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Manuscript Auditing →01Impact factor
Impact factor of Molecular Cell (2026)
The impact factor shown here is the 2-year mean citedness: citations received in a year by the papers Molecular Cell published in the two previous years, divided by the number of those papers. That is the same formula as the Journal Impact Factor, calculated by ScholarsColab. The journal is listed in JCR 2024, so it also has an official Journal Impact Factor published by Clarivate, which can differ because it counts citations from Web of Science journals only.
Rank in its subject categories
- Biochemistry & Molecular Biologyrank 11 of 339 journals
- Cell Biologyrank 14 of 210 journals
Ranks here compare journals of the same Web of Science category in our data by 2-year citedness; they are not the official JCR rank.
Quartile of Molecular Cell
A journal's quartile (Q1 to Q4) is its position within a subject category: Q1 is the top quarter. The official quartiles are published by Clarivate in Journal Citation Reports (by Journal Impact Factor, in Web of Science categories) and by Scimago as the SJR quartile (in Scopus categories). Molecular Cell is listed in JCR 2024, so its JCR quartile is in Journal Citation Reports. It is indexed in Scopus, so Scimago shows its SJR quartile. ScholarsColab does not show a quartile until it can show the official one; the impact factor and rank above are calculated from open data.
Citations and papers per year
Article processing charge listed at about US$10,400.
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02Fee waivers
APC waivers and discounts for Molecular Cell
Molecular Cell follows the waiver policy of its publisher, Elsevier: automatic 100% waiver for Research4Life Group A and 50% for Group B in fully open access journals, but only when every author is in an eligible country.
Authors affiliated in 82 countries qualify for a full waiver. See the countries →
Waivers apply to fully open access journals. If Molecular Cell is a hybrid journal, you can publish without any fee through the subscription route.
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Retractions and research integrity at Molecular Cell
Retractions per year
Most common reasons (a retraction can have several):
Molecular Cell has 20 retracted papers on record, the latest in Jun 2024. A retraction count is not a verdict on a journal: large journals publish more and journals that investigate actively retract more. The trend and the reasons tell you more than the number.
Who funds research published in Molecular Cell
Funders named most often
A high share of funded papers usually means the journal is a common choice for grant-supported work in its field. If your funder pays article processing charges, or your country qualifies for a waiver, check what applies to your author team with the free APC waiver checker.
03Indexing
Indexing of Molecular Cell
- ISSN
- 1097-2765
- eISSN
- 1097-4164
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV all its journals →
- Subjects
- Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Cell Biology
From the indexing lists used on ScholarsColab, updated 1 March 2026. Indexing can change: confirm on the Web of Science Master Journal List or the Scopus source list before submitting. Official Journal Impact Factors and JCR quartiles are published by Clarivate; the impact factor on this page is calculated by ScholarsColab (see how the impact factor works).
Each link opens the official record for this journal, searched by its ISSN where we have one.
04How to submit
How to submit to Molecular Cell
- Read the guide for authors. It sets the article types, word limit, reference style and file format that Molecular Cell accepts. Open the official guide for authors and submit from the same page.
- Use the journal's template. Elsevier BV offers Word and LaTeX templates for many of its journals. If your manuscript is in Word and the journal wants LaTeX, our LaTeX Template Conversion moves it into the template.
- Check the fit. Read the aims and scope and a few recent issues; papers outside the scope are the most common reason for a desk rejection. The Journal Finder shows journals that published the closest work.
- Check the fee. Molecular Cell is not a fully open access journal, so authors usually pay nothing unless they choose open access for their article or the journal charges page or colour fees. The guide for authors states the current charges.
- Check your manuscript before you submit. The free Submission Readiness Check asks the seven questions our reviewers ask in every audit and takes about 2 minutes.
05Reviewer comments
Reviewer comments and rejection reasons for Molecular Cell
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Biochemistry & Molecular Biology journals with a similar impact factor*
The journals next to Molecular Cell when the 326 journals of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology in our data are ranked by impact factor*:
| Rank | Journal | Impact factor* | Indexing | Open access |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Nucleic Acids Research | 17.3 | SCIE | Fully open access |
| 8 | Progress in Lipid Research | 16.2 | SCIE | Subscription |
| 9 | Experimental & Molecular Medicine | 14.8 | SCIE | Fully open access |
| 10 | Redox Biology | 14.5 | SCIE | Fully open access |
| 12 | Cytokine & Growth Factor Reviews | 13.5 | SCIE | Subscription |
| 13 | Molecular Aspects of Medicine | 11.7 | SCIE | Subscription |
| 14 | Molecular Plant | 11.6 | SCIE | Subscription |
| 15 | Molecular Biomedicine | 11.4 | ESCI | Fully open access |
*Impact factor calculated by ScholarsColab (2-year citedness), not the official Clarivate value.
Is Molecular Cell right for your paper? Find the right journal
Paste your title, keywords or abstract. See the journals that published the closest papers, with indexing, impact factor, review time and APC.
No AI or language model is used. Your words are matched against the titles of 156,724 real published journal papers, by our mentors and by other researchers (shown without names); journals are ranked by how many closely matching papers they published. Indexing comes from the SCIE, SSCI, AHCI, ESCI, Scopus and JCR 2024 lists, matched by journal name; the impact factor is calculated by ScholarsColab, not the official Clarivate value, and no quartile is shown until the official JCR or SJR quartile can be; review time is the median days from submission to acceptance (not every publisher publishes these dates). Always check a journal’s scope and current indexing before submitting.
07Questions
Frequently asked questions
What is the impact factor of Molecular Cell?
Based on ScholarsColab citation data (October 2026), the 2-year impact factor of Molecular Cell is 14.2: papers it published in the two previous years were cited 14.2 times on average in a year. The journal is listed in JCR 2024, so Clarivate also publishes an official Journal Impact Factor, which can differ.
What is the h-index of Molecular Cell?
The h-index of Molecular Cell is 527 (October 2026): 527 of its papers have each been cited at least 527 times. Its i10-index is 8,765.
What is the APC of Molecular Cell?
The listed article processing charge (APC) is about US$10,400 for Molecular Cell (data from October 2026). APCs change and can differ by article type, country or discounts, so confirm the current charge on the journal’s website before submitting.
What is the quartile of Molecular Cell?
A journal's quartile (Q1 to Q4) is its position within a subject category: Q1 is the top quarter. The official quartiles are published by Clarivate in Journal Citation Reports (by Journal Impact Factor, in Web of Science categories) and by Scimago as the SJR quartile (in Scopus categories). Molecular Cell is listed in JCR 2024, so its JCR quartile is in Journal Citation Reports. It is indexed in Scopus, so Scimago shows its SJR quartile. ScholarsColab does not show a quartile until it can show the official one; the impact factor and rank above are calculated from open data.
Is Molecular Cell indexed in Scopus?
Yes. Molecular Cell appears in the Scopus list, according to the indexing lists used on ScholarsColab (updated 1 March 2026). Always confirm the current status on the official list before submitting.
Is Molecular Cell an SCIE journal?
Yes. Molecular Cell is listed in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), according to the indexing lists used on ScholarsColab (updated 1 March 2026). Always confirm the current status on the official list before submitting.
Is Molecular Cell in Journal Citation Reports (JCR)?
Yes. Molecular Cell is listed in JCR 2024, so it has a Journal Impact Factor. For the current impact factor and quartile, check Journal Citation Reports.
Does Molecular Cell offer an APC waiver?
Molecular Cell follows the policy of Elsevier: automatic 100% waiver for Research4Life Group A and 50% for Group B in fully open access journals, but only when every author is in an eligible country. Rules verified 27 October 2026; confirm on the publisher's page.
Has Molecular Cell retracted papers?
Yes. 20 retracted papers are on record for Molecular Cell, 8 of them in the last 10 years; the most common reasons are manipulation of images, duplication of/in image, misconduct by author. A retraction count alone is not a verdict on a journal; look at the trend and the reasons. Data updated October 2026.
Who funds research published in Molecular Cell?
94% of 200 recent research articles in Molecular Cell name a funder; the funders named most often are National Institutes of Health, National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Institute of General Medical Sciences.
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