About the journal
FEMS Microbiology Letters gives priority to concise papers that merit rapid publication by virtue of their originality, general interest and contribution to new developments in microbiology. All aspects of microbiology, including virology, are covered.
Journal metrics and highlights
2023 Impact Factor: 2.2
Ranking: 114/161 (Microbiology)
Source: Journal Impact FactorTM, from Clarivate, 2024
2023 CiteScore: 4.3*
*About CiteScore: CiteScore is a simple and robust way of measuring the citation impact of peer-reviewed research in serial titles such as journals, book series, and conference proceedings. The 2023 CiteScore is based on the number of citations received to documents (articles, reviews, conference papers, book chapters, and data papers) by a journal over four years, divided by the number of the same document types indexed in Scopus and published in those same four years.
2023 downloads: Over 1.8 million
Sections
The journal is divided into sections, which cover:
Clinical and Clinical Veterinary Microbiology
For case reports, mini-reviews etc pertaining to current laboratory and field diagnosis of clinical cases in humans or in captive animals (domestic, farmed, zoological gardens, nature reserve etc) relating to any infectious agent be that virus, Bacteria or microbial Eukarya (Oomycetes, Myxomycetes, microbial Fungi etc). We will also Research Letters and/or Mini Reviews that pertain to the molecular epidemiology of the above clinical infections (i.e. outbreak investigations), particularly in relation to emergent pathogens but otherwise there must be some novelty present e.g. a food-borne Escherichia coli outbreak that shows no novel features would not fall within our scope.
Work on general pathogenicity is not part of this Section’s scope and should be submitted to Pathogens and Pathogenicity instead. For all studies we expect to see robust statistical testing of results, unless this is not relevant. Please note that we do not publish new identification methods or new/improved culture media and so on. All identification work should involve a robust degree of molecular identification, with single-gene identification (16S rRNA gene, recA, gyrB, toxin or antibiotic resistance genes etc) being strongly discouraged in the 2020s in favour of ‘whole genome’ taxonomy, genome wide association studies (GWAS) or proxies such as rMLST or MLST-type methodologies. For submission of Clinical Case Reports, we strongly encourage the use of relevant photographs.
Physiology, Biochemistry and Genetics
Research on the physiology, biochemistry and genetics of Bacteria, Archaea, microbial Eukarya, or viruses should be submitted to this section. This includes genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic and related studies, but not ‘meta-omic’ work, which usually belongs in Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology, or Food Microbiology. Reports related to the general function of pathogenic microorganisms that does not relate directly to their pathogenicity should be submitted here. We do not accept ‘genome announcements’; however, studies involving comparative or functional genomics are welcome. Reports on true evolutionary microbiology should be submitted to Taxonomy, Systematics and Evolutionary Microbiology.
Food Microbiology
Research on the organisms and microbially-mediated processes used in the production of food, beverages and animal feeds, as well as microbial aspects of food safety, spoilage and the incidence of microbes in foods, beverages and animal feeds. These can include Bacteria, Archaea, microbial Eukarya and viruses. Studies on the microbial ecology of foods, beverages and animal feeds should be submitted here. Production of allied ferments such as probiotics, starters etc should be submitted here. Food safety, food spoilage, food preservation, indicators of food sanitary quality, biocontrol, microbial risk assessment, sanitation of foods, public health aspects of foodborne microorganisms and aspects of the physiology, biochemistry and genetics of organisms that relate specifically to their role in food and beverage production are also welcome. New techniques for the enumeration of microorganisms in foods including rapid diagnostics and molecular ecological methods are also welcome, providing there has been proper validation of the methodologies in foods and beverages. Studies on the use of probiotics or prebiotics sometimes belong in this Section, but are sometimes more suited to Pathogens and Pathogenicity, depending on the precise slant.
Biotechnology and Synthetic Biology
All studies that utilise microorganisms to undertake a role in the production of a product, degradation or valorisation of waste or side streams should be submitted here, with the exception of those involved in the production of food or beverages, which should be submitted to Food Microbiology. Studies related to the redesign of microorganisms for useful purposes by engineering them to have new abilities and studies dedicated to create new biological parts, devices, and systems, or to redesign systems that are already found in nature should also be submitted here. Practical studies are welcome as is theoretical work on metabolic modelling or the modelling of industrial bioreactors or scale-up or the like
Pathogens and Pathogenicity
For studies of pathogenicity-related aspects of any organism or virus that is pathogenic to any member of the Eukarya. Work on the bacterial parasites or viruses of the Bacteria and Archaea should be submitted to Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology or to Physiology, Biochemistry and Genetics, as appropriate. Pathogens in the food and beverage industry should go to Food Microbiology. For all studies we expect to see robust statistical testing of results, unless this is not relevant. We do not publish new identification methods or new/improved culture media etc. For any substance for which antimicrobial activity is reported, work should be done as far as identifying the precise active compound and its structure fully elucidated (if novel). Work done on e.g. plant oils or crude extracts will not be reviewed unless the precise active substance has been identified.
Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology
All studies relating to environmental work should be submitted here be that of the Bacteria, Archaea, microbial Eukarya or viruses – this includes microbiome studies of the human body, insects, plants etc, since these are just ecosystems for the microbial groups being assessed. Studies of bacterial parasites of the Bacteria and the Archaea as well as studies on viruses of the Bacteria, Archaea and microbial Eukarya (e.g. Oomycetes, Mycomycetes, microbial Fungi) should be submitted here. ‘Meta-omic’ work should be included here, but standard ‘–omic’ work should go to Physiology, Biochemistry and Genetics. For all studies we expect to see robust statistical testing of results, unless this is not relevant, and for ‘meta-omic’ and other molecular ecological studies, we additionally expect to see full statistics of the dataset’s validity to support the conclusions being drawn (e.g. rarefaction curves etc) included in the manuscript and/or as supplementary information. Purely descriptive studies are strongly discouraged. Studies in evolutionary microbiology should be submitted to Taxonomy, Systematics and Evolutionary Microbiology.
Taxonomy, Systematics and Evolutionary Microbiology
For the proposal of novel taxa within the Bacteria, Archaea or Eukarya (only microbial Eukarya such as the Myxomycetes, Oomycetes and the unicellular Fungi will be considered) or of novel viruses. Note that nomenclatural aspects must fully adhere to the relevant nomenclatural code, and will be reviewed by our Nomenclature Editor for this and the orthography of any new names proposed (the Section Editor should be contacted before submission if you have any issues). If you are proposing a novel taxon, please explain in your covering letter which your study is of interest to a general interest, rapid publications journal and not for e.g. the main taxonomy journals. Papers in which new taxa are proposed that in the opinion of the editors are not of sufficient general interest will be rejected without review. Studies in evolutionary microbiology and biodiversity (as opposed to ecology, which should be submitted to Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology), may include use of comparative genomics, whole-genome phylogeny etc. Development of new approaches in evolutionary microbiology and bioinformatics, new approaches for the analysis of evolutionary relationships etc are encouraged, but we do not publish new chemotaxonomic or similar methods for identification of organisms alone. At this time, we do not usually publish the development of new bioinformatic tools, which are better suited to more specialist publications.
Professional Development
Submissions are expected to further the debate and progression of the field and are subject to full peer review. For all studies in the broad field of being a microbiologist, our development as individuals and the development of our profession as a whole. The audience and authors of papers in this Section extend into all areas of the biological sciences and far beyond, given the inherent transferability. Microbiology education (including school, university, postgraduate, work-based learning, lifelong learning, outreach and public engagement), training and best practice in microbiology techniques (but not the development of novel methods or curations of e.g. media recipes), publishing, careers, employability and mobility. Issues surrounding equality, diversity, dignity and inclusivity in microbiology and of microbiologists. Innovative approaches to educational practice (for instance in context of active learning, creativity in STEM, service learning, gamification, authentic assessment) and development of pedagogic tools, apps, websites or social media offerings.
Studies in history of microbiology, cultural heritage of microbiology (as opposed to the microbiology of cultural heritage, which belongs in Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology) and so on should be submitted through this Section but will be published under the Section to which they best align.
If you are unsure which Section is most appropriate for your manuscript, for example in the case of transdisciplinary studies, we recommend that you contact the Editor-in-Chief by email prior to submission. Our scope includes any type of microorganism - all members of the Bacteria and the Archaea and microbial members of the Eukarya (yeasts, filamentous Fungi, microbial algae, protozoa, Oomycetes, Myxomycetes, etc.) as well as all viruses.
In addition, the journal publishes short Commentaries, Perspectives and Current Opinions on topical issues in microbiology. Letters to the Editor are brief communications focusing on an article that has been published in the journal within the previous six to twelve months. The journal no longer accepts Genome Announcements, as of 1 January 2015. We publish Mini Reviews on current, emerging and 'hot' topics in microbiology and welcome proposals for Mini Reviews from experts in their fields with a proven track record of publishing in the subject area of the Mini Review. These should be sent to the appropriate Section Editor in the first instance. It is worth noting that Mini Reviews that have been discussed with us in advance have a much higher rate of acceptance than those that are submitted without prior discussion.
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