Journal profile · Immunology and Microbiology-Microbiology
mSphere
ISSN 2379-5042 · American Society for Microbiology · UNITED STATES
mSphere: CAS Zone 2 · Biology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.9; fully open access; APC about USD 3,500; median 76 days to acceptance (70 articles, last 24 months); 324 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
mSphere 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 Gut microbiota and health, Antibiotic Resistance in Bacteria and Antifungal resistance and susceptibility, together about 24.7% of its articles. Its main subfields are Infectious Diseases. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
mSphere® is a pan-microbial, multidisciplinary open access journal that publishes high-quality, high-impact work across the microbial sciences. Our broad scope covers the following: Bacteria Parasites Viruses Fungi Archaea Prions Boundary-spanning research transcending traditional disciplinary silos We enable researchers to share findings that transform our understanding in many fields: Human, animal, and plant health and disease Microbial ecology Energy production Food and water security Evolution Climate change Clinical studies Vaccines and therapeutic developments Bioremediation and microbial processing Host-pathogen interactions Microbiomes in health and environment Other fundamental and emerging fields relevant to the biology of microbial organisms
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Immunology and Microbiology-Microbiology
Editor-in-chief Ira Blader ExplorePublisher website
Editorial board by country: 11 in mainland China (about 11%); most named United States 48, Mainland China 11, United Kingdom 6, Germany 6, Japan 5 (100 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Gut microbiota and healthBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology9%
- Antibiotic Resistance in BacteriaBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology8.5%
- Antifungal resistance and susceptibilityMedicine7.2%
- Fungal Infections and StudiesMedicine5.6%
- Bacteriophages and microbial interactionsEnvironmental Science5.2%
- Bacterial biofilms and quorum sensingBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.9%
- Bacterial Genetics and BiotechnologyBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.8%
- Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens researchMedicine4.2%
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: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Biology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Microbiology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview 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
- 3.9LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.21LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.92LetPub ·
- h-index
- 19LetPub ·
- h-index
- 106OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,892OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.82OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 2.5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 283LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 1,961,527Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 3,242 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 188 | 188 | 62 |
| 2025 | 324 | 324 | 951 |
| 2024 | 368 | 368 | 3,228 |
| 2023 | 262 | 262 | 3,073 |
| 2022 | 223 | 223 | 3,264 |
| 2021 | 400 | 400 | 10,237 |
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
76 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 31 days – 123 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 28 days (70 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 109 days
- Sample
- 70 articles with submission and acceptance dates (668 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 11 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 11 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 3,500 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | USD 3,500 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 3,500 | Yes | — |
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)
Article types accepted10, with length limits
- commentariesCommentaries are short invited articles that discuss mSphere papers or issues of special interest. These are solicited by editors from reviewers or experts in t…Length not stated
- commentaryatting guidelines as Research Articles. Commentaries Commentaries are short invited articles (maximum 1,000 words) that discuss mSphere papers or issues of spec…main text ≤ 1,000 words · abstract ≤ 150 words
- editorialEditorials (maximum 500 words) communicated by members of the mSphere Board of Editors address issues of science, politics, or policy. Editorials should include…main text ≤ 500 words · abstract ≤ 150 words
- editorialsEditorials (maximum 500 words) communicated by members of the mSphere Board of Editors address issues of science, politics, or policy. Editorials should include…Length not stated
- letters to the editorLetters to the Editor are intended for comments on articles published in the journal and must cite published references to support the writer’s argument. Letter…main text ≤ 500 words
- opinionive of references, figures, and tables. Opinions/Hypotheses Opinions/Hypotheses are short articles (with a maximum of 2,500 words and no more than 25 references…main text ≤ 2,500 words · abstract ≤ 150 words · references ≤ 25
- perspectiveion headings and/or paragraph lead-ins. Perspectives Perspectives are brief reviews (maximum 2,000 words) that offer a succinct overview of a specific topic wit…main text ≤ 2,000 words · abstract ≤ 150 words
- perspectivesPerspectives are brief reviews that offer a succinct overview of a specific topic with an emphasis on opinion and synthesis. Authors should provide an abstract …Length not stated
- research article5 references, and no more than 2 tables Research Articles Research Articles are limited to 5,000 words, not including the References section and figure legends,…main text ≤ 5,000 words
- research articlesResearch Articles should make fundamental contributions to our understanding of any area of microbiology or allied fields. These articles should include the ele…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteConflicts of interest
- 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. Lark L. Coffey (2030)University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USAResearch Interests: RNA viruses, including mosquito-borne viruses, transmission dynamics, evolution, pathogenesis, animal models and vaccine development Kim …
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
- 2379-5042
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 11 (August 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- 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 mSphere
What CAS zone is mSphere in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, mSphere 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 mSphere?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.9; CiteScore 5, h-index 106.
How long does peer review take at mSphere?
Based on the dates recorded on 70 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 76 days (interquartile range 31–123 days); authors report an average review time of about 11 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 mSphere based?
Of the 100 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 11 (about 11%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (48), Mainland China (11) and United Kingdom (6). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index mSphere?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, mSphere is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is mSphere open access, and what is the APC?
mSphere is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,500.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .