Journal profile · BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
Open Biology
ISSN 2046-2441 · The Royal Society · ENGLAND
Open Biology: CAS Zone 2 · Biology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.13; fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 111 days to acceptance (61 articles, last 24 months); 139 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Open Biology is published by The Royal Society 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 Microtubule and mitosis dynamics, RNA Research and Splicing and Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics, together about 22.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are Molecular Biology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Royal Society's Open Biology is an open access journal publishing high impact research across cell and molecular biology, with a strong focus on mechanistic studies that advance our understanding of biological processes. We publish work that uncovers molecular, cellular, structural and biochemical mechanisms, alongside advances in developmental biology, genetics, immunology, neuroscience, microbiology and related fields. Demonstrating its commitment to best practice in open access publishing, Open Biology has been awarded the DOAJ Seal. Articles submitted to Open Biology benefit from its broad scope and readership, dedicated media promotion and we aim for a turnaround time of 4 weeks from submission to first decision.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
Editor-in-chief Jonathon PinesPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United Kingdom 3 (3 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Microtubule and mitosis dynamicsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology9.1%
- RNA Research and SplicingBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology6.8%
- Genomics and Chromatin DynamicsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology6.6%
- RNA modifications and cancerBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology6%
- Neurobiology and Insect Physiology ResearchNeuroscience5.4%
- Ubiquitin and proteasome pathwaysBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.1%
- RNA and protein synthesis mechanismsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.8%
- Epigenetics and DNA MethylationBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.1%
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 | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Biology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Biology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of SciencePMCPublisher website
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
- 3.13LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 3.1Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2024
- 3.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 6.1LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 6.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2024
- 6.1Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.34LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.91LetPub ·
- h-index
- 40LetPub ·
- h-index
- 114OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,094OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.58OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 128LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,625 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 67 | 67 | 33 |
| 2025 | 139 | 139 | 643 |
| 2024 | 116 | 116 | 800 |
| 2023 | 114 | 114 | 1,504 |
| 2022 | 148 | 148 | 3,046 |
| 2021 | 148 | 148 | 5,405 |
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
111 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 88 days – 139 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 39 days (61 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 152 days
- Sample
- 61 articles with submission and acceptance dates (242 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 ·
- Submission to first decision
- 28 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 14 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 | GBP 1,995 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | GBP 1,500 | — | — | |
| LetPub | GBP 1,500 | 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 accepted8, with length limits
- commentaryOpen Biology is a Royal Society online journal that welcomes original, high impact research in cell and developmental biology, molecular and structural biology,…Length not stated
- editorialOpen Biology is a Royal Society online journal that welcomes original, high impact research in cell and developmental biology, molecular and structural biology,…Length not stated
- full research articleOpen Biology is a Royal Society online journal that welcomes original, high impact research in cell and developmental biology, molecular and structural biology,…Length not stated
- letterOpen Biology is a Royal Society online journal that welcomes original, high impact research in cell and developmental biology, molecular and structural biology,…Length not stated
- perspectiveOpen Biology is a Royal Society online journal that welcomes original, high impact research in cell and developmental biology, molecular and structural biology,…Length not stated
- research articleOpen Biology is a Royal Society online journal that welcomes original, high impact research in cell and developmental biology, molecular and structural biology,…Length not stated
- reviewOpen Biology is a Royal Society online journal that welcomes original, high impact research in cell and developmental biology, molecular and structural biology,…Length not stated
- short communicationOpen Biology is a Royal Society online journal that welcomes original, high impact research in cell and developmental biology, molecular and structural biology,…main text ≤ 2,500 words · figures and tables ≤ 4
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteLicense & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- License & copyright Open access licence
Authors submitting to Open Biology will be required to agree to the open access licence.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access licence
Open access options include Read & Publish, Subscribe to Open (S2O), Open Access Membership, Open Access Equity Model summary
Authors submitting to Open Biology will be required to agree to the open access licence.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Transparent peer review in Open Biology
Open Biology operates open peer review for all manuscripts, making the review process as transparent as possible. This is done so by making the reviewer reports, decision letter and associated author responses accessible alongside published articles via Web of Science Transparent Peer Review. The journal strictly maintains referee anonymity, so although we do encourage reviewers to sign their repo…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprint Editorial Team
In accordance with our preprint policy, we encourage authors to deposit early versions of articles in appropriate subject repositories or preprint servers. Open Biology supports submission of manuscripts via bioRxiv, meaning that after submitting to bioRxiv there is the facility to transmit their manuscript files and metadata directly to Open Biology for consideration. There is no need to upload f…
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
- The Royal Society
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2046-2441
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 16, Issue 9 (September 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 Open Biology
What CAS zone is Open Biology in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Open Biology is in Zone 2 of Biology, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. 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 Open Biology?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.13; CiteScore 6.1, h-index 114.
How long does peer review take at Open Biology?
Based on the dates recorded on 61 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 111 days (interquartile range 88–139 days); authors report an average review time of 6–12 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 Open Biology based?
Of the 3 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Open Biology?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Open Biology is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science and PMC; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Open Biology open access, and what is the APC?
Open Biology is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, Publisher website, DOAJ; 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: .