What are the best journals for Biology?

From a 17,782-venue index, the highest-ranked Biology journals include Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, Cell, Nature Reviews Microbiology, Pharmacological Reviews, Molecular Cancer. The top 40 of 3,405 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. 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 · 3,405 journals ranked · top 40 listed

Best journals for Biology

The top 40 of 3,405 Biology journals, ranked with primary-Biology journals first, then by Scimago quartile and OpenAlex cites/paper (2-year window), drawn from a 17,782-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).

Match journals to your paper →

All Best open-access journals

1
Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology
40.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
2
Cell
37.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Cell Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
3
Nature Reviews Microbiology
30.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
4
Pharmacological Reviews
25.9 cites/paper · Q1 · American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
5
Molecular Cancer
25.8 cites/paper · Q1 · BioMed Central
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
6
Nature reviews. Cancer
22.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
7
Nature Methods
20.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
8
Nature Protocols
18.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
9
Journal of Extracellular Vesicles
18.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Taylor & Francis
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
10
Physiological Reviews
18.3 cites/paper · Q1 · American Physiological Society
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
11
Cell stem cell
17.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
12
Nature Genetics
16.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
13
Nature Neuroscience
16.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
14
Nature Communications
15.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
15
Nature Reviews Genetics
15.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
16
Nature Microbiology
15.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
17
Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
15.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Canadian Medical Association
Open AccessScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
18
Nature Cell Biology
15.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
19
Nature Aging
14.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
20
Nucleic Acids Research
14.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Oxford University Press
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
21
Gut Microbes
14.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Landes Bioscience
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
22
Nature reviews. Neuroscience
14.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
23
Microbiome
13.4 cites/paper · Q1 · BioMed Central
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
24
Experimental & Molecular Medicine
13.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Nature
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
25
Trends in Food Science & Technology
13.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
26
Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety
13.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
27
Nature Human Behaviour
12.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
28
International Journal of Oncology
12.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Spandidos Publishing
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
29
Molecular Cell
12.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
30
Nature Biomedical Engineering
12.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
31
Progress in Lipid Research
12.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
32
Neuron
12.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Cell Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
33
Redox Biology
12.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
34
Soil Biology and Biochemistry
12.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
35
Cell Discovery
12.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Nature
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
36
FEMS Microbiology Reviews
12.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Oxford University Press
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
37
Nature Biotechnology
12.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
38
Science Advances
11.8 cites/paper · Q1 · American Association for the Advancement of Science
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
39
Food Hydrocolloids
11.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
40
Nature Food
11.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
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.