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Ecology · 93 journals indexed

Best open-access journals for Ecology

The top Ecology journals open-access only, ranked by Scimago quartile then cites/paper, drawn from an17,538-venue index. Predatory venues are excluded. These are field-wide rankings — for a shortlist matched to your specific paper, paste your title and abstract into the free Journal Finder.

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AllBest open-access journalsHighest-impact journals
  1. 1
    The ISME Journal
    8.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Nature
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  2. 2
    Ecological Informatics
    6.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  3. 3
    Records of the Australian Museum
    5.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Australian Museum
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  4. 4
    FEMS Microbiology Ecology
    4.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Oxford University Press
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  5. 5
    Ecography
    3.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  6. 6
    Methods in Ecology and Evolution
    3.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  7. 7
    International Journal of Sediment Research
    3.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  8. 8
    Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
    2.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Frontiers Media
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  9. 9
    Journal of Avian Biology
    2.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  10. 10
    Diversity and Distributions
    2.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  11. 11
    PeerJ
    2.5 cites/paper · Q1 · PeerJ, Inc.
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  12. 12
    Ecosphere
    2.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  13. 13
    Global Ecology and Conservation
    2.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  14. 14
    Microbes and Environments
    2.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Japanese Society Of Microbial Ecology
    Open AccessScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  15. 15
    Conservation Physiology
    2.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Oxford University Press
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  16. 16
    Endangered Species Research
    2.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Inter-Research
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  17. 17
    Ecology and Evolution
    2.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  18. 18
    Conservation Science and Practice
    1.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Society for Conservation Biology
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  19. 19
    Diversity
    1.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  20. 20
    Aquatic Invasions
    1.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Regional Euro-Asian Biological Invasions Centre (REABIC)
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  21. 21
    Folia Parasitologica
    1.7 cites/paper · Q2 · Institute of Parasitology of the Czech Academy of Sciences
    Open AccessScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  22. 22
    Wildlife Biology
    1.7 cites/paper · Q2 · BioOne
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  23. 23
    Revista chilena de historia natural
    1.6 cites/paper · Q2 · BioMed Central
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  24. 24
    Zoologia (Curitiba)
    1.5 cites/paper · Q2 · Pensoft Publishers
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  25. 25
    Zoosystematics and Evolution
    1.4 cites/paper · Q2 · Pensoft Publishers
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  26. 26
    BioInvasions Records
    1.2 cites/paper · Q2 · Regional Euro-Asian Biological Invasions Centre (REABIC)
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  27. 27
    Journal of Limnology
    1.1 cites/paper · Q2 · PAGEPress (Italy)
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  28. 28
    Journal of Freshwater Ecology
    1.1 cites/paper · Q2 · Taylor & Francis
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  29. 29
    Journal of Field Ornithology
    0.9 cites/paper · Q2 · Association of Field Ornithologists
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  30. 30
    Wildlife Society Bulletin
    0.8 cites/paper · Q2
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  31. 31
    Limnetica
    0.7 cites/paper · Q2
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  32. 32
    Oryx
    0.7 cites/paper · Q2 · Cambridge University Press
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  33. 33
    Koedoe
    0.7 cites/paper · Q3 · AOSIS
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  34. 34
    Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad
    0.6 cites/paper · Q3 · National Autonomous University of Mexico
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  35. 35
    Helminthologia
    0.6 cites/paper · Q3 · De Gruyter Open
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  36. 36
    Folia Malacologica
    0.4 cites/paper · Q3 · Bogucki Wydawnictwo Naukowe
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  37. 37
    Revista de Biología Tropical
    0.4 cites/paper · Q3 · Vicerractoría Investigación
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  38. 38
    Marine ornithology
    0.4 cites/paper · Q3
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  39. 39
    Journal of Threatened Taxa
    0.4 cites/paper · Q3 · Wildlife Information Liaison Development Society
    Open AccessDOAJScopus
  40. 40
    Pachyderm
    0.2 cites/paper · Q3
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science

“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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