Ecology · 95 journals indexed

Best open-access journals for Ecology

The top Ecology journals open-access only, ranked by Scimago quartile then cites/paper, drawn from a 17,786-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 Journal Finder (a free account starts with 25 welcome credits).

  1. 1
    The ISME Journal
    9.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Nature
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  2. 2
    Ecological Informatics
    7.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  3. 3
    Records of the Australian Museum
    5.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Australian Museum
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  4. 4
    FEMS Microbiology Ecology
    5.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Oxford University Press
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  5. 5
    Ecography
    4.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  6. 6
    Methods in Ecology and Evolution
    3.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  7. 7
    International Journal of Sediment Research
    3.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  8. 8
    Journal of Avian Biology
    3.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  9. 9
    Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
    3.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Frontiers Media
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  10. 10
    Diversity and Distributions
    3.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  11. 11
    PeerJ
    3.0 cites/paper · Q1 · PeerJ, Inc.
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  12. 12
    Ecosphere
    2.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  13. 13
    Conservation Physiology
    2.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Oxford University Press
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  14. 14
    Global Ecology and Conservation
    2.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  15. 15
    Microbes and Environments
    2.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Japanese Society Of Microbial Ecology
    Open AccessScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  16. 16
    Endangered Species Research
    2.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Inter-Research
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  17. 17
    Ecology and Evolution
    2.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  18. 18
    Diversity
    2.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  19. 19
    Conservation Science and Practice
    2.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Society for Conservation Biology
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  20. 20
    Aquatic Invasions
    1.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Regional Euro-Asian Biological Invasions Centre (REABIC)
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  21. 21
    Antarctic Science
    1.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Cambridge University Press
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  22. 22
    Wildlife Biology
    1.9 cites/paper · Q2 · BioOne
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  23. 23
    Folia Parasitologica
    1.8 cites/paper · Q2 · Institute of Parasitology of the Czech Academy of Sciences
    Open AccessScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  24. 24
    Zoosystematics and Evolution
    1.6 cites/paper · Q2 · Pensoft Publishers
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  25. 25
    Revista chilena de historia natural
    1.6 cites/paper · Q2 · BioMed Central
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  26. 26
    Zoologia (Curitiba)
    1.5 cites/paper · Q2 · Pensoft Publishers
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  27. 27
    Journal of Freshwater Ecology
    1.4 cites/paper · Q2 · Taylor & Francis
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  28. 28
    BioInvasions Records
    1.3 cites/paper · Q2 · Regional Euro-Asian Biological Invasions Centre (REABIC)
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  29. 29
    Journal of Limnology
    1.2 cites/paper · Q2 · PAGEPress (Italy)
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  30. 30
    Journal of Field Ornithology
    1.0 cites/paper · Q2 · Association of Field Ornithologists
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  31. 31
    Wildlife Society Bulletin
    1.0 cites/paper · Q2
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  32. 32
    Oryx
    0.7 cites/paper · Q2 · Cambridge University Press
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  33. 33
    Limnetica
    0.7 cites/paper · Q2
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  34. 34
    Koedoe
    0.8 cites/paper · Q3 · AOSIS
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  35. 35
    Helminthologia
    0.7 cites/paper · Q3 · De Gruyter Open
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  36. 36
    Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad
    0.6 cites/paper · Q3 · National Autonomous University of Mexico
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  37. 37
    Folia Malacologica
    0.5 cites/paper · Q3 · Bogucki Wydawnictwo Naukowe
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  38. 38
    Marine ornithology
    0.5 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
    Revista de Biología Tropical
    0.4 cites/paper · Q3 · Vicerractoría Investigación
    Open 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.

Best journals in other disciplines

Frequently asked

The ISME Journal, Ecological Informatics, Records of the Australian Museum, FEMS Microbiology Ecology, Ecography are among the top results, ranked by Scimago quartile then OpenAlex cites/paper from a 17,786-venue index, predatory venues excluded. The full list is on this page; for a match to your specific paper use the Journal Finder (15 credits; free account starts with 25).

Command palette

Jump anywhere, run any action.