Journal profile · Virology
Virology Journal
ISSN 1743-422X · BioMed Central · ENGLAND · Irregular · Founded 2004
Virology Journal: CAS Zone 3 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.94; fully open access; APC about USD 3,390; median 98 days to acceptance (116 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: about 83.33%; 440 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Virology Journal is published by BioMed Central and is in Zone 3 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Animal Virus Infections Studies, Respiratory viral infections research and Virus-based gene therapy research, together about 20.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Epidemiology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Virology Journal is an open access, peer reviewed journal that considers articles on all aspects of virology, including research on the viruses of animals, plants and microbes. The journal welcomes basic research as well as pre-clinical and clinical studies of novel diagnostic tools, vaccines and anti-viral therapies. The Editorial policy of Virology Journal is to publish all research which is assessed by peer reviewers to be a coherent and sound addition to the scientific literature, and puts less emphasis on interest levels or perceived impact. Virology Journal will feature articles on human, animal, plant, insect, bacterial, and fungal viruses. The journal will also publish articles on molecular aspects of the control and prevention of viral infections with vaccines and antiviral agents and on the use of viruses as gene therapy vectors, as well as research on other agents such as prions. The approaches and techniques used are expected to encompass many disciplines, including molecular genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, biophysics, structural biology, cell biology, immunology, morphology, genetics and pathogenesis.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Virology
Editor-in-chief Alan McLachlanPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 28 in mainland China (about 14%); most named United States 63, Mainland China 28, Brazil 17, Hong Kong, China 13, India 12 (206 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Animal Virus Infections StudiesAgricultural and Biological Sciences7.8%
- Respiratory viral infections researchMedicine6.7%
- Virus-based gene therapy researchBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.7%
- Viral Infections and Immunology ResearchMedicine5.3%
- Influenza Virus Research StudiesMedicine5.1%
- Viral gastroenteritis research and epidemiologyMedicine5%
- Mosquito-borne diseases and controlMedicine4.8%
- Hepatitis C virus researchMedicine4.7%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Virology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Virology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Virology | 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
MEDLINEEmbaseCASCAB 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
- 3.94LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 4Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 6.1LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.02LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.03LetPub ·
- h-index
- 70LetPub ·
- h-index
- 133OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 3,787OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.3OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 418LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2,025Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 4,600,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 5,673 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 254 | 254 | 117 |
| 2025 | 440 | 440 | 1,565 |
| 2024 | 340 | 340 | 2,764 |
| 2023 | 306 | 306 | 3,925 |
| 2022 | 228 | 228 | 4,501 |
| 2021 | 258 | 258 | 6,226 |
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
98 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 62 days – 150 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 19 days (116 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 117 days
- Sample
- 116 articles with submission and acceptance dates (804 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 1 monthLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- 83.33%LetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 8 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 2,890 / USD 3,390 / GBP 2,590 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 3,290 / EUR 2,790 / GBP 2,490 | — | — | |
| LetPub | GBP 2,390 / USD 3,190 / EUR 2,690 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | GBP 2,590 / USD 3,390 / EUR 2,890 | — | — |
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)
Open calls for papers1, by deadline
Publisher websiteArticle types accepted6
- brief reportResearch Case report Comment Methodology Review Brief ReportLength not stated
- case reportResearch Case report Comment Methodology Review Brief ReportLength not stated
- commentResearch Case report Comment Methodology Review Brief ReportLength not stated
- methodologyResearch Case report Comment Methodology Review Brief ReportLength not stated
- researchResearch Case report Comment Methodology Review Brief ReportLength not stated
- reviewVirology Journal is looking to recruit additional reviewers to our Reviewer Board. The board is open to early-career virology researchers who would like to gain…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteData availability, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- Data availability Formatting the 'Availability of data and materials' section of your manuscript
The following format for the 'Availability of data and materials section of your manuscript should be used:
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Licensing and copyright
Open access publishing under CC BY-NC-ND or CC BY licences; authors retain copyright. Model summary
Creative Commons licences Open access articles in Springer Nature journals are published under Creative Commons licences. These provide an industry-standard framework to support easy re-use of open access material. Under Creative Commons licences, authors retain copyright of their articles. Virology Journal articles are published open access under a CC BY-NC-ND (Creative Commons Attribution Non-Co…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Benefits of open access
Publishing open access (OA) offers a number of benefits, including greater reach and readership for your work: Cited more 1.6x more citations of OA articles than non-OA articles across all subjects Downloaded more 4x more downloads of OA articles than non-OA articles Greater impact 2.5x more Altmetric attention. OA articles attracted 1.9x more news mentions and 1.2x more policy mentions Open acces…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review policy
Peer review is the process used to evaluate the quality of a manuscript before publication. Independent researchers in the relevant field assess submitted manuscripts to check their validity and robustness. Their feedback guides editors in making publication decisions. Typically, two or more experts evaluate each manuscript based on three main criteria: scientific robustness: is the research metho…
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
- BioMed Central
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Irregular
- Founded
- 2004
- ISSN
- 1743-422X
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗DOAJ
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗DOAJ
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Virology Journal
What CAS zone is Virology Journal in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Virology Journal is in Zone 3 of Medicine, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Virology. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Medicine. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Virology Journal?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.94; CiteScore 6.1, h-index 133.
How long does peer review take at Virology Journal?
Based on the dates recorded on 116 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 98 days (interquartile range 62–150 days); authors report an average review time of about 1 month; the community-reported acceptance is “about 83.33%”. 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 Virology Journal based?
Of the 206 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 28 (about 14%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (63), Mainland China (28) and Brazil (17). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Virology Journal?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Virology Journal is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists MEDLINE, Embase, CAS and CAB Abstracts; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Virology Journal open access, and what is the APC?
Virology Journal is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,390.
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: .