Journal profile · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology-Genetics
Microbiology Spectrum
ISSN 2165-0497 · American Society for Microbiology · United States
Microbiology Spectrum: CAS Zone 2 · Biology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 4.01; fully open access; APC about USD 2,500; median 118 days to acceptance (178 articles, last 24 months); 1,601 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Microbiology Spectrum is published by American Society for Microbiology 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 Antibiotic Resistance in Bacteria, Gut microbiota and health and Bacterial biofilms and quorum sensing, together about 24.9% of its articles. Its main subfields are Infectious Diseases. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Microbiology Spectrum ® (Spectrum) publishes research from all domains of basic, applied, and clinical microbial sciences. Rather than making subjective evaluations of potential impact, Microbiology Spectrum publishes research studies that are of high technical quality and are useful to the community. All decisions are made by an international and diverse editorial board that fully represents the microbiology research community. The journal provides authors with fair, rapid, and rigorous peer review. In addition to studies that advance our collective understanding of microbial life, the journal will also consider: Replication studies that are useful to the field Findings that are of primary interest to smaller sub-fields within microbiology Technically robust datasets that contradict published findings Negative results of interest to microbiologists Descriptive datasets that would serve as a community resource Methodological advances and detailed experimental protocols that are of interest to microbiologists Re-analyses of large datasets that provide additional insights Experimental validation screening hits from previous reports Topics Covered: Applied and Environmental Science, Clinical Science and Epidemiology, Ecological and Evolutionary Science, Host-Microbe Biology, Molecular Biology and Physiology, Synthetic Biology, Therapeutics and Prevention
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology-Genetics
Editor-in-chief Christina CuomoPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 56 in mainland China (about 21%); most named Mainland China 56, United States 28, India 26, Canada 20, France 15 (273 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Antibiotic Resistance in BacteriaBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology12%
- Gut microbiota and healthBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology7.3%
- Bacterial biofilms and quorum sensingBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.6%
- Bacteriophages and microbial interactionsEnvironmental Science5.5%
- Bacterial Identification and Susceptibility TestingBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.9%
- SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 ResearchMedicine4.5%
- Tuberculosis Research and EpidemiologyMedicine4.4%
- Mycobacterium research and diagnosisMedicine4.4%
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 | Microbiology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Biology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Microbiology | Zone 3 |
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 | Microbiology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
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.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor
- 4.01LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 7.5LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.21LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.11LetPub ·
- h-index
- 140OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 4,233OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.86OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 4.9%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.96%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 1,536LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 7,148,590Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 9,914 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1,285 | 1,285 | 395 |
| 2025 | 1,601 | 1,601 | 4,975 |
| 2024 | 1,395 | 1,395 | 11,140 |
| 2023 | 2,160 | 2,160 | 27,649 |
| 2022 | 2,054 | 2,054 | 41,929 |
| 2021 | 563 | 563 | 13,999 |
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
118 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 71 days – 179 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 35 days (178 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 165 days
- Sample
- 178 articles with submission and acceptance dates (3,382 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 14 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 14 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer review, Unspecified 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 2,500 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | USD 2,500 | — | — |
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 websiteConflicts of interest, Peer review
- Conflicts of interest Senior Editors Conflict of Interest Policy
Senior Editors provide strategic oversight of the journal’s peer review process, triaging submissions, assigning manuscripts, and in some cases managing peer review directly. Cheryl P. Andam (2028)University at Albany, Albany, NYResearch Interests: Microbial evolution, population genomics and bioinformatics, antimicrobial resistance, horizontal gene transfer and recombination Esther Babady (2031)b…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Peer review described as fair, rapid, and rigorous. Model summary
The journal provides authors with fair, rapid, and rigorous peer review.
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
- American Society for Microbiology
- Country or region
- United States
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2165-0497
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 14 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗DOAJ
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗DOAJ
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Microbiology Spectrum
What CAS zone is Microbiology Spectrum in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Microbiology Spectrum is in Zone 2 of Biology, and in Zone 3 of the minor category 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 Microbiology Spectrum?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 4.01; CiteScore 7.5, h-index 140.
How long does peer review take at Microbiology Spectrum?
Based on the dates recorded on 178 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 118 days (interquartile range 71–179 days); authors report an average review time of about 14 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 Microbiology Spectrum based?
Of the 273 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 56 (about 21%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (56), United States (28) and India (26). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Microbiology Spectrum?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Microbiology Spectrum is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Microbiology Spectrum open access, and what is the APC?
Microbiology Spectrum is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 2,500.
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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .