Journal profile · Immunology and Microbiology-Microbiology
Virus Evolution
ISSN 2057-1577 · Oxford University Press · United States
Virus Evolution: CAS Zone 3 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.73; fully open access; APC about USD 3,147; median 137 days to acceptance (93 articles, last 24 months); 105 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Virus Evolution is published by Oxford University Press 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 Plant Virus Research Studies, Animal Virus Infections Studies and Viral gastroenteritis research and epidemiology, together about 24.9% of its articles. Its main subfields are Infectious Diseases. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Virus Evolution is an Open Access journal focusing on the long-term evolution of viruses, viruses as a model system for studying evolutionary processes, viral molecular epidemiology, environmental virology and virus ecology. The aim of the journal is to provide a forum for original research papers, reviews, perspectives and a venue for in-depth discussion on the topics relevant to virus evolution. The journal covers but is not limited to the following four topics: Long-term evolution of viruses and virus taxonomy, host-virus co-evolution, co-phylogeny of viruses and hosts, paleovirology, and genus-level phylogenetics, origins of viruses and virus genes, and evolution of virus genome structure. Viruses as model systems for studying evolutionary processes, experimental evolution studies, virus population genetics, virus evolutionary theory, evolution of mutation rates and lethal mutagenesis, virus robustness and evolvability, virulence evolution, virus life history evolution, phage systems and phage therapy. Virus molecular epidemiology including phylodynamics, reconstructing and tracking virus spread and transmission using virus genomes, forensic analysis of virus transmission, cross-species transmission, wildlife virus disease, evolution and spread of anti-virus drug resistance, evolution of immune escape and antigenetic drift, vaccine escape, and virus evolution within infected individuals. Environmental virology including metagenomics, virus discovery, virus molecular ecology, terrestrial and marine virology and virus microbiome.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Immunology and Microbiology-Microbiology
Editor-in-chief Santiago ElenaPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 21, United Kingdom 8, France 6, Spain 6, Israel 4 (57 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Plant Virus Research StudiesAgricultural and Biological Sciences9.7%
- Animal Virus Infections StudiesAgricultural and Biological Sciences8.1%
- Viral gastroenteritis research and epidemiologyMedicine7.1%
- HIV Research and TreatmentImmunology and Microbiology6.2%
- Bacteriophages and microbial interactionsEnvironmental Science6.1%
- SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 ResearchMedicine6.1%
- Viral Infections and VectorsMedicine5.7%
- Influenza Virus Research StudiesMedicine4.9%
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 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Virology | Zone 1 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 2 |
| 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
Google Scholar, ProQuest, OCLCPublisher website
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
- 3.73LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 4.3Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 12Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 7.2LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 7.2Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.57LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.14LetPub ·
- h-index
- 70OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 520OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 5.17OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5.3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 96LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 300,597Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,111 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 65 | 65 | 49 |
| 2025 | 105 | 105 | 312 |
| 2024 | 119 | 119 | 1,134 |
| 2023 | 88 | 88 | 1,289 |
| 2022 | 126 | 126 | 3,013 |
| 2021 | 109 | 109 | 4,089 |
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
137 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 93 days – 183 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 12 days (97 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 157 days
- Sample
- 93 articles with submission and acceptance dates (199 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 14 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 35.5 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to final decision 2025
- 58 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 14 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Unspecified 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 3,147 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC | |
| OpenAlex | USD 3,304 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 3,147 | Yes | — |
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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websitePublication ethics, Open access
- Publication ethics COPE
This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access
Virus Evolution is a fully Open Access journal. Find out more about article processing charges and licensing, including free publication for those in developing countries. Learn more
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
- Oxford University Press
- Country or region
- United States
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2057-1577
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 12, Issue 1 (2026)
- 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 ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Virus Evolution
What CAS zone is Virus Evolution in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Virus Evolution is in Zone 3 of Medicine, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Virology. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Medicine. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Virus Evolution?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.73; CiteScore 7.2, h-index 70.
How long does peer review take at Virus Evolution?
Based on the dates recorded on 93 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 137 days (interquartile range 93–183 days); authors report an average review time of about 14 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Virus Evolution based?
Of the 57 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (21), United Kingdom (8) and France (6). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Virus Evolution?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Virus Evolution is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Virus Evolution open access, and what is the APC?
Virus Evolution is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,147.
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: .