Biology Letters: review time and acceptance speed
ISSN 1744-9561 · ISSN 1744-957X · Royal Society · Multidisciplinary
Half of the articles Biology Letters accepted in 2025 were accepted within 68 days of submission (n = 50); the middle half took 53–87 days.
Accepted articles only · dates deposited by the publisher in PubMed · data as of Sep 15, 2026
How long does Biology Letters take to accept a paper?
| Year | Articles (n) | 25th pct | Median | 75th pct | 90th pct | Accepted <14 days | Have a revised date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 50 | 53 | 68 | 87 | — | 4.0% | 96% |
- 2026: not shown yet — a year is reported once late-indexed articles have arrived (at least 180 days after it ends).
Distribution in 2025
Show as a table
| Days | Articles | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 0–29 | 4 | 8.0% |
| 30–59 | 13 | 26.0% |
| 60–89 | 21 | 42.0% |
| 90–119 | 8 | 16.0% |
| 120–149 | 4 | 8.0% |
| 150–179 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 180–209 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 210–239 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 240–269 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 270–299 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 300–329 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 330–359 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 360+ | 0 | 0.0% |
From acceptance to online publication
Not enough articles with both an acceptance date and an online publication date to measure the time to online publication.
Read these numbers carefully
- Only 0% of this journal's 2025 articles in PubMed carry both a submission and an acceptance date, so these figures may not represent all of its articles.
- These times describe articles the journal accepted. Rejected manuscripts never appear in public data, so they cannot tell you how long a rejection takes.
- Dates are the ones the publisher deposited with PubMed. Some publishers record the date a revised manuscript arrived as the submission date, which makes review look faster.
- Invited articles and special issues can move faster than regular submissions.
Open access status and publishing fees
Open access (listed in DOAJ). DOAJ lists no article processing charge for this journal.
Institutions reported paying a median of about $2,611 per article (2023–2025, 10 reported payments in OpenAPC; converted from euros at yearly ECB average rates).
Many journals waive or reduce fees for authors from eligible countries or institutions with publishing agreements — check with the journal and your library.
Integrity and indexing signals
Facts from public records, shown without judgement. See the methodology for why each can be worth a closer look.
| Listed in DOAJ | Yes (DOAJ record) |
|---|---|
| Articles indexed for MEDLINE in 2025 | Yes |
| Retractions | 1 retracted article among 871 added to PubMed in 2021–2025 (1.15 per 1,000), per the Retraction Watch Database. |
| Accepted within 14 days of submission | 4.0% of 2025 articles |
| Publication volume | 191 articles added to PubMed in 2025 (+10% vs 2024). |
Topics and scope
- Animal Behavior and Reproduction (16% of indexed topics)
- Plant and animal studies (11% of indexed topics)
- Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior (6% of indexed topics)
- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation (5% of indexed topics)
- Avian ecology and behavior (4% of indexed topics)
- Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior (4% of indexed topics)
Environmental Science journalsAgricultural and Biological Sciences journalsEcology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journals
Similar journals — faster or cheaper, side by side
Journals publishing on the most similar topics (OpenAlex), ordered by similarity. Only 2025 figures are compared with the 2025 median of Biology Letters, 68 days.
| Paid APC median | DOAJ | MEDLINE | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences | 85 (2025, n = 149) | — | $2,374 (33 payments) | No | Yes |
| Behavioral Ecology | 213 (2025, n = 86) | ≈$3,906 | — | No | No |
| Biological reviews/Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society | 303 (2025, n = 128) | ≈$5,390 | — | No | Yes |
| Royal Society Open Science | 128 (2025, n = 525) | ≈$1,888 | $1,795 (130 payments) | Yes | No |
| Journal of Evolutionary Biology | 194 (2025, n = 153) | ≈$3,123 | — | No | Yes |
| Evolution | 169 (2025, n = 258) | ≈$3,214 | $1,781 (5 payments) | No | Yes |
| Integrative and Comparative Biology | 82 (2025, n = 145) | ≈$4,243 | — | No | Yes |
| Journal of Animal Ecology | 198 (2025, n = 212) | ≈$3,610 | — | No | Yes |
| Evolution Letters | 147 (2025, n = 54) | $2,575 | $2,078 (19 payments) | Yes | No |
No journals match these filters.
Frequently asked questions
How long does Biology Letters take to accept a paper?
Half of the articles Biology Letters accepted in 2025 were accepted within 68 days of submission (n = 50); the middle half took 53–87 days. Based on dates in PubMed for accepted articles only.
Does Biology Letters charge an article processing charge (APC)?
DOAJ lists no article processing charge for this journal.
Sources and method
Journal identity: ISSN-L 1744-9561; NLM ID 101247722; OpenAlex record. Speed figures use 50 articles accepted in 2025 with valid dates; excluded records for that year: none.
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Data sources. Submission, acceptance and publication dates: Courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (PubMed, entries through Sep 15, 2026). NLM does not endorse Journal Clock, and these figures may not reflect the most current PubMed data. Journal fees and open-access listing: DOAJ (CC0, retrieved Sep 16, 2026). Fees paid by institutions: OpenAPC (Open Database License, retrieved Sep 16, 2026). Retractions: Retraction Watch Database via Crossref (retrieved Sep 16, 2026). Journal identifiers and topics: OpenAlex (CC0). Currency conversion: ECB reference rates (Sep 15, 2026). How these numbers are calculated · For organisations.