OpenJournalRank
Compare

Journal rankings · indicator year 2025

Choose a field to open its ranking, or a journal to find its row in its subfield’s list.

Subfield ranking · 2025

Molecular Biology journal rankings 2025

1,152 ranked journals · Subfield in Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Molecular Biology has 1,152 ranked journals in 2025. The median journal has an OJR of 0.91, below the world average of 1.00, up 0.02 on 2024; Q1 starts at OJR 1.40. The three highest-scoring journals with stable ranks are Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy, Cell, and Molecular Cancer: each is likely ranked within the top 12.

Ranks and citation indicators: 2025. Journal access status and listed APC: source snapshot September 23, 2026.

Ranked journals

Journals whose main subfield sits in this category and that published at least 30 citable documents (articles, reviews and conference papers) in 2022–2024, the window the 2025 score is computed on.

1,152
84% of Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Median OJR

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.

0.91+0.02 vs 2024
This subfieldAll 0.78World 1.00
Open-access journals

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.

46%
All fields: 38%
Median listed APC

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.

$3,455
Median positive listed APC: $3,455 among 770 journals. Another 26 list $0; 356 have no known price. All fields: $3,200.

Subfields of Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (14)

1,152 ranked journals

Filters

Quartile

Quartiles split the ranked journals of the list you are viewing into four equal groups by OJR. Q1 is the top quarter and Q4 the bottom quarter.

They are computed within the list on screen, so a journal can be Q1 in its subfield and Q2 in the global ranking.

Access
APC (list price)
Loading every ranked journal in this list…
Molecular Biology ranking, 2025

Rank is the position by OJR within the list on screen; 1 is the highest.

The small range under it is the likely rank range: in 95% of 1,000 resamples of the journal’s papers, it ranked inside that range. Journals whose ranges overlap are not clearly different.

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.

OJR

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 2024. This is OpenJournalRank’s own count, not Clarivate’s Journal Impact Factor.

Citable documents (articles, reviews and conference papers) published in 2022–2024, the window the 2025 OJR is computed on. A journal needs at least 30 to be ranked.

Share of the journal’s 2022–2024 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 2016 to 2025.

A label compares the 2022→2025 change with the median change of the journal’s field or domain. Rising needs a relative change of +10% or more that is at least 2 standard errors above zero; Falling needs -9.1% or less (rounded), at least 2 standard errors below zero. Sorting uses that relative change.

Compare
Rank 1; likely between #1 and #1 of 1,152Signal Transduction and Targeted TherapyOASpringer Nature · United Kingdom
14.09Q155.38 21.43 up from 20241,202100%$3,790Rising vs field, 2022–25
Rank 2; likely between #2 and #4 of 1,152CellCell Press · United States
10.00Q136.19 2.51 up from 20241,41679%$11,400
Rank 3; likely between #2 and #5 of 1,152Molecular CancerOABioMed Central · United Kingdom
9.39Q138.06 2.29 up from 2024632100%$5,090
Rank 4; likely between #3 and #6 of 1,152Cell MetabolismCell Press · United States
8.52Q129.24 5.30 up from 202456658%$10,400Rising vs field, 2022–25
Rank 5; likely between #2 and #13 of 1,152iMetaOAWiley · Australia
8.16Q125.45 1.05 up from 2024236100%$1,320
Rank 6; likely between #5 and #8 of 1,152ScienceAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science · United States
7.42Q122.44 0.97 up from 20244,95128%—Rising vs field, 2022–25
Rank 7; likely between #4 and #12 of 1,152Nature Reviews Molecular Cell BiologyNature Portfolio · United Kingdom
7.27Q149.49 9.94 up from 202434626%—
Rank 8; likely between #5 and #13 of 1,152Nature Reviews MicrobiologyNature Portfolio · United Kingdom
6.92Q138.79 2.35 up from 202444320%—Rising vs field, 2022–25
Rank 9; likely between #7 and #11 of 1,152NatureNature Portfolio · United Kingdom
6.63Q121.72 2.93 up from 20249,95835%$12,690
Rank 10; likely between #7 and #20 of 1,152Bone ResearchOASpringer Nature · China
6.07Q120.61 3.93 up from 2024188100%$3,405Rising vs field, 2022–25
Rank 11; likely between #10 and #20 of 1,152Nature Biomedical EngineeringNature Portfolio · United Kingdom
5.61Q119.03 1.95 down from 202447854%$12,690Rising vs field, 2022–25
Rank 12; likely between #8 and #30 of 1,152Military Medical ResearchOABioMed Central · China
5.59Q119.24 0.37 up from 2024219100%$0 listed
Rank 13; likely between #8 and #41 of 1,152Progress in Lipid ResearchElsevier BV · United Kingdom
5.42Q118.89 1.71 up from 20248071%$5,530
Rank 14; likely between #10 and #23 of 1,152Nature GeneticsNature Portfolio · United States
5.36Q115.99 3.99 down from 202495060%$12,690Falling vs field, 2022–25
Rank 15; likely between #10 and #31 of 1,152Drug Resistance UpdatesElsevier BV · United Kingdom
5.30Q119.76 2.19 down from 202422340%$5,410
Rank 16; likely between #8 and #42 of 1,152International Journal of Oral ScienceOASpringer Nature · China
5.26Q119.32 5.11 up from 2024171100%$3,890
Rank 17; likely between #10 and #37 of 1,152Pharmacological ReviewsAmerican Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics · United States
5.25Q115.16 3.73 down from 202414767%$4,500
Rank 18; likely between #10 and #32 of 1,152Nature BiotechnologyNature Portfolio · United States
5.19Q119.55 0.54 down from 20241,08130%$12,690Falling vs field, 2022–25
Rank 19; likely between #11 and #38 of 1,152Nature ProtocolsNature Portfolio · United States
4.93Q119.00 1.44 up from 202443437%—
Rank 20; likely between #15 and #28 of 1,152Science Translational MedicineAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science · United States
4.88Q115.49 0.51 up from 202489545%—Rising vs field, 2022–25
Rank 21; likely between #15 and #31 of 1,152Nature MicrobiologyNature Portfolio · United Kingdom
4.83Q114.17 0.85 down from 202478561%$12,690
Rank 22; likely between #19 and #27 of 1,152Nature CommunicationsOANature Portfolio · United Kingdom
4.77Q118.80 1.77 up from 202426,176100%$6,990
Rank 23; likely between #15 and #36 of 1,152Circulation ResearchLippincott Williams & Wilkins · United States
4.76Q113.25 0.73 down from 202467222%—
Rank 24; likely between #13 and #36 of 1,152Nature MetabolismNature Portfolio · United Kingdom
4.76Q117.55 3.16 up from 202461654%$12,690
Rank 25; likely between #14 and #45 of 1,152Nature reviews. CancerNature Portfolio · United Kingdom
4.66Q124.85 3.56 down from 202433922%—
Rank 26; likely between #16 and #41 of 1,152Experimental & Molecular MedicineOASpringer Nature · South Korea
4.57Q117.90 3.67 up from 2024618100%$4,490Rising vs field, 2022–25
Rank 27; likely between #12 and #55 of 1,152FEMS Microbiology ReviewsOAOxford University Press · Netherlands
4.53Q119.47 8.17 up from 2024147100%$3,297Rising vs field, 2022–25
Rank 28; likely between #9 and #64 of 1,152Journal of Extracellular VesiclesOATaylor & Francis · United States
4.46Q121.41 6.58 up from 2024347100%$4,410
Rank 29; likely between #14 and #51 of 1,152Nature MethodsNature Portfolio · United States
4.44Q115.53 1.33 down from 20241,12449%$12,690
Rank 30; likely between #23 and #40 of 1,152MicrobiomeOABioMed Central · United Kingdom
4.42Q115.39 1.39 up from 2024759100%$4,990
Rank 31; likely between #24 and #39 of 1,152Redox BiologyOAElsevier BV · Netherlands
4.39Q116.43 3.67 up from 20241,168100%$4,310Rising vs field, 2022–25
Rank 32; likely between #19 and #46 of 1,152Cell Host & MicrobeCell Press · United States
4.38Q115.62 3.23 up from 202462854%$10,400
Rank 33; likely between #21 and #45 of 1,152Cell stem cellElsevier BV · United States
4.35Q115.98 1.95 up from 202447261%$10,400
Rank 34; likely between #16 and #55 of 1,152Molecular Aspects of MedicineElsevier BV · United Kingdom
4.29Q115.43 3.46 up from 202413338%$5,220Rising vs field, 2022–25
Rank 35; likely between #17 and #57 of 1,152Nature Reviews Drug DiscoveryNature Portfolio · United States
4.25Q117.13 3.07 down from 20245558%—
Rank 36; likely between #27 and #45 of 1,152Gut MicrobesOALandes Bioscience · United States
4.21Q115.97 3.79 up from 2024921100%$3,060Rising vs field, 2022–25
Rank 37; likely between #21 and #54 of 1,152Journal of Biomedical ScienceOABioMed Central · Switzerland
4.17Q115.16 1.64 up from 2024298100%$0 listedRising vs field, 2022–25
Rank 38; likely between #22 and #57 of 1,152Nucleic Acids ResearchOAOxford University Press · United Kingdom
4.04Q115.81 0.63 up from 20243,657100%$3,992
Rank 39; likely between #31 and #48 of 1,152TheranosticsOAIvyspring International Publisher · Australia
4.04Q114.91 1.49 up from 20241,147100%$1,671Rising vs field, 2022–25
Rank 40; likely between #25 and #57 of 1,152Medicinal Research ReviewsWiley · United States
4.01Q114.50 1.49 up from 202418146%$4,980
Rank 41; likely between #27 and #57 of 1,152Cell Death and DifferentiationSpringer Nature · United Kingdom
3.98Q113.27 2.42 down from 202449792%$5,790Rising vs field, 2022–25
Rank 42; likely between #28 and #56 of 1,152Pharmacology & TherapeuticsElsevier BV · United States
3.97Q114.05 1.78 up from 202439446%$5,660Rising vs field, 2022–25
Rank 43; likely between #20 and #64 of 1,152Physiological ReviewsAmerican Physiological Society · United States
3.95Q128.70 2.59 up from 202412365%—
Rank 44; likely between #30 and #55 of 1,152Nature AgingNature Portfolio · United States
3.93Q114.49 2.66 up from 202455846%$12,690
Rank 45; likely between #37 and #49 of 1,152Science AdvancesOAAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science · United States
3.91Q114.45 0.96 up from 20246,597100%$4,500
Rank 46; likely between #17 and #82 of 1,152Annual Review of Pathology Mechanisms of DiseaseAnnual Reviews · United States
3.82Q121.55 5.94 down from 20246096%—
Rank 47; likely between #34 and #57 of 1,152Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica BOAElsevier BV · Netherlands
3.79Q113.54 1.32 up from 2024890100%$2,600Rising vs field, 2022–25
Rank 48; likely between #39 and #55 of 1,152Journal of NanobiotechnologyOABioMed Central · United Kingdom
3.75Q115.86 1.93 up from 20241,773100%$3,790Rising vs field, 2022–25
Rank 49; likely between #39 and #56 of 1,152Journal of Advanced ResearchOAElsevier BV · Egypt
3.73Q112.58 2.01 up from 2024825100%$4,000Rising vs field, 2022–25
Rank 50; likely between #36 and #63 of 1,152Nature Cell BiologyNature Portfolio · United Kingdom
3.68Q114.13 1.14 up from 202466249%$12,690

The endpoints below each rank show its likely range. How rank ranges are calculated

Citations made in 2025. Corpus-wide, 84.3% of core-journal articles and reviews published that year have at least one matched reference; the share varies by journal and field.

149 additional Molecular Biology journals with metrics are unranked under this release’s eligibility rules: a journal needs at least 30 citable documents in 2022–2024, 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.

Rising journals

At a glance

Indicator year: 2025. Publication window: 2022–2024. How these summaries are calculated

Ranked journals
1,152
Window papers (baseline)
430,199 +5.1% from indicator year 2022
Median OJR
0.9095 -0.02% from indicator year 2022
Rising journals (2025)
129

Window papers are the baseline paper population: citable papers (articles, reviews and conference papers) from 2022–2024 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.

Category by indicator year
MeasureYear series20002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Ranked journals5195465866266506877077527788018449019559961,0341,0731,1091,1331,1551,1571,1411,1361,1581,1671,1491,152
Window papers (baseline)181,358194,151205,259217,711227,129242,923257,591273,038286,182303,541319,771333,582344,870354,245365,796374,398378,858377,367371,908369,033372,681388,390409,363424,318425,615430,199
Median OJR0.660.650.700.790.820.8720.9230.9290.950.971.0101.0511.0491.0141.0010.990.980.9440.9400.9330.9370.9170.90970.8700.890.9095

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.