What are the best journals for Biology?

From a 17,500-venue index, the highest-ranked Biology journals include Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, Cell, Nature Reviews Microbiology, Cell Metabolism, Molecular Cancer. The top 40 of 3,604 ranked venues are listed on this page; all 40 are Scimago Q1. Each shows its open-access status and indexing, and predatory venues are excluded. For a shortlist matched to your specific paper, use the Journal Finder (15 credits; free account starts with 25).

How were these Biology journals ranked?

Journals whose primary OpenAlex field is Biology are ranked first, by Scimago quartile (Q1 → Q4, then journals without one) and then by OpenAlex cites/paper over a 2-year window; journals that list Biology only as a secondary field come after them. Where cites/paper decides, a journal with fewer than 30 papers in OpenAlex over the four most recent publication years is listed after those with more: a two-year average over so few papers can rest on a single article (20 of the 3,604 journals ranked here are below that floor; none of them is among the 40 shown). Cites/paper is a transparent citation rate, not a licensed Impact Factor, and journals flagged as predatory are excluded.

Why don't all Biology journals show a quartile?

Scimago doesn't cover every journal — many strong regional and open-access venues are absent from it. We show "no Scimago quartile" for those rather than hide them; it's a coverage gap, not a quality judgement.

How do I find the best journal for my specific Biology paper?

Paste your title and abstract into the Journal Finder — it returns a shortlist matched to your paper's topic from the same index, with acceptance-fit signals, open-access status, and predatory flags. A free account starts with 25 welcome credits; each run costs 15.

Biology · 3,604 journals ranked · top 40 listed

Best journals for Biology

The top 40 of 3,604 Biology journals, ranked with primary-Biology journals first, then by Scimago quartile and OpenAlex cites/paper (2-year window), drawn from a 17,500-venue index. Predatory venues are excluded; the FAQ below gives the exact ranking rule. These are field-wide rankings — for a shortlist matched to your specific paper, paste your title and abstract into the Journal Finder (a free account starts with 25 welcome credits).

Data as of 15 November 2026 — the date our venue index was last rebuilt from OpenAlex and Scimago.

Match journals to your paper →

All Best open-access journals

1
Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology
44.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
2
Cell
41.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Cell Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
3
Nature Reviews Microbiology
35.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
4
Cell Metabolism
30.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Cell Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
5
Molecular Cancer
29.5 cites/paper · Q1 · BioMed Central
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
6
Pharmacological Reviews
27.8 cites/paper · Q1 · American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
7
Nature reviews. Cancer
26.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
8
Nature Methods
24.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
9
Physiological Reviews
24.1 cites/paper · Q1 · American Physiological Society
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
10
Nature Protocols
20.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
11
Journal of Extracellular Vesicles
20.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Taylor & Francis
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
12
Cell stem cell
19.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
13
Nature Genetics
19.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
14
Nature Communications
18.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
15
Nature Neuroscience
18.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
16
Nature Metabolism
18.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
17
Nature Microbiology
17.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
18
Nucleic Acids Research
17.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Oxford University Press
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
19
Nature Reviews Genetics
17.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
20
Gut Microbes
17.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Landes Bioscience
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
21
Nature Cell Biology
16.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
22
Progress in Lipid Research
16.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
23
Nature reviews. Neuroscience
15.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
24
Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety
15.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
25
Nature Biomedical Engineering
15.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
26
Microbiome
15.1 cites/paper · Q1 · BioMed Central
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
27
FEMS Microbiology Reviews
15.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Oxford University Press
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
28
Trends in Food Science & Technology
15.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
29
Experimental & Molecular Medicine
14.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Nature
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
30
Redox Biology
14.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
31
Neuron
14.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Cell Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
32
Molecular Cell
14.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
33
Soil Biology and Biochemistry
14.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
34
Cell Discovery
14.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Nature
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
35
Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews
13.5 cites/paper · Q1 · American Society for Microbiology
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
36
Nature Biotechnology
13.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
37
Food Hydrocolloids
13.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
38
Carbohydrate Polymers
13.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
39
Science Advances
13.2 cites/paper · Q1 · American Association for the Advancement of Science
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
40
Pharmacology & Therapeutics
13.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed

“Cites/paper” is the OpenAlex 2-year citation rate — a transparent signal, not a licensed Impact Factor. Many regional and open-access journals are strong but aren’t covered by Scimago, so they show “no Scimago quartile”; that’s a coverage gap, not a quality judgement.