Journal profile · Biological Science Disciplines
Nature Communications
ISSN 2041-1723 · Springer Nature · England · Bimonthly · Founded 2010
Nature Communications: CAS Zone 1 · Multidisciplinary (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 18.06; fully open access; APC about USD 7,350; median 287 days to acceptance (215 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: 66%; 12,683 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
More on the aims and scope of Nature Communications is available in this section, as well as article and journal metrics, indexing and archiving information.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Biological Science Disciplines
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- RNA and protein synthesis mechanismsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology6.5%
- RNA Research and SplicingBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology6%
- RNA modifications and cancerBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology6%
- CRISPR and Genetic EngineeringBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.5%
- Epigenetics and DNA MethylationBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.1%
- Genomics and Chromatin DynamicsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.7%
- Neural dynamics and brain functionNeuroscience4.4%
- Topological Materials and PhenomenaPhysics and Astronomy4.1%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Multidisciplinary Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Multidisciplinary | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Multidisciplinary Sciences | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Multidisciplinary Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Multidisciplinary | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Multidisciplinary Sciences | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Multidisciplinary Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Multidisciplinary | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Multidisciplinary Sciences | Zone 1 |
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
- 18.06LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 18.1Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2024
- 15.7Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2024
- 17.2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 24.3LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 4.9LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 3.42LetPub ·
- h-index
- 248LetPub ·
- h-index
- 758OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 70,968OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 17.96OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 3.3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.94%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 12,160LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 349,945,839Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2024
- 177,272,701Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 93,052 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 10,177 | 10,177 | 16,091 |
| 2025 | 12,683 | 12,683 | 190,531 |
| 2024 | 10,963 | 10,963 | 400,712 |
| 2023 | 8,551 | 8,551 | 468,499 |
| 2022 | 7,985 | 7,985 | 587,011 |
| 2021 | 7,375 | 7,375 | 724,270 |
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
287 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 204 days – 372 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 19 days (216 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 308 days
- Sample
- 215 articles with submission and acceptance dates (25,249 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)
- 66%LetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 28 weeksDOAJ ·
- 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 | EUR 6,150 / USD 7,350 / GBP 5,490 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 6,990 / EUR 5,890 / GBP 5,290 | — | — | |
| LetPub | GBP 5,090 / USD 6,790 / EUR 5,690 | 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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access
- Open access Open Access
Nature Communications is a fully open access journal. More on Creative Commons Attribution licenses and the benefits of publishing open access can be found in this section.
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 Nature
- Country or region
- England
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Bimonthly
- Founded
- 2010
- ISSN
- 2041-1723
- 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 Nature Communications
What CAS zone is Nature Communications in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Nature Communications is in Zone 1 of Multidisciplinary, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Multidisciplinary Sciences; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Multidisciplinary. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Nature Communications?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 18.06; CiteScore 24.3, h-index 758.
How long does peer review take at Nature Communications?
Based on the dates recorded on 215 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 287 days (interquartile range 204–372 days); authors report an average review time of about 1 month; the community-reported acceptance is “66%”. 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.
Which databases index Nature Communications?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Nature Communications is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Nature Communications open access, and what is the APC?
Nature Communications is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 7,350.
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: .