Journal profile
Soil Organisms
ISSN 1864-6417 · eISSN 2509-9523 · Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung · Germany
Soil Organisms: diamond open access (no APC); no APC; review about 12 weeks (community reports).
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Soil Organisms is a diamond open access, double-blind peer-reviewed journal, presenting high-level novel research results, review papers, and a number of other formats in English covering the complete field of soil biology, including taxonomy and systematics, soil ecology (including interactions), biogeography, morphology, conservation, evolution and ecosystem functions. Unique among soil-biological journals, Soil Organisms especially considers the organismic aspects of soil biology. Double blind peer-review processSoil Organisms practices a double-blind peer-review process, in which both the reviewers’ and the author's’ identities are kept confidential during the review process. It is implemented to ensure impartial and unbiased evaluation of research papers. Ownership and terms of useSoil Organisms is owned and published by the Senckenberg Society for Natural History Research (Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung), Frankfurt am Main, Germany with the Editorial office at Senckenberg Museum of Natural History (Senckenberg Museum für Naturkunde) in Görlitz. The Senckenberg Society for Natural History Research (Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, SGN) is a member of the Leibniz Association (Leibniz-Gemeinschaft) and is therefore attuned to the idea of Open Access as explained in the Berlin Declaration (Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Scientific Knowledge, Berliner Erklärung über den offenen Zugang zu wissenschaftlichem Wissen).Open Access is understood to mean the charge-exempt public access to scientific results via the internet. The users should be able to read, copy, print, search within, and reference the full text without limitation and to use it in any conceivable lawful manner without financial, legal or technical hindrance.This applies also to the SGN, which publishes various scientific series. Some scientific journals are made available to the public via Open Access in addition to printed copies. Copyright and LicensingArticles published from Vol. 96 No. 3 (2024) onwards are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. Articles published from Vol. 80 No. 1 through Vol. 96 No. 2 are available under the previous terms, allowing non-commercial, private, and scientific use.Authors retain copyright of all articles published in Soil Organisms. Authors publishing their articles Open Access will sign an Open Access license to publish agreement (LTP), and grant non-exclusive rights to the Sencken
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Editor-in-chief Anton PotapovPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named Germany 4 (4 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
DOAJLetPub
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
- h-index
- 0OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 0OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0OpenAlex ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 0%LetPub ·
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
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 12 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Double 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
Diamond open access (no APC)DOAJ
Every article is open access and authors pay no article processing charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | No APC | No | CC BY, Publisher's own license | |
| LetPub | No APC | No | — | |
| Publisher website | No APC | — | — |
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
- ≤ 300 words
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 8,000 words
- Reference style
- APA
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Required, 5
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted17, with length limits
- call for collaborationIn our unique format Call for collaboration, we publish articles that describe a project idea and invite other researchers to join the project by contributing t…Length not stated
- data papersWe also publish Data papers, describing large or unique datasets on soil organisms that are of potential use for other researchers.Length not stated
- editorialEDITORIALLength not stated
- editorial notesWe also publish Workshop reports, Obituaries, and Editorial notes.Length not stated
- identification keyswe accept various formats in the field of taxonomy and systematics including Species descriptions, Taxonomic reviews (published as Research articles), and Ident…Length not stated
- obituariesWe also publish Workshop reports, Obituaries, and Editorial notes.Length not stated
- opinionsWe publish Reviews, Opinions, and Perspectives that aim at providing high-quality overview of a research field including knowledge gaps and perspectives, or int…Length not stated
- perspectivesWe publish Reviews, Opinions, and Perspectives that aim at providing high-quality overview of a research field including knowledge gaps and perspectives, or int…Length not stated
- research articleResearch articles is the common format where the authors report novel findings from observational, experimental, or modelling studies in the field of soil biolo…main text ≤ 8,000 words
- research articlesResearch articles is the common format where the authors report novel findings from observational, experimental, or modelling studies in the field of soil biolo…Length not stated
- reviewsWe publish Reviews, Opinions, and Perspectives that aim at providing high-quality overview of a research field including knowledge gaps and perspectives, or int…Length not stated
- short communicationA format similar to research article, reporting novel findings from observational, experimental, or modelling studies in the field of soil biology in a concise …main text ≤ 1,500 words
- species descriptionswe accept various formats in the field of taxonomy and systematics including Species descriptions, Taxonomic reviews (published as Research articles), and Ident…Length not stated
- taxonomic reviewswe accept various formats in the field of taxonomy and systematics including Species descriptions, Taxonomic reviews (published as Research articles), and Ident…Length not stated
- wall reviewA novel, highly prestigious format of review is the Wall Review, which acknowledges Diana Wall's important role in soil biodiversity research as well as an edit…Length not stated
- workshop reportWORKSHOP REPORTLength not stated
- workshop reportsWe also publish Workshop reports, Obituaries, and Editorial notes.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access
- AI use
AI allowed for editing text and generating images, not for generating research content; must be disclosed. Model summary
Authors may use AI-based technologies in the writing process to improve readability and language of the work (i.e. for editing existing text) and/or to generate images to improve visual attractiveness of their work. The use of AI-assisted technologies for generation of research content is not permitted.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics
Follows COPE and DFG good scientific practice guidelines. Model summary
Soil Organisms follows the rules of good scientific practice according to COPE (https://publicationethics.org/) and “Guidelines for Safeguarding Good Research Practice – Code of Conduct” of German Research Foundation (www.dfg.de).
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright Notice
CC BY 4.0 from Vol. 96 No. 3 (2024) onwards; earlier volumes under previous terms; authors retain copyright. Model summary
Soil Organisms is committed to fair open access publishing. All articles are available online without publication fees. Articles published from Vol. 96 No. 3 (2024) onwards are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. Articles published from Vol. 80 No. 1 through Vol. 96 No. 2 are available under the previous terms, allowing non-commercial, private, an…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access
Diamond Open Access Journal Model summary
Diamond Open Access Journal (no article processing charges or publication fees)
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
- Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung
- Country or region
- Germany
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1864-6417
- Electronic ISSN
- 2509-9523
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 98, Issue 2 (2026)
- Official links
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Soil Organisms
How long does peer review take at Soil Organisms?
Authors report an average review time of about 12 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.
What are the manuscript requirements of Soil Organisms?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 300 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 8,000 words; Reference style: APA; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Required, 5; Cover letter: Required. 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 Soil Organisms based?
Of the 4 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Germany (4). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Soil Organisms?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Soil Organisms is indexed in DOAJ.
Is Soil Organisms open access, and what is the APC?
Soil Organisms is a diamond open-access journal (no APC). It charges no article processing charge.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .