Journal profile · COMPUTER SCIENCE, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE-COMPUTER SCIENCE, THEORY & METHODS
Natural Computing
ISSN 1567-7818 · eISSN 1572-9796 · Springer Netherlands · NETHERLANDS · 4 issues per year · Founded 2002
Natural Computing: CAS Zone 4 · Computer Science (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.75; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,190; median 292 days to acceptance (35 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: easy; 52 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Natural Computing is published by Springer Netherlands and is in Zone 4 of Computer Science in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Legal and Regulatory Analysis, Linguistic, Cultural, and Literary Studies and Military Technology and Strategies, together about 59.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Artificial Intelligence. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Natural Computing is a general term referring to computing going on in nature and computing inspired by nature. When complex phenomena going on in nature are viewed as computational processes, our understanding of these phenomena and of the essence of computation is enhanced. In this way one gains valuable insights into both natural sciences and computer science. Characteristic for man-designed computing inspired by nature is the metaphorical use of concepts, principles and mechanisms underlying natural systems. This type of computing includes evolutionary algorithms, neural networks, molecular computing and quantum computing. The aim of the journal is (1) to provide a publication forum for, and to foster links and mutual understanding between researchers from various areas of natural computing, (2) to give researchers in natural sciences and computer science an insight into research trends in natural computing. The research in natural computing is concerned with theory, experiments, and applications, and the journal reports on each of these research lines. Moreover, the journal will cover natural computing in a very broad scope. Thus, e.g., the subarea of evolutionary algorithms will cover also very active research on the boundary of biology and computer science which views the evolution as a computational process, and the subarea of neural networks will also cover computational trends in brain research. The journal is soliciting papers on all aspects of natural computing. Because of the interdisciplinary character of the journal a special effort will be made to solicit survey, review, and tutorial papers which would make research trends in a given subarea more accessible to the broad audience of the journal. Founding Editors-in-Chief Grzegorz Rozenberg, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands Herman Spaink, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): COMPUTER SCIENCE, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE-COMPUTER SCIENCE, THEORY & METHODS
Editor-in-chief Jarkko KariPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 2 in mainland China (about 4%); most named United States 7, Germany 6, Finland 6, United Kingdom 5, Italy 5 (56 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Legal and Regulatory AnalysisSocial Sciences19.7%
- Linguistic, Cultural, and Literary StudiesSocial Sciences19.7%
- Military Technology and StrategiesEngineering19.7%
- DNA and Biological ComputingBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology7.6%
- Advanced biosensing and bioanalysis techniquesBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.4%
- Cellular Automata and ApplicationsComputer Science4%
- Metaheuristic Optimization Algorithms ResearchComputer Science3.3%
- Modular Robots and Swarm IntelligenceEngineering3%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Computer Science Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Computer Science | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Theory & Methods | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Computer Science Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Computer Science | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Theory & Methods | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Computer Science Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Computer Science | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Theory & Methods | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
EI CompendexINSPECEmbaseCASzbMATHDBLPCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, ACM Digital Library, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS
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
- 1.75LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.9Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.9LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.49LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.94LetPub ·
- h-index
- 33LetPub ·
- h-index
- 59OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 456OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.33OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 21.1%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 54.72%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 46LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 163,800Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,553 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 32 | 20 | 9 |
| 2025 | 52 | 35 | 46 |
| 2024 | 36 | 25 | 105 |
| 2023 | 33 | 26 | 158 |
| 2022 | 55 | 33 | 457 |
| 2021 | 51 | 23 | 425 |
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
292 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 179 days – 472 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 29 days (86 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 337 days
- Sample
- 35 articles with submission and acceptance dates (91 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)
- 6–12 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 28 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Double anonymous peer reviewPublisher website
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
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 3,190 / EUR 2,590 / GBP 2,290 | — | — |
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
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)
Open calls for papers3, by deadline
Publisher websiteWhat to prepare4 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- 150–250 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 4
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- AI use Generative AI Images
Please check Springer’s policy on generative AI images and make sure your work adheres to the principles described therein. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Authorship principles
These guidelines describe authorship principles and good authorship practices to which prospective authors should adhere to. Authorship clarified The Journal and Publisher assume all authors agreed with the content and that all gave explicit consent to submit and that they obtained consent from the responsible authorities at the institute/organization where the work has been carried out, before th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Disclosures and declarations
Competing interests disclosure required Model summary
All authors are requested to include information regarding sources of funding, financial or non-financial interests, study-specific approval by the appropriate ethics committee for research involving humans and/or animals, informed consent if the research involved human participants, and a statement on welfare of animals if the research involved animals (as appropriate). The decision whether such …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability statements
Data availability statement required for all original research Model summary
All original research must include a data availability statement. This statement should explain how to access data supporting the results and analysis in the article, including links/citations to publicly archived datasets analysed or generated during the study. Please see our full policy here. If it is not possible to share research data publicly, for instance when individual privacy could be com…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Compliance with Ethical Standards
To ensure objectivity and transparency in research and to ensure that accepted principles of ethical and professional conduct have been followed, authors should include information regarding sources of funding, potential conflicts of interest (financial or non-financial), informed consent if the research involved human participants, and a statement on welfare of animals if the research involved an…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright
Open Choice articles do not require transfer of copyright as the copyright remains with the author. In opting for open access, the author(s) agree to publish the article under a Creative Commons license. Details of the OA licences offered to authors can be found on the individual journal website, in the journal's How to publish with us guide. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publishing
To find out more about publishing your work Open Access in Natural Computing, including information on fees, funding and licences, visit our Open access publishing page. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Authors may suggest or exclude reviewers Model summary
Authors are welcome to suggest suitable reviewers and/or request the exclusion of certain individuals when they submit their manuscripts.
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
- Springer Netherlands
- Country or region
- NETHERLANDS
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- 4 issues per year
- Founded
- 2002
- ISSN
- 1567-7818
- Electronic ISSN
- 1572-9796
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Natural Computing
What CAS zone is Natural Computing in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Natural Computing is in Zone 4 of Computer Science, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence / Computer Science, Theory & Methods. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 4 of Computer Science. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Natural Computing?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.75; CiteScore 3.9, h-index 59.
How long does peer review take at Natural Computing?
Based on the dates recorded on 35 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 292 days (interquartile range 179–472 days); authors report an average review time of 6–12 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “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.
What are the manuscript requirements of Natural Computing?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 150–250 words; Keywords: ≥ 4; Reference style: Author–date; Suggested reviewers: Optional. 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 Natural Computing based?
Of the 56 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 2 (about 4%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (7), Germany (6) and Finland (6). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Natural Computing?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Natural Computing is indexed in SCIE and Scopus. The journal's website also lists EI Compendex, INSPEC, Embase, CAS, zbMATH, DBLP and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Natural Computing open access, and what is the APC?
Natural Computing is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,190.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, 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: .