TRIPLE-DIGIT IMPACTThe Extraordinary 104.6 Impact Factor

With an impact factor of 104.6, Nature Reviews Microbiology occupies a rarefied position in scientific publishing. Only a handful of journals across all of science achieve triple-digit impact factors, and Nature Reviews Microbiology is one of them. This extraordinary metric reflects not merely citation volume but the journal’s unparalleled ability to publish reviews that reshape how the scientific community understands the microbial world.

Published by Springer Nature with ISSN 1740-1526, Nature Reviews Microbiology has been the journal of record for microbiology since its founding in 2003. Its coverage spans the full diversity of microbial life and the myriad ways in which microorganisms interact with their hosts, their environments, and each other. In an era of pandemics, antimicrobial resistance, and microbiome medicine, the importance of authoritative microbiology reviews has never been greater — and Nature Reviews Microbiology delivers them like no other journal. Its ISSN is 1740-1526.

BIBLIOMETRIC PROFILEThe Numbers That Define Nature Reviews Microbiology

The impact factor of 104.6 means that, on average, each article published in Nature Reviews Microbiology during the calculation window attracted more than 100 citations in the subsequent two years. This is a staggering figure that reflects both the journal’s editorial excellence and the extraordinary timeliness of its subject matter. In the years since COVID-19, as the world has grappled with emerging infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, and the therapeutic potential of the microbiome, Nature Reviews Microbiology has been at the center of the scientific conversation.

The CiteScore of 108.5 from Scopus confirms that this citation performance extends well beyond the two-year impact factor window. The SJR of 28.5 — matching the score of Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology — indicates that Nature Reviews Microbiology is cited by the most selective and influential journals in all of biology and medicine. These are not casual citations from obscure publications; they are references in the pages of Nature, Science, Cell, The Lancet, and the New England Journal of Medicine.

SCOPUS & SJR ANALYSISBeyond Triple Digits

The h-index of 285 is extraordinary even by the standards of elite review journals. It means that Nature Reviews Microbiology has published at least 285 papers that have each been cited 285 or more times — a level of sustained excellence that few journals in any field can match. This metric reflects the journal’s consistent ability to identify the topics that will define microbiology research in the years ahead and to commission the authors best positioned to write about them.

The SJR of 28.5 places Nature Reviews Microbiology in the absolute top tier of all scientific journals. When a microbiology review journal achieves the same SJR as the leading molecular cell biology reviews, it signals that the field of microbiology has attained a centrality in biological research that was unthinkable a generation ago. Microorganisms are no longer studied in isolation; they are recognized as integral to human health, ecosystem function, biogeochemical cycling, and climate regulation. Nature Reviews Microbiology’s extraordinary metrics are both a cause and a consequence of this transformation.

EDITORIAL SCOPEThe Microbial World in Review

Nature Reviews Microbiology publishes reviews across the extraordinary diversity of microbiology: bacterial physiology and genetics, viral pathogenesis and host interactions, fungal biology, protozoan and helminth parasites, microbial ecology and environmental microbiology, the human microbiome, antimicrobial resistance and drug discovery, microbial evolution and genomics, host-pathogen interactions, immunology of infection, vaccine development, emerging infectious diseases, microbial biotechnology, and biofilms.

The journal has been particularly influential in covering emerging areas such as the microbiome’s role in human health and disease, the CRISPR revolution in bacterial immunity, the threat of antimicrobial resistance, and the ecological consequences of climate change on microbial communities. Its ability to rapidly commission authoritative reviews on these timely topics has been a major driver of its citation success.

WRITING FOR NATURE REVIEWS MICROBIOLOGYAuthor Guidance

Nature Reviews Microbiology publishes commissioned review articles. The editorial team identifies timely topics and invites recognized experts to contribute. Authors interested in proposing a review should contact the editorial office with a detailed outline explaining the topic’s significance and its relevance to current microbiological research.

Successful reviews in Nature Reviews Microbiology provide comprehensive synthesis, critical evaluation of competing hypotheses, and clear identification of future research directions. Visual materials — electron micrographs, phylogenetic trees, ecological diagrams, molecular structures — are strongly encouraged. Reviews should be accessible to readers outside the immediate subdiscipline, as microbiology increasingly intersects with medicine, ecology, agriculture, and biotechnology.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONSFAQ About Nature Reviews Microbiology