Journal profile · BIOTECHNOLOGY & APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY
Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology
ISSN 2405-805X · KEAI PUBLISHING LTD · PEOPLES R CHINA
Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology: CAS Zone 1 · Biology (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 4.81; fully open access; APC about USD 1,500; median 85 days to acceptance (102 articles, last 24 months); 172 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology is published by KEAI 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 Microbial Metabolic Engineering and Bioproduction, Microbial Natural Products and Biosynthesis and CRISPR and Genetic Engineering, together about 38.4% of its articles. Its main subfields are Molecular Biology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology aims to promote the communication of original research in synthetic and systems biology, with strong emphasis on...
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): BIOTECHNOLOGY & APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY
Editorial board by country: 26 in mainland China (about 43%); most named Mainland China 26, United States 13, United Kingdom 6, South Korea 4, Denmark 3 (61 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Microbial Metabolic Engineering and BioproductionBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology20.1%
- Microbial Natural Products and BiosynthesisMedicine10.2%
- CRISPR and Genetic EngineeringBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology8.2%
- Enzyme Catalysis and ImmobilizationBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology7.7%
- Biofuel production and bioconversionEngineering6.4%
- Plant biochemistry and biosynthesisBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology6.1%
- Bacterial Genetics and BiotechnologyBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.2%
- RNA and protein synthesis mechanismsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5%
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 | Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Biology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology | Zone 2 |
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 | Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology | 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
PubMedPublisher website
Other: 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
- 4.81LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 4.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 7.5LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 7.5Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.01LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.1LetPub ·
- h-index
- 58OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 355OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.33OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 4.2%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.7%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 161LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 922 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 188 | 188 | 128 |
| 2025 | 172 | 172 | 700 |
| 2024 | 136 | 136 | 1,318 |
| 2023 | 80 | 80 | 1,209 |
| 2022 | 95 | 95 | 2,021 |
| 2021 | 59 | 59 | 1,719 |
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
85 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 64 days – 111 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 28 days (102 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 120 days
- Sample
- 102 articles with submission and acceptance dates (421 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 15 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 15 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 1,500 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 1,500 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 1,500 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 1,500 | — | — |
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)
What to prepare3 items from the author guidelines
- Reference style
- Numbered, in order of citation
- Highlights
- Optional
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
Article types accepted5
- commentaryContributions falling into the following categories will be considered for publication: Original research article, Review article, Short communication, Commenta…Length not stated
- original research articleContributions falling into the following categories will be considered for publication: Original research article, Review article, Short communication, Commenta…Length not stated
- perspectiveContributions falling into the following categories will be considered for publication: Original research article, Review article, Short communication, Commenta…Length not stated
- review articleContributions falling into the following categories will be considered for publication: Original research article, Review article, Short communication, Commenta…Length not stated
- short communicationContributions falling into the following categories will be considered for publication: Original research article, Review article, Short communication, Commenta…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- AI use Declaration of generative AI in scientific writing
Authors are encouraged to declare the use of generative AI in scientific writing upon submission of the paper. The following guidance refers only to the writing process, and not to the use of AI tools to analyse and draw insights from data as part of the research process: Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies should only be used in the writing process to improve the readability and language o…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Author contributions
For transparency, we require corresponding authors to provide co-author contributions to the manuscript using the relevant CRediT roles. The CRediT taxonomy includes 14 different roles describing each contributor's specific contribution to the scholarly output. The roles are: Conceptualization; Data curation; Formal analysis; Funding acquisition; Investigation; Methodology; Project administration;…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Declaration of competing interests
All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence or bias their work. Examples of potential competing interests include: EmploymentConsultanciesStock ownershipHonorariaPaid expert testimonyPatent applications or registrationsGrants or any other fundingAffiliation with the journal as an Editor or Advisory Board…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)
Lets others distribute and copy the article, create extracts, abstracts, and other revised versions, adaptations or derivative works of or from an article (such as a translation), include in a collective work (such as an anthology), text or data mine the article, even for commercial purposes, as long as they credit the author(s), do not represent the author as endorsing their adaptation of the art…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access
This is an open access journal: all articles will be immediately and permanently free for everyone to read and download. To provide open access, this journal has an open access fee (also known as an article publishing charge APC) which needs to be paid by the authors or on their behalf e.g. by their research funder or institution. Permitted third party (re)use is defined by the following Creative …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer Review
This journal operates a single blind review process. All contributions will be initially assessed by the editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then typically sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The Editor is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. The Editor's dec…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprint posting on SSRN
In support of Open Science, this journal offers its authors a free preprint posting service. Preprints provide early registration and dissemination of your research, which facilitates early citations and collaboration.<P>During submission to Editorial Manager, you can choose to release your manuscript publicly as a preprint on the preprint server SSRN once it enters peer-review with the journal. Y…
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
- KEAI PUBLISHING LTD
- Country or region
- PEOPLES R CHINA
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2405-805X
- Print ISSN
- 2097-1206
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- 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 ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology
What CAS zone is Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology is in Zone 1 of Biology, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology; it is a Top journal. 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 Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 4.81; CiteScore 7.5, h-index 58.
How long does peer review take at Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology?
Based on the dates recorded on 102 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 85 days (interquartile range 64–111 days); authors report an average review time of about 15 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 Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Reference style: Numbered, in order of citation; Highlights: Optional; Graphical abstract: 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 Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology based?
Of the 61 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 26 (about 43%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (26), United States (13) and United Kingdom (6). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists PubMed; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology open access, and what is the APC?
Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 1,500.
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: .