What are the best journals for Molecular Biology?

From an 17,538-venue index, the highest-ranked Molecular Biology journals (by Scimago quartile then OpenAlex cites/paper) include Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy, Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, Cell, Nature Reviews Microbiology, Cancer Cell. Predatory venues are excluded. The full ranked list with open-access and indexing details is on this page; for a shortlist matched to your specific paper, use the Journal Finder (15 credits; free account starts with 25).

How were these Molecular Biology journals ranked?

By Scimago quartile first (Q1 → Q4), then by OpenAlex cites/paper over a 2-year window. Cites/paper is a transparent citation rate, not a licensed Impact Factor. We exclude journals flagged as predatory.

Why don't all Molecular 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 Molecular 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.

Molecular Biology · 901 journals indexed

Best journals for Molecular Biology

The top Molecular Biology journals ranked by Scimago quartile, then cites/paper (OpenAlex, 2-year window), 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.

Match journals to your paper →

All Best open-access journals Highest-impact journals

1
Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy
41.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Nature
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
2
Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology
35.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
3
Cell
33.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Cell Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
4
Nature Reviews Microbiology
26.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
5
Cancer Cell
26.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Cell Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
6
Pharmacological Reviews
24.8 cites/paper · Q1 · American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
7
Cell Metabolism
23.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Cell Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
8
Molecular Cancer
22.0 cites/paper · Q1 · BioMed Central
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
9
Nature reviews. Cancer
19.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
10
Nature Methods
17.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
11
Journal of Extracellular Vesicles
17.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Taylor & Francis
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
12
Nature Protocols
16.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
13
Cell stem cell
15.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
14
Physiological Reviews
14.9 cites/paper · Q1 · American Physiological Society
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
15
Nature Genetics
14.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
16
Nature Reviews Genetics
14.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
17
Nature Communications
14.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
18
Nature Microbiology
13.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
19
Nature Cell Biology
13.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
20
International Journal of Oncology
13.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Spandidos Publishing
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
21
Nucleic Acids Research
12.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Oxford University Press
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
22
Cell Host & Microbe
12.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Cell Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
23
Gut Microbes
12.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Landes Bioscience
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
24
Drug Resistance Updates
12.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
25
Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews
11.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
26
Experimental & Molecular Medicine
11.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Nature
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
27
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery
11.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
28
Microbiome
11.5 cites/paper · Q1 · BioMed Central
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
29
Molecular Cell
11.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
30
Journal of Biomedical Science
11.4 cites/paper · Q1 · BioMed Central
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
31
Nature Biomedical Engineering
11.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
32
Nature Biotechnology
11.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
33
Redox Biology
10.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
34
Cell Discovery
10.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Nature
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
35
Science Advances
10.4 cites/paper · Q1 · American Association for the Advancement of Science
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
36
Progress in Lipid Research
10.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
37
Genome Medicine
10.0 cites/paper · Q1 · BioMed Central
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
38
Pharmacology & Therapeutics
9.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
39
Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research
9.8 cites/paper · Q1 · BioMed Central
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
40
Biotechnology Advances
9.3 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.

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