Journal Review Time Checker
How long will a journal take to accept your paper? Type its name for the full analysis: median days from submission to acceptance, the spread of its papers, your chances of acceptance within 1, 3 or 6 months, the dates if you submit today, its rank in its subject and faster journals in the same subjects.
Nature Protocols
Each paper took a different time. The green box holds the middle half of the papers and the dark line is the median. Plan with the whole spread, not only the median.
How likely is acceptance within…
Share of the papers this journal published that were accepted within that time, read from the spread above. Papers that were rejected are not in the data.
If you submit today
Dates are the journal's past pattern applied to today, not a promise: your time depends on the editor, the reviewers and your revisions. A desk rejection usually comes much sooner.
Compared with its subject
Nature Protocols is faster than 3% of the 37 journals in Biochemical Research Methods that publish their review dates (rank 36, 1 = fastest).
For the journal: the spread of its papers. For each subject: the spread of its journals' median review times.
Faster journals in the same subjects
Journals in the same subjects with a shorter median review time (at least 20 papers counted):
| Journal | Median days | Spread | Indexed in | Access | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Journal of Fluorescence | 57 | SCIE, Scopus, JCR 2024 | Hybrid / subscription | Compare | |
| Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry | 68 | SCIE, Scopus, JCR 2024 | Hybrid / subscription | Compare | |
| Biomedical Optics Express | 69 | SCIE, Scopus, JCR 2024 | Open access · APC ~US$1,913 | Compare | |
| Acta Crystallographica Section F Structural Biology Communications | 74 | SCIE, Scopus, JCR 2024 | Hybrid / subscription | Compare | |
| Combinatorial Chemistry & High Throughput Screening | 77 | SCIE, Scopus, JCR 2024 | Hybrid / subscription | Compare | |
| Drug Testing and Analysis | 78 | SCIE, Scopus, JCR 2024 | Hybrid / subscription | Compare |
Compare with other journals
Add up to 3 journals to see their review times on the same scale.
Next steps
- Nature Protocols: scope, impact factor, reviewer comments
- APC waiver or discount at this journal for your country
- Retractions and paper mill check
- Fastest review Life Sciences and Biology journals
- Journals for your paper with review under 6 months (Journal Finder)
Fastest review journals by field
Frequently asked questions
How is the review time of a journal measured?
Publishers deposit a received date and an accepted date with many research articles in Crossref, the scholarly publication registry. The checker counts the days between them for every article of the last 24 months and shows the median and the spread. Papers that were rejected are not in the data.
What is a normal review time?
Across 6,744 journals with data, the median time from submission to acceptance is 150 days. It ranges from a few weeks to many months by field and journal, and it includes every revision round.
Why is my journal not in the checker?
Only journals whose publisher deposits both dates can be measured. Springer Nature, Wiley, Taylor & Francis, BMC and Hindawi mostly do; Elsevier, IEEE, MDPI, Frontiers and SAGE mostly do not.
How likely is my paper to be accepted within 3 months?
Check the journal: the report reads the share of its papers accepted within 1, 2, 3, 6 and 12 months from the spread of its review times, and gives the dates if you submit today.
Related: Journal Finder · Fastest review journals · Guide: journal review time · APC Waiver Checker · Journal Directory