Journal profile · IMMUNOLOGY-INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Pathogens and Disease
ISSN 2049-632X · Oxford University Press · ENGLAND
Pathogens and Disease: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.2; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,297; median 173 days to acceptance (10 articles, last 24 months); 14 articles in 2025; indexed in Scopus; flagged on an early-warning list or for an indexing change: check before submitting; the journal's website says it has ceased publication.
The journal's website says it has ceased publication: Pathogens & Disease ceased publication as of January 2026, and is not accepting new submissions. Oxford University Press will host all previously published materials in perpetuity. Source ↗Publisher website ·
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Pathogens and Disease is published by Oxford University Press and is in Zone 4 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Reproductive tract infections research, Bacterial biofilms and quorum sensing and Bacterial Infections and Vaccines, together about 24.1% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
As of January 2024, Pathogens and Disease is a fully open access journal. This means that all previously published content is free to read from this date. It also means that all submissions that get accepted for publication will be published open access and will therefore be subject to an Article Processing Charge (APC). See the Copyright and license including Open Access section of our Author Guidelines for more information. At FEMS we are working hard to make publishing in our journals as financially accessible as possible. We want the barrier to entry to publishing in our journals to be around the quality and soundness of the science, rather than a financial barrier. This is why we are keeping one broad-scope journal free-to-publish; our APCs are set lower than many other quality journals in our field; and we have put in place generous discount and waiver policies; visit our Open Access FAQs page for more information. Pathogens and Disease publishes outstanding primary research on hypothesis- and discovery-driven studies on pathogens, host-pathogen interactions, host response to infection and their molecular and cellular correlates. It covers all pathogens – eukaryotes, prokaryotes, and viruses – and includes zoonotic pathogens and experimental translational applications. The journal was formerly published as FEMS Immunology & Medical Microbiology and FEMS Microbiology Immunology. Content for these titles can be found in the Pathogens and Disease archive. Scope of the journal Pathogens and Disease aims to publish outstanding primary research articles reporting on hypothesis- or discovery-driven studies that significantly advance our understanding of pathogens, their interactions with host cells and organisms as well as host responses to infections and their molecular, cellular, microbial and environmental correlates. Studies corresponding broadly to the fields of molecular pathogenesis, cellular microbiology, innate and adaptive immunity and studies of the systems biology (‘omics) of pathogens are welcome. Commentaries and Perspectives on matters related to articles published in Pathogens and Disease or Minireviews on topics of interest in infectious disease research are also welcome. Clinical studies, excluding clinical trials, and modelling studies (from in situ to in silico) that are relevant to the aforementioned fields will also be considered. Experimental translational applications in vaccine research, therapeutics, probiotics, pathogen typing or
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): IMMUNOLOGY-INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Reproductive tract infections researchImmunology and Microbiology10%
- Bacterial biofilms and quorum sensingBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology8.6%
- Bacterial Infections and VaccinesImmunology and Microbiology5.5%
- Antibiotic Resistance in BacteriaBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.1%
- Tuberculosis Research and EpidemiologyMedicine4.6%
- Mycobacterium research and diagnosisMedicine4.4%
- Antimicrobial Resistance in StaphylococcusMedicine4.3%
- Vibrio bacteria research studiesBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.1%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Immunology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Infectious Diseases | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Microbiology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Immunology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Infectious Diseases | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Microbiology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
ScopusLetPub
Early warning / risk: Marked as ceased in SCIE on 16 March 2026. CAS Early Warning Journal List: not listed in any of 6 editions.LetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
MEDLINEEmbaseCASCAB AbstractsCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: Index Medicus, EBSCO, ProQuest, AGRICOLA
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
- 3.2LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2024
- 2.7Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2024
- 2.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 6.3LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2024
- 6.1Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.9LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.89LetPub ·
- h-index
- 94LetPub ·
- h-index
- 72OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 688OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 8.07OpenAlex ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 32.11%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 32LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,050 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 14 | 14 | 31 |
| 2024 | 31 | 31 | 332 |
| 2023 | 35 | 27 | 195 |
| 2022 | 47 | 20 | 627 |
| 2021 | 58 | 35 | 1,036 |
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 PubMed · to
173 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 110 days – 193 days
- Acceptance to online
- —
- Submission to online
- —
- Sample
- 10 articles with submission and acceptance dates (14 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".
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 | GBP 2,500 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2049-632X
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Pathogens and Disease
What CAS zone is Pathogens and Disease in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Pathogens and Disease is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Immunology / Infectious Diseases / Microbiology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Pathogens and Disease?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.2; CiteScore 6.3, h-index 72.
How long does peer review take at Pathogens and Disease?
Based on the dates recorded on 10 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 173 days (interquartile range 110–193 days). 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 Pathogens and Disease?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Pathogens and Disease is indexed in Scopus. The journal's website also lists MEDLINE, Embase, CAS, CAB Abstracts and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Pathogens and Disease open access, and what is the APC?
Pathogens and Disease is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,297.
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: .