Journal profile · Plant Sciences
Plant Methods
ISSN 1746-4811 · BioMed Central · ENGLAND · Irregular · Founded 2005
Plant Methods: CAS Zone 2 · Biology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 5.23; fully open access; APC about USD 3,190; median 95 days to acceptance (97 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: fairly easy; 169 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Plant Methods is published by BioMed Central 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 Plant Molecular Biology Research, Smart Agriculture and AI and Remote Sensing in Agriculture, together about 30.8% of its articles. Its main subfields are Plant Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Plant Methods is an open access, peer-reviewed, online journal for the plant research community that encompasses all aspects of technological innovation in the plant sciences. There is no doubt that we have entered an exciting new era in plant biology. The completion of the Arabidopsis genome sequence, and the rapid progress being made in other plant genomics projects are providing unparalleled opportunities for progress in all areas of plant science. Nevertheless, enormous challenges lie ahead if we are to understand the function of every gene in the genome, and how the individual parts work together to make the whole organism. Achieving these goals will require an unprecedented collaborative effort, combining high-throughput, system-wide technologies with more focused approaches that integrate traditional disciplines such as cell biology, biochemistry and molecular genetics. Technological innovation is probably the most important catalyst for progress in any scientific discipline. Plant Methods’ goal is to stimulate the development and adoption of new and improved techniques and research tools and, where appropriate, to promote consistency of methodologies for better integration of data from different laboratories.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Plant Sciences
Editor-in-chief Daniel DiasPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 9 in mainland China (about 24%); most named United States 11, Mainland China 9, Australia 5, India 2, Canada 2 (38 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 Sciences11%
- Smart Agriculture and AIAgricultural and Biological Sciences10.4%
- Remote Sensing in AgricultureEnvironmental Science9.5%
- Plant tissue culture and regenerationBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology8.1%
- Plant nutrient uptake and metabolismAgricultural and Biological Sciences6.6%
- Spectroscopy and Chemometric AnalysesChemistry5%
- Genetic Mapping and Diversity in Plants and AnimalsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology3.8%
- Photosynthetic Processes and MechanismsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology3.5%
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 | Biochemical Research Methods | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Plant Sciences | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Biology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Biochemical Research Methods | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Plant Sciences | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Biology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Biochemical Research Methods | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Plant Sciences | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
CASCAB AbstractsPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, AGRICOLA, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS
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
- 5.23LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 5.2Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 5.7Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 8.7LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.99LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.31LetPub ·
- h-index
- 57LetPub ·
- h-index
- 135OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,287OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 7.21OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 1.9%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.8%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 165LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 2,200,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,865 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 107 | 107 | 45 |
| 2025 | 169 | 169 | 1,078 |
| 2024 | 195 | 195 | 2,271 |
| 2023 | 148 | 148 | 2,701 |
| 2022 | 143 | 143 | 3,500 |
| 2021 | 131 | 131 | 5,177 |
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
95 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 72 days – 150 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 20 days (97 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 127 days
- Sample
- 97 articles with submission and acceptance dates (323 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 ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly easyLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 4 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 11 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 | EUR 2,690 / USD 3,190 / GBP 2,390 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 3,090 / EUR 2,590 / GBP 2,290 | — | — | |
| LetPub | GBP 2,190 / USD 2,990 / EUR 2,490 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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 prepare1 items from the author guidelines
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
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
- BioMed Central
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Irregular
- Founded
- 2005
- ISSN
- 1746-4811
- 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 Plant Methods
What CAS zone is Plant Methods in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Plant Methods is in Zone 2 of Biology, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Biochemical Research Methods / Plant Sciences. 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 Plant Methods?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 5.23; CiteScore 8.7, h-index 135.
How long does peer review take at Plant Methods?
Based on the dates recorded on 97 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 95 days (interquartile range 72–150 days); authors report an average review time of 6–12 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly easy”. 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 Plant Methods based?
Of the 38 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 9 (about 24%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (11), Mainland China (9) and Australia (5). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Plant Methods?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Plant Methods is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists CAS and CAB Abstracts; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Plant Methods open access, and what is the APC?
Plant Methods is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,190.
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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .