Journals listed in Web of Science and JCR receive many submissions and desk reject a large share. A section-by-section audit by a PhD reviewer in your area shows what to fix first.
Manuscript Auditing →01Impact factor
Impact factor of Nature Ecology & Evolution (2026)
The impact factor shown here is the 2-year mean citedness: citations received in a year by the papers Nature Ecology & Evolution published in the two previous years, divided by the number of those papers. That is the same formula as the Journal Impact Factor, applied to the open citation data of OpenAlex. 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
- Ecologyrank 1 of 211 journals
- Evolutionary Biologyrank 1 of 55 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 Nature Ecology & Evolution
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). Nature Ecology & Evolution 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$12,690.
02Review time
Review time of Nature Ecology & Evolution
Each paper took a different time. The green box holds the middle half of the papers and the dark line is the median; the whiskers reach the fastest 10% and the slowest 10%. Plan with the whole spread, not only the median.
Half of the research articles Nature Ecology & Evolution published between Mar 2026 and Oct 2026 were accepted within 226 days of submission, and the middle half took between 180 and 295 days. This time includes peer review and any revision rounds. Papers that were rejected are not counted, because only published papers carry these dates.
In Ecology, Nature Ecology & Evolution ranks 70 of 85 journals by review time (1 = fastest). See the fastest-review journals in Ecology →
03Fee waivers
APC waivers and discounts for Nature Ecology & Evolution
Nature Ecology & Evolution follows the waiver policy of its publisher, Springer Nature: 100% waiver for low-income countries and 50% for lower-middle income countries (World Bank list with a GDP limit), on request at submission. Only the corresponding author's affiliation counts. Co-authors from other countries do not change the waiver.
Authors affiliated in 25 countries qualify for a full waiver. See the countries →
Waivers apply to fully open access journals. If Nature Ecology & Evolution is a hybrid journal, you can publish without any fee through the subscription route.
Checking the waiver rules for your country…
Retractions and research integrity at Nature Ecology & Evolution
Most common reasons (a retraction can have several):
Nature Ecology & Evolution has 2 retracted papers in the Retraction Watch database, the latest in May 2021. 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 Nature Ecology & Evolution
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.
Submitting to Nature Ecology & Evolution? See your rejection risk first.
Seven questions our reviewers ask in every audit, plus your abstract and the fit with this journal. Free, no sign-up, about 2 minutes.
04Indexing
Indexing of Nature Ecology & Evolution
- ISSN
- 2397-334X
- Publisher
- Nature Research
- Country
- England
- Language
- English
- Scopus source type
- Journal
- Web of Science categories
- Ecology, Evolutionary 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 and quartile on this page are calculated from OpenAlex open data (see how the impact factor works).
Each link opens the official record for this journal, searched by its ISSN where we have one.
05How to submit
How to submit to Nature Ecology & Evolution
- Read the guide for authors. It sets the article types, word limit, reference style and file format that Nature Ecology & Evolution accepts. You find it on the official website of the journal, usually under "For authors" or "Submit".
- Format to the journal's style. Check whether it wants a Word file, a LaTeX file or a PDF for the first submission, and follow its reference style; many journals accept any clear format at first and ask for their style only after acceptance.
- 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. Nature Ecology & Evolution 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.
06Reviewer comments
Reviewer comments and rejection reasons for Nature Ecology & Evolution
No reviewer or editor comments have been shared for this journal yet. Did you submit here? Help other researchers by sharing the comments you received, anonymously.
Share reviewer comments for this journal →Across the reviewer comments researchers have shared with us, the points raised most often are figures, tables and equations (21%), literature and references (12%) and novelty and contribution (10%). Before you submit to Nature Ecology & Evolution, a Manuscript Audit by a PhD reviewer in your area checks your paper against exactly these points.
Audit my paper before I submit →Not sure yet? Check if your paper is ready for this journal: free, no AI, under 5 secondsPreparing to submit here? Make sure reviewers don't stop at the issues they raise most often. A PhD reviewer in your area can audit your manuscript section by section, and we can convert it into the journal's LaTeX template.
07Same subject
Ecology journals with a similar impact factor*
The journals next to Nature Ecology & Evolution when the 200 journals of Ecology in our data are ranked by impact factor*:
| Rank | Journal | Impact factor* | Indexing | Open access |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Global Change Biology | 11.3 | SCIE | Subscription |
| 3 | Landscape and Urban Planning | 11.0 | SCIE, SSCI | Subscription |
| 4 | The ISME Journal | 10.7 | SCIE | Fully open access |
| 5 | Annual Review of Ecology Evolution and Systematics | 9.52 | SCIE | Subscription |
| 6 | Ecosystem Services | 8.47 | SCIE, SSCI | Subscription |
| 7 | Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History | 8.46 | SCIE | Subscription |
| 8 | Trends in Ecology & Evolution | 8.45 | SCIE | Subscription |
| 9 | Ecological Informatics | 8.18 | SCIE | Fully open access |
*Impact factor calculated from OpenAlex open data (2-year citedness), not the official Clarivate value.
08Journal Finder
Find the right journal for your paper
Is Nature Ecology & Evolution right for your paper? Compare journals
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 156,503 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 from OpenAlex open data, not the official Clarivate value, and no quartile is shown until the official JCR or SJR quartile can be; review time comes from the dates publishers deposit in Crossref (not every publisher deposits them). Always check a journal’s scope and current indexing before submitting.
09Questions
Frequently asked questions
How long is the review time of Nature Ecology & Evolution?
Based on 110 research articles Nature Ecology & Evolution published from Mar 2026 to Oct 2026, the median time from submission to acceptance was 226 days, and half of them were accepted between 180 and 295 days. After acceptance, papers appeared online after a median of 38 days. Source: received and accepted dates deposited by the publisher in Crossref, retrieved October 2026. Individual papers can take longer, especially with major revisions.
What is the impact factor of Nature Ecology & Evolution?
Based on OpenAlex citation data (October 2026), the 2-year impact factor of Nature Ecology & Evolution is 11.7: papers it published in the two previous years were cited 11.7 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 Nature Ecology & Evolution?
The h-index of Nature Ecology & Evolution is 202 (OpenAlex, October 2026): 202 of its papers have each been cited at least 202 times. Its i10-index is 1,810.
What is the APC of Nature Ecology & Evolution?
OpenAlex lists an article processing charge (APC) of about US$12,690 for Nature Ecology & Evolution (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 Nature Ecology & Evolution?
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). Nature Ecology & Evolution 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 Nature Ecology & Evolution indexed in Scopus?
Yes. Nature Ecology & Evolution 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 Nature Ecology & Evolution an SCIE journal?
Yes. Nature Ecology & Evolution 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 Nature Ecology & Evolution in Journal Citation Reports (JCR)?
Yes. Nature Ecology & Evolution is listed in JCR 2024, so it has a Journal Impact Factor. For the current impact factor and quartile, check Journal Citation Reports.
Does Nature Ecology & Evolution offer an APC waiver?
Nature Ecology & Evolution follows the policy of Springer Nature: 100% waiver for low-income countries and 50% for lower-middle income countries (World Bank list with a GDP limit), on request at submission. Only the corresponding author's affiliation counts. Co-authors from other countries do not change the waiver. Rules verified 27 October 2026; confirm on the publisher's page.
Has Nature Ecology & Evolution retracted papers?
Yes. The Retraction Watch database lists 2 retracted papers in Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2 of them in the last 10 years; the most common reasons are cites retracted work, error in analyses, error in results and/or conclusions. 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 Nature Ecology & Evolution?
34% of 200 recent research articles in Nature Ecology & Evolution name a funder in Crossref; the funders named most often are National Science Foundation, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.
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