Journal profile · Agricultural and Biological Sciences-Plant Science
Plant Communications
ISSN 2590-3462 · Elsevier · United States
Plant Communications: CAS Zone 1 · Biology (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 13.35; fully open access; APC about USD 3,500; median 171 days to acceptance (108 articles, last 24 months); 262 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Plant Communications is published by Elsevier and is in Zone 1 of Biology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Plant Molecular Biology Research, Photosynthetic Processes and Mechanisms and Plant-Microbe Interactions and Immunity, together about 28.4% of its articles. Its main subfields are Plant Science and Molecular Biology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Plant Communications is dedicated to serving the global plant science community by providing a high-quality open access publishing platform. Plant Communications publishes original research results addressing either fundamental or applied aspects of plant sciences, important technical advances, highly useful research resources and outstanding review articles in all areas of plant sciences, including, but not limited to, the evolution, ecology, physiology, biochemistry, development, reproduction, metabolism, molecular and cellular biology, genetics, genomics, environmental interactions, biotechnology and breeding of both higher and lower plants, as well as their interactions with other organisms throughout the biosphere.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Agricultural and Biological Sciences-Plant Science
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Plant Molecular Biology ResearchAgricultural and Biological Sciences14.1%
- Photosynthetic Processes and MechanismsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology7.3%
- Plant-Microbe Interactions and ImmunityAgricultural and Biological Sciences7%
- Plant nutrient uptake and metabolismAgricultural and Biological Sciences6.8%
- Plant Stress Responses and ToleranceAgricultural and Biological Sciences4.9%
- Plant Gene Expression AnalysisBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.8%
- Genetic Mapping and Diversity in Plants and AnimalsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.8%
- Plant Reproductive BiologyBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.7%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Biology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Plant Sciences | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Biology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Plant Sciences | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Biology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Plant 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
- 13.35LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 13.7Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 17.6LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 17.6Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 3.74LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 2.91LetPub ·
- h-index
- 79OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 618OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 9.47OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 2.2%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 164LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,140 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 252 | 252 | 259 |
| 2025 | 262 | 262 | 1,950 |
| 2024 | 210 | 210 | 4,646 |
| 2023 | 159 | 159 | 5,454 |
| 2022 | 115 | 115 | 5,724 |
| 2021 | 59 | 59 | 4,554 |
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
171 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 120 days – 215 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 2 days (108 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 174 days
- Sample
- 108 articles with submission and acceptance dates (618 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 6 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 147 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 31 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, CC BY-NC, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 3,500 / EUR 3,240 / GBP 2,800 / JPY 434,110 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 2,750 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 3,500 | — | — |
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
Article Publishing Charge (APC): USD 3,500 (excluding taxes).
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
- Elsevier
- Country or region
- United States
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2590-3462
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗DOAJ
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗DOAJ
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Plant Communications
What CAS zone is Plant Communications in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Plant Communications is in Zone 1 of Biology, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Biochemistry & Molecular Biology / Plant Sciences; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Biology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Plant Communications?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 13.35; CiteScore 17.6, h-index 79.
How long does peer review take at Plant Communications?
Based on the dates recorded on 108 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 171 days (interquartile range 120–215 days); authors report an average review time of about 6 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.
Which databases index Plant Communications?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Plant Communications is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Plant Communications open access, and what is the APC?
Plant Communications is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,500.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, 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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .