Journal profile · Plant Sciences
PLANT JOURNAL
ISSN 0960-7412 · eISSN 1365-313X · Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd · ENGLAND · Semimonthly · Founded 1991
PLANT JOURNAL: CAS Zone 1 · Biology (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 6.22; hybrid open access; APC about USD 5,450; median 149 days to acceptance (117 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: fairly hard; 755 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
PLANT JOURNAL is published by Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd 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 Reproductive Biology, together about 36.1% of its articles. Its main subfields are Plant Science and Molecular Biology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The Plant Journal (TPJ) publishes four categories of papers: Original Research Articles The aim of TPJ is to publish exciting, high quality science that addresses fundamental questions in plant biology. Typically, the research will provide insight into an as yet unknown mechanism or poorly understood process, will constitute a highly significant contribution to our understanding of plants, and be of general interest to the plant science community. All areas of plant biology are welcome and the experimental approaches used can be wide-ranging and interdisciplinary. Many fully-sequenced genomes and related technologies are now available. TPJ welcomes functional genomics manuscripts when a scientific question, rather than the technology used, has driven the research. Technical Advances Technical Advance articles must be useful to a large proportion of the community and not be narrow in scope. Demonstration of how the Technical Advance has led to new insights into a biological mechanism must also be made. Manuscripts that describe significant advances in the use of an already existing technology will be considered, but variations on existing methods, or improvements on vectors, would not qualify for consideration. Resource Articles Resource articles will typically be data-rich and provide an important, novel reference source for the field. Such an article could encompass a careful comparative analysis of ecotypes or strains of a model or reference organism, but also large-scale reference datasets derived from transcriptomics, proteomics, or metabolomics that the community will likely continue to use for metadata analysis leading to novel biological insights. First time genome sequences of plant or algal species or specific ecotypes or strains of a reference organism, and the respective comparative genomic analysis, will be welcome under this category. Metabolic flux maps and their computational basis, or newly reconstructed metabolic networks for reference organisms or specific tissues, will also be considered. Resource articles covering large-scale datasets must have a concise conclusion highlighting examples of novel biological insights and/or how these data might lead to such insights in the future through continued metadata analysis. Special Issue articles TPJ aims to publish special issues on a regular basis, typically comprising specially commissioned review papers on an emerging topic identified by the Editorial Board. Unsolicited review articles will n
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Plant Sciences
Editor-in-chief Katherine DenbyPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 5 in mainland China (about 10%); most named United States 15, Germany 9, United Kingdom 6, Mainland China 5, Canada 3 (49 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Plant Molecular Biology ResearchAgricultural and Biological Sciences17.2%
- Photosynthetic Processes and MechanismsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology10.7%
- Plant Reproductive BiologyBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology8.3%
- Plant nutrient uptake and metabolismAgricultural and Biological Sciences7.3%
- Plant Stress Responses and ToleranceAgricultural and Biological Sciences7.2%
- Plant Gene Expression AnalysisBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.6%
- Plant-Microbe Interactions and ImmunityAgricultural and Biological Sciences4.8%
- Plant tissue culture and regenerationBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.6%
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 | 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 | 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 | Plant Sciences | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
MEDLINEPubMedCAB AbstractsCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: 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
- 6.22LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 6.2Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 6.2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 10LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 10Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 10Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 2.14LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.6LetPub ·
- h-index
- 241LetPub ·
- h-index
- 399OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 10,286OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 5.82OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 3.2%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 36.69%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 656LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 679Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 4,357,072Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 13,809 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 502 | 287 | 373 |
| 2025 | 755 | 383 | 3,545 |
| 2024 | 634 | 517 | 7,083 |
| 2023 | 543 | 461 | 10,101 |
| 2022 | 463 | 211 | 12,134 |
| 2021 | 525 | 386 | 20,276 |
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
149 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 116 days – 211 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 17 days (124 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 174 days
- Sample
- 117 articles with submission and acceptance dates (1,386 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 3 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly hardLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 26%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 26%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 18 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 18 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 130 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 19 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Single 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 5,450 / EUR 4,650 / GBP 3,860 | — | — | |
| 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.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
What to prepare6 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Reference style
- Harvard
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Optional
- Not considered
- unsolicited review articles
Article types accepted8, with length limits
- focused reviewsFocused Reviews aim to provide a critical and concise overview of the most recent advances in a specific research field or technology with an emphasis on findin…Length not stated
- foundation reviewsFoundation Reviews are in-depth reviews of long-standing areas of research written by experienced authors with a strong track record in the field.Length not stated
- original research articlesOriginal Research Articles The Plant Journal aims to publish rigorous, high-quality science providing new understanding of plant biological processes.Length not stated
- perspectiverch activities are also applicable. TPJ Perspectives will typically be 3000–4000 words long and feature one or two figures or tables. 2. SUBMISSIOmain text ≤ 4,000 words
- resource articlesResource Articles Resource articles will typically be data-rich and provide an important, novel reference source (of data, genetic tools, germplasm etc.) for th…Length not stated
- reviewhed in the last five years. TPJ focused reviews will typically be 4000 – 8000 words in length and contain up to three figures. The article shoumain text ≤ 8,000 words
- review articlesReview Articles TPJ review articles are typically commissioned by the editorial board.Length not stated
- technical advance articlesTechnical Advance articles Technical Advance articles must be broad in scope and useful to a large proportion of the plant science community.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, Preprints
- AI use Use of Artificial Intelligence
AI use must be disclosed in a 'Disclosure of AI Use' section in Materials and methods; AI tools cannot be authors. Model summary
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools (for example, to draft/edit a manuscript, design experiments, review literature, write code, collect, process or analyse data, generate figures) must be disclosed in a specific 'Disclosure of AI Use' section in the Materials and methods. Manuscripts are screened for AI use and will be returned to authors for explanation if screening highlights use and …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Authorship
The list of authors should accurately illustrate who contributed to the work and how. All those listed as authors should qualify for authorship according to the following criteria:
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflict of Interest Statement
You will be asked to provide a conflict of interest statement during the submission process. See the section "Conflict of Interest" in the Editorial Policies and Ethical Considerations section for details on what to include in this section. Please ensure you liaise with all co-authors to confirm agreement with the final statement.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability
Large-scale datasets and computational models must be deposited in public repositories at acceptance. Model summary
TPJ requires large-scale datasets (e.g. DNA, RNA, protein, metabolite and/or imaging) and computational models to be made freely available in an appropriate public repository at time of acceptance and/or provided in supplementary information. Complete raw and processed datasets must be provided (Supporting information should only be used for processed data).
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Publication Ethics
COPE member. Model summary
TPJ is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) . Wiley's Publication Ethics Guidelines can be found at https://authorservices.wiley.com/ethics-guidelines/index.html Read our Top 10 Publishing Ethics Tips for Authors here .
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints
Preprint sharing is supported. Model summary
TPJ fully supports the use of preprint servers such as BioRXiv.
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
- Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Semimonthly
- Founded
- 1991
- ISSN
- 0960-7412
- Electronic ISSN
- 1365-313X
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 127, Issue 6 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about PLANT JOURNAL
What CAS zone is PLANT JOURNAL in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, PLANT JOURNAL is in Zone 1 of Biology, and in Zone 1 of the minor category 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 JOURNAL?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 6.22; CiteScore 10, h-index 399.
How long does peer review take at PLANT JOURNAL?
Based on the dates recorded on 117 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 149 days (interquartile range 116–211 days); authors report an average review time of about 3 months; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly hard”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 26% (2025). 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 PLANT JOURNAL?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Reference style: Harvard; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Optional; Cover letter: 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 PLANT JOURNAL based?
Of the 49 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 5 (about 10%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (15), Germany (9) and United Kingdom (6). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index PLANT JOURNAL?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, PLANT JOURNAL is indexed in SCIE and Scopus. The journal's website also lists MEDLINE, PubMed, CAB Abstracts and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is PLANT JOURNAL open access, and what is the APC?
PLANT JOURNAL is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 5,450.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex; 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: .