Journal profile · Environmental Science-Ecology
PLoS Computational Biology
ISSN 1553-7358 · Public Library of Science · United States
PLoS Computational Biology: CAS Zone 2 · Biology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.45; fully open access; APC about USD 3,165; median 187 days to acceptance (135 articles, last 24 months); 895 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
PLoS Computational Biology is published by Public Library of Science 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 Neural dynamics and brain function, Bioinformatics and Genomic Networks and Gene Regulatory Network Analysis, together about 27.6% of its articles. Its main subfields are Molecular Biology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
PLOS Computational Biology features works of exceptional significance that further our understanding of living systems at all scales—from molecules and cells, to patient populations and ecosystems—through the application of computational methods including applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Readers include life and computational scientists, who can take the important findings presented here to the next level of discovery. Research articles model all aspects of biological systems and demonstrate novel scientific advances, through the introduction of novel methods, software, or tools, or through the application of computational methods to provide profound new biological insights. Research articles must be declared as belonging to a relevant section. More information about the sections can be found in the submission guidelines. PLOS Computational Biology publishes three types of research articles: Research, Methods, and Software. Articles specifically designated as Methods or Software papers should describe outstanding new methods or software of exceptional importance that can provide new biological insights. The method or software must have the potential for being widely adopted by a broad community of users. Enhancements to existing published methods or software will only be considered if those enhancements bring exceptional new capabilities. Generally, reliability and significance of biological discovery through computation should be validated and enriched by experimental studies and/or application to real-world data. Inclusion of experimental validation is not required for publication, but should be referenced where possible. For all submissions, authors must clearly provide details, data, code, and software to ensure readers' ability to reproduce the models, methods, and results. The journal has data availability and code availability policies for all research articles.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Environmental Science-Ecology
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Neural dynamics and brain functionNeuroscience12.6%
- Bioinformatics and Genomic NetworksBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology8%
- Gene Regulatory Network AnalysisBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology7.1%
- Protein Structure and DynamicsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology6%
- Genomics and Phylogenetic StudiesBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.6%
- RNA and protein synthesis mechanismsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.6%
- Evolution and Genetic DynamicsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.6%
- Microbial Metabolic Engineering and BioproductionBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4%
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 | Mathematical & Computational Biology | 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 1 |
| Minor | Mathematical & Computational Biology | Zone 1 |
Top journal: noReview 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 | Mathematical & Computational Biology | 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
Web of ScienceMEDLINEPMCEmbaseCASCAB AbstractsPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, Dimensions, CNKI, Crossref
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
- 3.45LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 6.2LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.47LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.2LetPub ·
- h-index
- 138LetPub ·
- h-index
- 292OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 8,899OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.33OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5.4%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.96%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 853LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 13,076 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 745 | 745 | 390 |
| 2025 | 895 | 895 | 2,957 |
| 2024 | 756 | 756 | 7,036 |
| 2023 | 722 | 722 | 10,952 |
| 2022 | 911 | 911 | 20,148 |
| 2021 | 1,029 | 1,029 | 32,048 |
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
187 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 140 days – 270 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 21 days (135 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 209 days
- Sample
- 135 articles with submission and acceptance dates (1,821 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 32 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 32 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 3,165 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | USD 3,043 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 2,926 | 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)
Article types accepted6
- benchmarkingPLOS Computational Biology publishes designated Benchmarking articles that present good and comprehensive benchmarks, in which the performance metrics of each t…Length not stated
- methodsMethods SubmissionsLength not stated
- researchPLOS Computational Biology publishes original research that clearly demonstrates novelty, importance to a particular field, biological significance, and conclus…Length not stated
- research articleIf you are submitting content other than a research article, read the guidelines for other article types.Length not stated
- softwareSoftware SubmissionsLength not stated
- systematic reviewA systematic review paper, as defined by The Cochrane Collaboration, is a review of a clearly formulated question that uses explicit, systematic methods to iden…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Code availability, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- Authorship Consortia and group authorship
If a manuscript is submitted on behalf of a consortium or group, include its name in the manuscript byline. Do not add it to the author list in the submission system. You may include the full list of members in the Acknowledgments or in a supporting information file. PubMed only indexes individual consortium or group author members listed in the article byline. If included, these individuals must …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Code availability
Code sharing policy Model summary
PLOS expects researchers to share software and scripts needed for the work.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Financial Disclosure Statement
This information should describe sources of funding that have supported the work. If your manuscript is published, your statement will appear in the Funding section of the article. Include your statement in the Financial Disclosure section of the initial submission form. The statement should include: Specific grant numbers Initials of authors who received each award URLs to sponsors’ websites Also…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability statement
Data availability policy Model summary
The data availability statement must give details of both the data and code that supports the results presented in the article. For both the code and data you must list the name of the repository or repositories as well as digital object identifiers (DOIs), accession numbers or codes, or other persistent identifiers. Example statements: All human data, statistical analysis code, stimuli, network t…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access
PLOS applies the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license to works we publish. Under this license, authors agree to make articles legally available for reuse, without permission or fees, for virtually any purpose. Anyone may copy, distribute, or reuse these articles, as long as the author and original source are properly cited. Learn more.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Ten simple rules for writing a peer review
While many years are spent increasing our scientific expertise, the training that is needed on how exactly to review these important documents is often learned through practice; at times with little guidance.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
Preprint policy Model summary
PLOS encourages authors to post preprints to accelerate the dissemination of research and support authors who wish to share their work early and receive feedback before formal peer review. Deposition of manuscripts with preprint servers does not impact consideration of the manuscript at any PLOS journal. Authors posting on bioRxiv may submit direclty to PLOS journals through bioRxiv’s direct trans…
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
- Public Library of Science
- Country or region
- United States
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1553-7358
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- 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 ↗DOAJ
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about PLoS Computational Biology
What CAS zone is PLoS Computational Biology in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, PLoS Computational Biology is in Zone 2 of Biology, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Biochemical Research Methods / Mathematical & Computational 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 PLoS Computational Biology?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.45; CiteScore 6.2, h-index 292.
How long does peer review take at PLoS Computational Biology?
Based on the dates recorded on 135 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 187 days (interquartile range 140–270 days); authors report an average review time of about 32 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 PLoS Computational Biology?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, PLoS Computational Biology is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science, MEDLINE, PMC, Embase, CAS and CAB Abstracts; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is PLoS Computational Biology open access, and what is the APC?
PLoS Computational Biology is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,165.
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: .