Journal profile · Agricultural and Biological Sciences-Animal Science and Zoology
Water Biology and Security
ISSN 2772-7351 · KeAi Communications Co. Ltd. · China
Water Biology and Security: CAS Zone 1 · Biology (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 4.3 (journal website); fully open access; APC about USD 1,000; review about 174 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); 135 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Water Biology and Security is published by KeAi Communications Co. 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 Fish Ecology and Management Studies, Aquaculture disease management and microbiota and Aquaculture Nutrition and Growth, together about 26.7% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Water Biology & Security is an open access journal publishing original, high-quality research on all aspects of water biology relating to aquatic organisms and water security. Manuscripts should present high-impact, cutting-edge research, new discoveries or developments with global impact. Following a rigorous peer-review process, manuscripts will be selected based on their broad interest to the field and their insightful and elegant conclusions/results. They will be presented using the highest-quality production standards. The aim of this journal is to provide maximum access to top aquatic science.Scope includes, but is not limited to:Basic biology of aquatic organismsGenetics, cell biology and developmental biology of aquatic organismsAquatic biotechnology and aquaculture researchPhysiology, pathology, immunology, and medicine research relating to aquatic organismsAquatic biodiversity and conservation researchWater ecology and environmental science researchAquatic toxicology, pollution, water environment protection and ecological safety researchMulti-decadal studies of aquatic & marine ecosystems or biotaResearch highlighting the effects of landscape and land use on water bodiesResearch on springs, streams, rivers, lakes, reservoirs, wetlands, riparian zones, estuaries and marine systemsAquatic product nutrition & safetyWater resource policy and managementEditorial Board
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Agricultural and Biological Sciences-Animal Science and Zoology
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Fish Ecology and Management StudiesEnvironmental Science11.1%
- Aquaculture disease management and microbiotaImmunology and Microbiology9.6%
- Aquaculture Nutrition and GrowthAgricultural and Biological Sciences6%
- Freshwater macroinvertebrate diversity and ecologyEnvironmental Science5.7%
- Microbial Community Ecology and PhysiologyEnvironmental Science5.2%
- Microplastics and Plastic PollutionEnvironmental Science4.3%
- Fish biology, ecology, and behaviorEnvironmental Science4.2%
- Aquatic Ecosystems and Phytoplankton DynamicsEnvironmental Science4%
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 | Environmental Sciences | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Fisheries | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Marine & Freshwater Biology | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Biology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Environmental Sciences | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Fisheries | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Marine & Freshwater Biology | Zone 1 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
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 (publisher)
- 4.3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 8.5LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 8.5Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.13LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.42LetPub ·
- h-index
- 23OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 65OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.35OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 2.3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 70LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 464 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 161 | 161 | 66 |
| 2025 | 135 | 135 | 265 |
| 2024 | 68 | 68 | 524 |
| 2023 | 45 | 45 | 499 |
| 2022 | 51 | 51 | 1,089 |
| 2021 | 4 | 4 | 183 |
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
Publisher-reported review time from the journal's website
174 dayssubmission to acceptance · community reports about 10 weeks
The publisher's own definition applies; dates from this journal's articles in the last 24 months are not available yet, so the publisher's figure is used.
Figures by source
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 10 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 5 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 46 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 174 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 4 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 10 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 1,000 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 0 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 1,000 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 1,600 / CNY 12,000 | — | — |
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- Page charges
- Charged; see the journal's website for the amount
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 prepare5 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 500 words
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 8,000 words
- Reference style
- Harvard
- Highlights
- Optional
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
Article types accepted10, with length limits
- commentaryOriginal Research Article3,000–8,000 wordsReview Article4,000–12,000 wordsDiscussion & NotesDiscussion, Research Spotlight, Perspective, Commentary, Editorial, …Length not stated
- discussion & notesDiscussion & Notes is a group of short-form paper types, including Discussion, Research Spotlight, Perspective, Commentary, Editorial, and Note.Length not stated
- editorialOriginal Research Article3,000–8,000 wordsReview Article4,000–12,000 wordsDiscussion & NotesDiscussion, Research Spotlight, Perspective, Commentary, Editorial, …Length not stated
- original researchOriginal Research Article3,000–8,000 wordsReview Article4,000–12,000 wordsDiscussion & NotesDiscussion, Research Spotlight, Perspective, Commentary, Editorial, …Length not stated
- original research articleOriginal Research Article3,000–8,000 wordsReview Article4,000–12,000 wordsDiscussion & NotesDiscussion, Research Spotlight, Perspective, Commentary, Editorial, …main text ≤ 8,000 words
- perspectiveOriginal Research Article3,000–8,000 wordsReview Article4,000–12,000 wordsDiscussion & NotesDiscussion, Research Spotlight, Perspective, Commentary, Editorial, …main text ≤ 8,000 words
- rapid communicationOriginal Research Article3,000–8,000 wordsReview Article4,000–12,000 wordsDiscussion & NotesDiscussion, Research Spotlight, Perspective, Commentary, Editorial, …Length not stated
- research articleOriginal Research Article3,000–8,000 wordsReview Article4,000–12,000 wordsDiscussion & NotesDiscussion, Research Spotlight, Perspective, Commentary, Editorial, …Length not stated
- reviewOriginal Research Article3,000–8,000 wordsReview Article4,000–12,000 wordsDiscussion & NotesDiscussion, Research Spotlight, Perspective, Commentary, Editorial, …Length not stated
- review articleOriginal Research Article3,000–8,000 wordsReview Article4,000–12,000 wordsDiscussion & NotesDiscussion, Research Spotlight, Perspective, Commentary, Editorial, …main text ≤ 12,000 words
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 can 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 analyze 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 of the manuscrip…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Changes to authorship
This policy concerns the addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names in the authorship of accepted manuscripts:Before the accepted manuscript is published in an online issue: Requests to add or remove an author, or to rearrange the author names, must be sent to the Journal Manager from the corresponding author of the accepted manuscript and must include: (a) the reason the name should be …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Declaration of competing interest
All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. Authors should complete the declaration of compe…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright
This journal is a peer-reviewed, fully open access journal owned by The Institute of Hydrobiology (IHB), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), who retains copyright of the overall compiled journal and the compiled issues. For the single article, authors will retain copyright alongside scholarly usage rights, and IHB will be granted non-exclusive publishing and distribution rights.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access
Open access publishing Model summary
Every peer-reviewed research article appearing in this journal will be published open access. This means that the article is universally and freely accessible via the internet in perpetuity, in an easily readable format immediately after publication. 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…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review
Single blind peer review process Model summary
This journal operates a single blind review process. More information on types of peer review.The Editorial process are showed in the flow chart.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 respon…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprint references
Where a preprint has subsequently become available as a peer-reviewed publication, the formal publication should be used as the reference. If there are preprints that are central to your work or that cover crucial developments in the topic, but are not yet formally published, these may be referenced. Preprints should be clearly marked as such, for example by including the word preprint, or the nam…
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 Communications Co. Ltd.
- Country or region
- China
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2772-7351
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- 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 Water Biology and Security
What CAS zone is Water Biology and Security in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Water Biology and Security is in Zone 1 of Biology, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Environmental Sciences / Fisheries / Marine & Freshwater Biology; 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 Water Biology and Security?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 4.3; this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 8.5, h-index 23.
How long does peer review take at Water Biology and Security?
The publisher reports about 174 days (submission to acceptance); authors report an average review time of about 10 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 Water Biology and Security?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 500 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 8,000 words; Reference style: Harvard; 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.
Which databases index Water Biology and Security?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Water Biology and Security is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists PubMed; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Water Biology and Security open access, and what is the APC?
Water Biology and Security is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 1,000.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, DOAJ; 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: .