Journal rankings · indicator year 2020
Choose a field to open its ranking, or a journal to find its row in its subfield’s list.
Subfield ranking · 2020
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal rankings 2020
152 ranked journals · Subfield in Agricultural and Biological Sciences
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics has 152 ranked journals in 2020. The median OJR fell 0.06 on 2019 to 0.58, below the world average of 1.00; Q1 starts at OJR 1.11. The top three are Ecology Letters, Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences, and Functional Ecology.
Ranks and citation indicators: 2020. 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 2017–2019, the window the 2020 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 Agricultural and Biological Sciences (11)
152 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 2019. This is OpenJournalRank’s own count, not Clarivate’s Journal Impact Factor. | Citable documents (articles, reviews and conference papers) published in 2017–2019, the window the 2020 OJR is computed on. A journal needs at least 30 to be ranked. | Share of the journal’s 2017–2019 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 2011 to 2020. | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1Ecology LettersWiley · United Kingdom | 4.52Q1 | 9.33 0.76 down from 2019 | 555 | 56% | $5,300 | ||
2Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological SciencesRoyal Society · United Kingdom | 2.61Q1 | 6.12 0.21 up from 2019 | 1,755 | 98% | — | ||
3Functional EcologyOAWiley · United Kingdom | 2.47Q1 | 5.37 0.58 up from 2019 | 641 | 60% | $3,000 | ||
4Basic and Applied EcologyOAElsevier BV · Germany | 2.00Q1 | 3.21 0.43 down from 2019 | 192 | 52% | $1,800 | ||
5The Quarterly Review of BiologyUniversity of Chicago Press · United States | 1.95Q1 | 2.46 1.28 down from 2019 | 52 | 8% | — | ||
6International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and ManagementOAEmerald Publishing Limited · United Kingdom | 1.92Q1 | 2.68 0.36 down from 2019 | 139 | 100% | $1,839 | ||
7Biology LettersOARoyal Society · United Kingdom | 1.86Q1 | 4.26 0.52 up from 2019 | 615 | 99% | — | ||
8OikosWiley · United Kingdom | 1.85Q1 | 3.75 0.02 up from 2019 | 446 | 49% | $3,640 | ||
9Systematic EntomologyWiley · United Kingdom | 1.78Q1 | 3.81 0.36 up from 2019 | 175 | 30% | $4,520 | ||
10CladisticsWiley · United States | 1.77Q1 | 5.14 0.77 up from 2019 | 98 | 32% | $3,960 | ||
11Annual Review of Ecology Evolution and SystematicsAnnual Reviews · United States | 1.76Q1 | 15.58 2.61 down from 2019 | 76 | 69% | — | ||
12The American NaturalistUniversity of Chicago Press · United States | 1.69Q1 | 3.53 0.73 down from 2019 | 527 | 32% | — | ||
13Animal BehaviourElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 1.68Q1 | 2.84 0.24 down from 2019 | 888 | 46% | $2,740 | ||
14Perspectives in Plant Ecology Evolution and SystematicsElsevier BV · Germany | 1.65Q1 | 3.38 0.28 up from 2019 | 140 | 21% | $3,570 | ||
15Molecular Phylogenetics and EvolutionElsevier BV · United States | 1.65Q1 | 4.41 0.64 up from 2019 | 952 | 42% | $3,830 | ||
16Frontiers in ZoologyOABioMed Central · United Kingdom | 1.60Q1 | 4.18 0.93 up from 2019 | 156 | 100% | $3,090 | ||
17Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global ChangeSpringer Science+Business Media · Netherlands | 1.55Q1 | 4.06 1.08 up from 2019 | 164 | 45% | $3,490 | ||
18The Botanical ReviewSpringer Science+Business Media · Netherlands | 1.53Q1 | 3.47 0.54 up from 2019 | 35 | 26% | $3,790 | ||
19Animal CognitionOASpringer Science+Business Media · Germany | 1.52Q1 | 2.92 0.74 down from 2019 | 262 | 46% | $3,390 | ||
20American Journal of BotanyWiley · United States | 1.47Q1 | 3.54 0.25 up from 2019 | 549 | 69% | $2,660 | ||
21Insect Systematics and DiversityOxford University Press | 1.43Q1 | 2.88 0.04 up from 2019 | 57 | 95% | $4,328 | ||
22Journal of Systematics and EvolutionWiley · China | 1.42Q1 | 3.53 0.17 up from 2019 | 202 | 37% | $3,000 | ||
23EvolutionOxford University Press · United States | 1.40Q1 | 3.12 0.63 down from 2019 | 709 | 42% | $3,214 | ||
24Behavioral Ecology and SociobiologySpringer Science+Business Media · Germany | 1.39Q1 | 3.06 0.07 up from 2019 | 522 | 48% | $3,590 | ||
25ApidologieSpringer Science+Business Media · Germany | 1.35Q1 | 2.42 0.65 up from 2019 | 231 | 100% | $2,990 | ||
26Behavioral EcologyOxford University Press · United Kingdom | 1.32Q1 | 2.30 0.05 down from 2019 | 603 | 42% | $3,906 | ||
27APN Science BulletinOAPublisher not listed | 1.30Q1 | 3.26 2.33 up from 2019 | 30 | 100% | — | ||
28Insect Conservation and DiversityWiley · United Kingdom | 1.24Q1 | 3.05 0.79 up from 2019 | 165 | 40% | $4,750 | ||
29Zoologica ScriptaWiley · Sweden | 1.21Q1 | 3.09 0.42 up from 2019 | 153 | 30% | $4,100 | ||
30Journal of Evolutionary BiologyOxford University Press · Switzerland | 1.21Q1 | 2.45 0.37 down from 2019 | 469 | 66% | $3,123 | ||
31Die NaturwissenschaftenSpringer Science+Business Media · Germany | 1.18Q1 | 2.27 0.27 down from 2019 | 227 | 45% | $3,790 | ||
32Zoological LettersOABioMed Central · United Kingdom | 1.18Q1 | 3.10 0.78 up from 2019 | 89 | 100% | $2,090 | ||
33Evolutionary EcologySpringer Science+Business Media · Netherlands | 1.16Q1 | 2.55 0.37 up from 2019 | 144 | 42% | $2,590 | ||
34PalaeoentomologyMagnolia Press · New Zealand | 1.16Q1 | 1.77 2.95 down from 2019 | 88 | 20% | — | ||
35BiotropicaWiley · United States | 1.15Q1 | 2.55 0.34 down from 2019 | 291 | 39% | $2,630 | ||
36Botanical Journal of the Linnean SocietyOxford University Press · United Kingdom | 1.15Q1 | 2.60 0.25 up from 2019 | 325 | 28% | $3,541 | ||
37Acta ChiropterologicaMuseum and Institute of Zoology · Poland | 1.14Q1 | 1.79 0.28 up from 2019 | 100 | 11% | — | ||
38Organisms Diversity & EvolutionSpringer Science+Business Media · Germany | 1.11Q1 | 2.63 0.24 up from 2019 | 105 | 67% | $3,690 | ||
39International Journal of Plant SciencesUniversity of Chicago Press · United States | 1.07Q2 | 2.25 0.77 up from 2019 | 211 | 24% | — | ||
40Physiological and Biochemical ZoologyUniversity of Chicago Press · United States | 1.05Q2 | 2.33 0.12 up from 2019 | 152 | 19% | — | ||
41Alpine BotanySpringer Science+Business Media · Switzerland | 1.05Q2 | 2.16 0.09 up from 2019 | 44 | 54% | $4,390 | ||
42FloraElsevier BV · Germany | 1.03Q2 | 2.14 0.30 up from 2019 | 443 | 21% | $2,900 | ||
43Ecological EntomologyWiley · United Kingdom | 1.02Q2 | 2.36 0.46 up from 2019 | 334 | 33% | $4,410 | ||
44Annals of the Missouri Botanical GardenMissouri Botanical Garden · United States | 0.99Q2 | 1.70 1.68 down from 2019 | 77 | 58% | — | ||
45Journal of Insect ConservationSpringer Science+Business Media · Netherlands | 0.98Q2 | 2.18 0.38 up from 2019 | 252 | 31% | $3,990 | ||
46Behavioural ProcessesElsevier BV · Netherlands | 0.96Q2 | 1.80 0.45 down from 2019 | 623 | 29% | $3,550 | ||
47Biological Journal of the Linnean SocietyOxford University Press · United Kingdom | 0.94Q2 | 2.29 0.23 up from 2019 | 634 | 40% | $3,541 | ||
48BehaviourBrill · Netherlands | 0.90Q2 | 1.94 0.45 up from 2019 | 169 | 39% | — | ||
49Web EcologyOACopernicus Publications · Germany | 0.90Q2 | 1.95 0.22 up from 2019 | 31 | 100% | — | ||
50Review of Palaeobotany and PalynologyElsevier BV · Netherlands | 0.88Q2 | 2.02 0.23 up from 2019 | 307 | 30% | $3,260 |
Subfields of Agricultural and Biological Sciences, with Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics highlighted.
- Plant Science577
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics152
- Food Science139
- Animal Science and Zoology58
- Insect Science51
- Soil Science42
- Aquatic Science39
- Agronomy and Crop Science38
- General Agricultural and Biological Sciences33
- Forestry1
- Horticulture0
Journals
Citations made in 2020. Corpus-wide, 86.1% of core-journal articles and reviews published that year have at least one matched reference; the share varies by journal and field.
27 additional Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journals with metrics are unranked under this release’s eligibility rules: a journal needs at least 30 citable documents in 2017–2019, 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: 2020. Publication window: 2017–2019. How these summaries are calculated
- Ranked journals
- 152
- Window papers (baseline)
- 71,728 -2.5% from indicator year 2017
- Median OJR
- 0.58 -17.7% from indicator year 2017
- Rising journals (2025)
- 5
Window papers are the baseline paper population: citable papers (articles, reviews and conference papers) from 2017–2019 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 | 95 | 101 | 105 | 109 | 106 | 101 | 103 | 106 | 103 | 113 | 120 | 128 | 130 | 137 | 140 | 144 | 144 | 145 | 148 | 150 | 152 | 147 | 150 | 151 | 147 | 145 | |
| Window papers (baseline) | 29,541 | 33,040 | 34,931 | 36,852 | 36,959 | 39,032 | 41,685 | 45,017 | 48,550 | 53,297 | 59,000 | 64,284 | 66,440 | 66,489 | 67,535 | 70,051 | 72,548 | 73,555 | 73,117 | 72,516 | 71,728 | 72,753 | 74,109 | 73,873 | 72,350 | 73,578 | |
| Median OJR | 0.54 | 0.598 | 0.56 | 0.600 | 0.614 | 0.62 | 0.81 | 0.77 | 0.78 | 0.743 | 0.688 | 0.71 | 0.73 | 0.705 | 0.737 | 0.686 | 0.67 | 0.699 | 0.608 | 0.63 | 0.58 | 0.55 | 0.48 | 0.503 | 0.505 | 0.45 |
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.