Journal rankings · indicator year 2018
Choose a field to open its ranking, or a journal to find its row in its subfield’s list.
Subfield ranking · 2018
Molecular Biology journal rankings 2018
1,155 ranked journals · Subfield in Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Molecular Biology has 1,155 ranked journals in 2018. The median journal has an OJR of 0.94, below the world average of 1.00, unchanged on 2017; Q1 starts at OJR 1.46. The top three are Cell, Nature Genetics, and Pharmacological Reviews.
Ranks and citation indicators: 2018. Journal access status and listed APC: source snapshot September 23, 2026.
Journals whose main subfield sits in this category and that published at least 30 citable documents (articles, reviews and conference papers) in 2015–2017, the window the 2018 score is computed on.
The OpenJournalRank Indicator (OJR) is a free, publicly available metric of a journal’s field-normalized citation impact, computed from open OpenAlex citation data. It compares citations to a journal’s papers from the previous three years with the world average for papers of the same subfield, year and type, so 1.00 is the world average and values can be compared across fields. It is computed with the NCI3 method.
The middle OJR among ranked journals in this category: half score higher, half lower. 1.00 is the world average for papers of the same subfield, year and type.
The dot is this category, the solid tick is the median of all ranked journals and the dashed line is the world average.
Share of ranked journals in this category that are fully open access, so every paper is free to read. Hybrid journals, which sell subscriptions and open single papers for a fee, are not counted.
Median list price of the article processing charge, in US dollars, among ranked journals in this category that list a price above zero. Journals with a listed APC of $0 and journals with no known price are left out of this median. The At a glance table below gives a second median that includes the $0 prices.
Subfields of Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (14)
1,155 ranked journals
Filters
Rank is the position by OJR within the list on screen; 1 is the highest. | OJR is field-normalized 3-year citation impact: 1.00 is the world average for papers of the same subfield, year and type, so values compare across fields. The badge is the journal’s quartile in this list. | Citations per paper over a two-year window, counted from OpenAlex. It is not field-normalized, so compare it only between journals of the same field. ▲ or ▼ is the change from 2017. This is OpenJournalRank’s own count, not Clarivate’s Journal Impact Factor. | Citable documents (articles, reviews and conference papers) published in 2015–2017, the window the 2018 OJR is computed on. A journal needs at least 30 to be ranked. | Share of the journal’s 2015–2017 papers that are free to read in any open-access form. The green OA tag next to a title marks a fully open-access journal. | List price of the article processing charge in US dollars. “$0 listed” means the listed price is zero; a dash means no price is listed. | The line is the journal’s OJR from 2009 to 2018. | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1CellCell Press · United States | 9.81Q1 | 28.47 4.16 up from 2017 | 1,917 | 100% | $11,400 | ||
2Nature GeneticsNature Portfolio · United States | 9.20Q1 | 22.22 1.01 down from 2017 | 812 | 77% | $12,690 | ||
3Pharmacological ReviewsAmerican Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics · United States | 7.79Q1 | 20.58 0.35 down from 2017 | 73 | 69% | $4,500 | ||
4NatureNature Portfolio · United Kingdom | 7.29Q1 | 14.69 0.68 up from 2017 | 9,150 | 53% | $12,690 | ||
5Science AdvancesOAAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science · United States | 6.29Q1 | 15.02 0.96 up from 2017 | 1,530 | 100% | $4,500 | ||
6Cell MetabolismCell Press · United States | 6.24Q1 | 17.68 1.20 up from 2017 | 734 | 100% | $10,400 | ||
7FEMS Microbiology ReviewsOAOxford University Press · Netherlands | 6.13Q1 | 12.39 1.37 down from 2017 | 160 | 89% | $3,297 | ||
8Nature Cell BiologyNature Portfolio · United Kingdom | 5.56Q1 | 13.76 3.50 down from 2017 | 520 | 54% | $12,690 | ||
9Nature BiotechnologyNature Portfolio · United States | 5.31Q1 | 11.66 1.47 down from 2017 | 1,035 | 34% | $12,690 | ||
10Nature CommunicationsOANature Portfolio · United Kingdom | 5.30Q1 | 13.84 0.58 down from 2017 | 11,182 | 100% | $6,990 | ||
11Nature ProtocolsNature Portfolio · United States | 5.24Q1 | 13.22 0.81 down from 2017 | 450 | 58% | — | ||
12Nature MicrobiologyNature Portfolio · United Kingdom | 5.13Q1 | 12.29 2.21 up from 2017 | 469 | 65% | $12,690 | ||
13Biotechnology AdvancesElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 5.13Q1 | 11.33 1.91 down from 2017 | 343 | 35% | $5,460 | ||
14Current Protocols in BioinformaticsWiley · United States | 5.10Q1 | 19.38 5.89 up from 2017 | 61 | 37% | $5,050 | ||
15Journal of Extracellular VesiclesOATaylor & Francis · United States | 5.08Q1 | 12.15 6.82 down from 2017 | 118 | 100% | $4,410 | ||
16Cell Host & MicrobeCell Press · United States | 5.05Q1 | 11.88 1.79 down from 2017 | 606 | 100% | $10,400 | ||
17Genome biologyOABioMed Central · United Kingdom | 4.93Q1 | 14.47 0.41 up from 2017 | 751 | 100% | $5,490 | ||
18MicrobiomeOABioMed Central · United Kingdom | 4.93Q1 | 13.39 1.54 up from 2017 | 294 | 100% | $4,990 | ||
19Cell stem cellElsevier BV · United States | 4.71Q1 | 13.38 1.54 down from 2017 | 612 | 100% | $10,400 | ||
20Molecular Biology and EvolutionOAOxford University Press · United States | 4.66Q1 | 13.65 4.57 up from 2017 | 999 | 86% | $3,418 | ||
21Bone ResearchOASpringer Nature · China | 4.59Q1 | 12.09 1.28 up from 2017 | 78 | 100% | $3,405 | ||
22Nature MethodsNature Portfolio · United States | 4.51Q1 | 12.39 1.85 up from 2017 | 1,231 | 39% | $12,690 | ||
23Circulation ResearchLippincott Williams & Wilkins · United States | 4.50Q1 | 11.90 0.38 down from 2017 | 960 | 43% | — | ||
24Journal of Clinical InvestigationOAAmerican Society for Clinical Investigation · United States | 4.47Q1 | 11.73 0.89 down from 2017 | 1,294 | 100% | $5,200 | ||
25Drug Resistance UpdatesElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 4.43Q1 | 13.69 0.65 up from 2017 | 67 | 17% | $5,410 | ||
26ACS Central ScienceOAAmerican Chemical Society · United States | 4.42Q1 | 13.32 2.30 up from 2017 | 330 | 100% | $0 listed | ||
27Progress in Lipid ResearchElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 4.38Q1 | 8.66 1.64 up from 2017 | 126 | 29% | $5,530 | ||
28Molecular CellElsevier BV · United States | 4.21Q1 | 13.32 0.02 up from 2017 | 1,194 | 100% | $10,400 | ||
29Nature Biomedical EngineeringNature Portfolio · United Kingdom | 4.10Q1 | 10.24 0.07 up from 2017 | 156 | 51% | $12,690 | ||
30Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesNational Academy of Sciences · United States | 4.07Q1 | 9.78 0.08 down from 2017 | 11,309 | 98% | — | ||
31Science Translational MedicineAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science · United States | 4.00Q1 | 10.48 0.46 up from 2017 | 1,374 | 42% | — | ||
32ScienceAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science · United States | 3.91Q1 | 7.87 0.21 up from 2017 | 15,057 | 19% | — | ||
33PLoS BiologyOAPublic Library of Science · United States | 3.88Q1 | 9.78 0.44 up from 2017 | 776 | 100% | $5,500 | ||
34Pharmacology & TherapeuticsElsevier BV · United States | 3.70Q1 | 9.91 0.64 up from 2017 | 418 | 44% | $5,660 | ||
35Nucleic Acids ResearchOAOxford University Press · United Kingdom | 3.65Q1 | 10.95 0.23 up from 2017 | 4,216 | 100% | $3,992 | ||
36Nature reviews. CancerNature Portfolio · United Kingdom | 3.55Q1 | 23.92 5.59 up from 2017 | 436 | 34% | — | ||
37TrAC Trends in Analytical ChemistryElsevier BV · Netherlands | 3.53Q1 | 8.59 0.62 up from 2017 | 703 | 25% | $5,150 | ||
38EMBO Molecular MedicineOASpringer Nature · United Kingdom | 3.52Q1 | 9.96 0.22 up from 2017 | 367 | 100% | $7,990 | ||
39Redox BiologyOAElsevier BV · Netherlands | 3.43Q1 | 8.79 1.28 up from 2017 | 599 | 100% | $4,310 | ||
40GigaScienceOAUniversity of Oxford · United Kingdom | 3.41Q1 | 6.81 0.83 down from 2017 | 277 | 100% | $2,638 | ||
41mSystemsOAAmerican Society for Microbiology · United States | 3.37Q1 | 8.14 0.62 up from 2017 | 139 | 100% | $3,500 | ||
42Cell ResearchSpringer Nature · United Kingdom | 3.31Q1 | 9.67 0.48 up from 2017 | 457 | 98% | $5,190 | ||
43Nature Structural & Molecular BiologyNature Portfolio · United States | 3.30Q1 | 10.02 0.79 down from 2017 | 557 | 68% | $12,690 | ||
44Systematic BiologyOxford University Press · United States | 3.24Q1 | 7.02 1.11 up from 2017 | 320 | 57% | $2,166 | ||
45The EMBO JournalOASpringer Nature · Germany | 3.22Q1 | 9.97 1.24 up from 2017 | 717 | 94% | $7,990 | ||
46mBioOAAmerican Society for Microbiology · United States | 3.21Q1 | 7.53 0.08 down from 2017 | 1,343 | 100% | $3,900 | ||
47Molecular Aspects of MedicineElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 3.15Q1 | 8.60 1.11 up from 2017 | 153 | 44% | $5,220 | ||
48Medicinal Research ReviewsWiley · United States | 3.14Q1 | 9.44 1.94 up from 2017 | 118 | 41% | $4,980 | ||
49Nature Chemical BiologyNature Portfolio · United States | 3.13Q1 | 8.89 0.40 down from 2017 | 747 | 46% | $12,690 | ||
50Physiological ReviewsAmerican Physiological Society · United States | 3.12Q1 | 24.26 3.78 down from 2017 | 111 | 77% | — |
Subfields of Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, with Molecular Biology highlighted.
- Molecular Biology1,155
- Genetics125
- Cancer Research28
- Cell Biology26
- Molecular Medicine10
- Biophysics7
- Clinical Biochemistry6
- Structural Biology3
- Biochemistry2
- Aging1
- Developmental Biology1
- Physiology1
- Biotechnology0
- Endocrinology0
Journals
Citations made in 2018. Corpus-wide, 81.5% of core-journal articles and reviews published that year have at least one matched reference; the share varies by journal and field.
325 additional Molecular Biology journals with metrics are unranked under this release’s eligibility rules: a journal needs at least 30 citable documents in 2015–2017, at least 80% of them with a subfield, and a positive world-average expectation. Ranks are within the whole category; filters hide rows without re-ranking. OJR excludes self-citations.
At a glance
Indicator year: 2018. Publication window: 2015–2017. How these summaries are calculated
- Ranked journals
- 1,155
- Window papers (baseline)
- 371,908 -0.7% from indicator year 2015
- Median OJR
- 0.940 -4.6% from indicator year 2015
- Rising journals (2025)
- 129
Window papers are the baseline paper population: citable papers (articles, reviews and conference papers) from 2015–2017 in all journals of the world-average baseline, including non-core journals, counted by each paper’s own subfield. They are not the papers of the ranked journals alone.
| Measure | Year series | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranked journals | 519 | 546 | 586 | 626 | 650 | 687 | 707 | 752 | 778 | 801 | 844 | 901 | 955 | 996 | 1,034 | 1,073 | 1,109 | 1,133 | 1,155 | 1,157 | 1,141 | 1,136 | 1,158 | 1,167 | 1,149 | 1,152 | |
| Window papers (baseline) | 181,358 | 194,151 | 205,259 | 217,711 | 227,129 | 242,923 | 257,591 | 273,038 | 286,182 | 303,541 | 319,771 | 333,582 | 344,870 | 354,245 | 365,796 | 374,398 | 378,858 | 377,367 | 371,908 | 369,033 | 372,681 | 388,390 | 409,363 | 424,318 | 425,615 | 430,199 | |
| Median OJR | 0.66 | 0.65 | 0.70 | 0.79 | 0.82 | 0.872 | 0.923 | 0.929 | 0.95 | 0.97 | 1.010 | 1.051 | 1.049 | 1.014 | 1.001 | 0.99 | 0.98 | 0.944 | 0.940 | 0.933 | 0.937 | 0.917 | 0.9097 | 0.870 | 0.89 | 0.9095 |
How to read these rankings
- OJR, the OpenJournalRank Indicator
- A field-normalized 3-year citation impact, computed from OpenAlex with the NCI3 method. It divides the citations a journal’s papers received by the world average for papers of the same subfield, year and type, so 1.00 is the world average and 2.00 means twice as many citations as expected. Because it is normalized, it can be compared across fields. Read the methodology
- Quartiles
- Q1 to Q4 split the ranked journals of the list you are viewing into four equal groups by OJR. A journal’s quartile depends on the list: the same journal can be Q1 in its subfield and Q2 among all journals.
- Impact factor (2-year)
- Citations per paper over a two-year window, counted from OpenAlex. It is easy to compare with familiar impact factors but is not field-normalized, so compare it only within a field. It is not Clarivate’s Journal Impact Factor. Why it differs from the Journal Impact Factor
- Rank ranges
- Each rank in the latest year carries a likely range from 1,000 resamples of the journal’s papers. Where two journals’ ranges overlap, the data cannot tell them apart, so treat neighbouring ranks as ties.