5 daysPublisher website ·
- 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
Fully open accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | EUR 2,990 / USD 3,690 / GBP 2,590 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 3,590 / EUR 2,890 / GBP 2,490 | — | — | |
| LetPub | GBP 2,390 / USD 3,390 / EUR 2,790 | Yes | — |
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- BioMed Central
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Founded
- 2002
- ISSN
- 1475-2859
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗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 Microbial Cell Factories
What CAS zone is Microbial Cell Factories in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Microbial Cell Factories is in Zone 2 of Biology, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Biology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Microbial Cell Factories?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 5.84; CiteScore 9.4, h-index 168.
How long does peer review take at Microbial Cell Factories?
Based on the dates recorded on 106 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 90 days (interquartile range 67–119 days); authors report an average review time of about 1 month; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly easy”. 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 Microbial Cell Factories based?
Of the 204 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 20 (about 10%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (36), Mainland China (20) and India (18). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Microbial Cell Factories?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Microbial Cell Factories is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists MEDLINE, Embase, CAS and CAB Abstracts; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Microbial Cell Factories open access, and what is the APC?
Microbial Cell Factories is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,690.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, DOAJ, Publisher website; 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 2026-08-24). Last updated: .