Biology · 1,254 journals ranked · top 40 listed
Best open-access journals for Biology
The top 40 of 1,254 Biology journals, open-access only, 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).
- 1
- 2Journal of Extracellular Vesicles18.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Taylor & FrancisOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 3Nature Communications15.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature PortfolioOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 4Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience15.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Canadian Medical AssociationOpen AccessScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 5Nucleic Acids Research14.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Oxford University PressOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 6
- 7
- 8Experimental & Molecular Medicine13.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer NatureOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 9
- 10
- 11FEMS Microbiology Reviews12.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Oxford University PressOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 12Science Advances11.8 cites/paper · Q1 · American Association for the Advancement of ScienceOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 13Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research11.3 cites/paper · Q1 · BioMed CentralOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 14
- 15Pharmacological Research10.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BVOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 16
- 17Cell Communication and Signaling9.5 cites/paper · Q1 · BioMed CentralOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 18Journal of Neuroinflammation9.4 cites/paper · Q1 · BioMed CentralOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 19Cellular & Molecular Biology Letters9.4 cites/paper · Q1 · BioMed CentralOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 20
- 21npj Biofilms and Microbiomes8.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature PortfolioOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 22Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B8.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BVOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 23International Journal of Biological Sciences8.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Ivyspring International PublisherOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 24Cell Death and Disease8.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer NatureOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 25Molecular Biology and Evolution8.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Oxford University PressOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 26
- 27Journal of Advanced Research7.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BVOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 28Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy7.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BVOpen AccessScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 29
- 30
- 31Protein & Cell7.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Science+Business MediaOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 32
- 33
- 34Current Research in Food Science6.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BVOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 35Microbial Cell Factories6.8 cites/paper · Q1 · BioMed CentralOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 36Molecular Systems Biology6.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer NatureOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 37
- 38Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology6.5 cites/paper · Q1 · BioMed CentralOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 39PLoS Biology6.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Public Library of ScienceOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 40Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences6.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer NatureOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb 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.
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