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Biological Reviews
H-index 71

Biological Reviews

Ranking & Metrics

Discipline name Position Best Scientists Publications D-Index
Biology and Biochemistry 190 75 80 30

Additional Metrics

Number of Best Scientists*: 812
Documents by Best Scientists*: 409
Top 100 Ranked Scientists*: 39
SCIMAGO H-index: 211
SCIMAGO SJR: 4.383
Impact Factor: 11.7

Overview

Top Research Topics at Biological Reviews?

The journal is mainly concerned with subjects like Ecology, Evolutionary biology, Zoology, Biochemistry and Anatomy. The study on Ecology presented in the journal intersects with subjects under the field of Biological dispersal. The in-depth study on Evolutionary biology also explores topics in the intersecting field of Genetics.

  • Ecology (34.35%)
  • Evolutionary biology (9.95%)
  • Zoology (9.06%)

What are the most cited papers published in the journal?

  • Freshwater biodiversity: importance, threats, status and conservation challenges (4245 citations)
  • THE MAINTENANCE OF SPECIES-RICHNESS IN PLANT COMMUNITIES: THE IMPORTANCE OF THE REGENERATION NICHE (3565 citations)
  • SPERM COMPETITION AND ITS EVOLUTIONARY CONSEQUENCES IN THE INSECTS (3098 citations)

Research areas of the most cited articles at Biological Reviews:

The published articles cover a variety of subjects, including Ecology, Zoology, Evolutionary biology, Biochemistry and Habitat. The journal articles connects the study in Ecology with the closely related areas of Biological dispersal. The journal publications connects research in Zoology with the related topics of Offspring.

What topics the last edition of the journal is best known for?

  • Ecology
  • Gene
  • Genus

The previous edition focused in particular on these issues:

The foci of the journal are Ecology, Evolutionary biology, Context (language use), Ecosystem and Ecology (disciplines). It focuses on Ecology but the discussions also offer insight into other areas such as Metacommunity and Allopatric speciation. The journal facilitates discussions on Evolutionary biology that incorporate concepts from other fields like Phylogenetic comparative methods, Phylogenetic tree, Phylogenetics, Order (biology) and Morphology (biology).

While work presented in Biological Reviews provided substantial information on Context (language use), it also covered topics in Environmental change, Biological dispersal, Competition (biology) and Evolutionary history of plants. Ecosystem research presented in it encompasses a variety of subjects, including Biomass (ecology), Abundance (ecology) and Biodiversity. While Biological Reviews focused on Ecology (disciplines), it was also able to explore topics like Remote sensing (archaeology), Lidar, Conceptual framework and Drone.

The most cited articles from the last journal are:

  • Tectonics, climate and the diversification of the tropical African terrestrial flora and fauna (25 citations)
  • Shrinking body sizes in response to warming: explanations for the temperature-size rule with special emphasis on the role of oxygen. (20 citations)
  • Lakes in the era of global change: moving beyond single-lake thinking in maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services. (17 citations)

Papers citation over time

A key indicator for each journal is its effectiveness in reaching other researchers with the papers published at that venue.

The chart below presents the interquartile range (first quartile 25%, median 50% and third quartile 75%) of the number of citations of articles over time.

The top authors publishing in Biological Reviews (based on the number of publications) are:

  • Anders Pape Møller (9 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Shinichi Nakagawa (9 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition,
  • Brian K. Hall (7 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Chris R. Dickman (6 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • John A. Raven (6 papers) absent at the last edition.

The overall trend for top authors publishing in this journal is outlined below. The chart shows the number of publications at each edition of the journal for top authors.

Only papers with recognized affiliations are considered

The top affiliations publishing in Biological Reviews (based on the number of publications) are:

  • University of Cambridge (103 papers) published 2 papers at the last edition the same number as at the previous edition,
  • University of Oxford (61 papers) published 3 papers at the last edition, 1 more than at the previous edition,
  • Spanish National Research Council (35 papers) published 3 papers at the last edition, 1 more than at the previous edition,
  • Australian National University (34 papers) published 2 papers at the last edition the same number as at the previous edition,
  • American Museum of Natural History (33 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition, 3 less than at the previous edition.

The overall trend for top affiliations publishing in this journal is outlined below. The chart shows the number of publications at each edition of the journal for top affiliations.

Publication chance based on affiliation

The publication chance index shows the ratio of articles published by the best research institutions in the journal edition to all articles published within that journal. The best research institutions were selected based on the largest number of articles published during all editions of the journal.

The chart below presents the percentage ratio of articles from top institutions (based on their ranking of total papers).Top affiliations were grouped by their rank into the following tiers: top 1-10, top 11-20, top 21-50, and top 51+. Only articles with a recognized affiliation are considered.

During the most recent 2021 edition, 0.00% of publications had an unrecognized affiliation. Out of the publications with recognized affiliations, 25.00% were posted by at least one author from the top 10 institutions publishing in the journal. Another 19.64% included authors affiliated with research institutions from the top 11-20 affiliations. Institutions from the 21-50 range included 17.86% of all publications and 37.50% were from other institutions.

Returning Authors Index

A very common phenomenon observed among researchers publishing scientific articles is the intentional selection of journals they have already attended in the past. In particular, it is worth analyzing the case when the authors participate in the same journal from year to year.

The Returning Authors Index presented below illustrates the ratio of authors who participated in both a given as well as the previous edition of the journal in relation to all participants in a given year.

Returning Institution Index

The graph below shows the Returning Institution Index, illustrating the ratio of institutions that participated in both a given and the previous edition of the conference in relation to all affiliations present in a given year.

The experience to innovation index

Our experience to innovation index was created to show a cross-section of the experience level of authors publishing in a journal. The index includes the authors publishing at the last edition of a journal, grouped by total number of publications throughout their academic career (P) and the total number of citations of these publications ever received (C).

The group intervals were selected empirically to best show the diversity of the authors' experiences, their labels were selected as a convenience, not as judgment. The authors were divided into the following groups:

  • Novice - P < 5 or C < 25 (the number of publications less than 5 or the number of citations less than 25),
  • Competent - P < 10 or C < 100 (the number of publications less than 10 or the number of citations less than 100),
  • Experienced - P < 25 or C < 625 (the number of publications less than 25 or the number of citations less than 625),
  • Master - P < 50 or C < 2500 (the number of publications less than 50 or the number of citations less than 2500),
  • Star - P ≥ 50 and C ≥ 2500 (both the number of publications greater than 50 and the number of citations greater than 2500).

The chart below illustrates experience levels of first authors in cases of publications with multiple authors.

Methods for conducting research in Biological Reviews

Biological Reviews publishes studies using a range of methodological approaches, as the journal is committed to promoting understanding in biology at all levels. The methods undertaken in these studies broadly come under a few categories: experimental studies, observational studies, theoretical and empirical studies. In experimental studies, researchers set up experiments to understand the mechanistic and functional aspects of the biological topic in question. This could range from lab-based studies through to field experiments. For instance, ecological studies may involve tracking animal movements or setting up controlled environments to observe changes in biodiversity or competition. Similarly, observational studies are quite common, particularly in fields like ecology and zoology. Here, researchers make observations without directly manipulating the environment. Observational studies can be particularly powerful in fields like evolutionary biology where it's not possible to experimentally manipulate the variables of interest. Lastly, theoretical and empirical studies use mathematical models or simulations to understand biological phenomena. These are common in genetics research, where researchers use bioinformatics tools to decode genomic data. Interested researchers or aspiring biological scientists might consider these methodologies when planning their own research, or when reading and interpreting existing literature. Courses like the medical assistant training in Mississippi provide a solid foundation in research methods, which can be invaluable for those stepped into research career. Understanding the techniques and methods used in these studies can shed light not only on the results themselves, but also on the strengths and limitations of different approaches to biological research. This knowledge is necessary to interpret research findings and to plan future studies effectively.

Top Publications

  • Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses in ecology and evolutionary biology: a PRISMA extension.

    Rose E. O'Dea;Malgorzata Lagisz;Michael D. Jennions;Julia Koricheva

    (2021)
    557 Citations
  • Fungal functional ecology: bringing a trait-based approach to plant-associated fungi.

    Amy E. Zanne;Kessy Abarenkov;Michelle E. Afkhami;Carlos A. Aguilar-Trigueros

    (2020)
    258 Citations
  • Next‐generation biological control: the need for integrating genetics and genomics

    Kelley Leung;Erica Ras;Kim B. Ferguson;Simone Ariëns

    (2020)
    135 Citations
  • Exosome-mediated effects and applications in inflammatory bowel disease.

    Dickson K. W. Ocansey;Dickson K. W. Ocansey;Li Zhang;Li Zhang;Yifei Wang;Yongmin Yan

    (2020)
    133 Citations
  • The naked truth: a comprehensive clarification and classification of current ‘myths’ in naked mole-rat biology

    Rochelle Buffenstein;Vincent Amoroso;Blazej Andziak;Stanislav Avdieiev

    (2021)
    124 Citations
  • Deciphering mollusc shell production: the roles of genetic mechanisms through to ecology, aquaculture and biomimetics.

    Melody S. Clark;Lloyd S. Peck;Jaison Arivalagan;Jaison Arivalagan;Thierry Backeljau;Thierry Backeljau

    (2020)
    124 Citations
  • Whole‐body endothermy: ancient, homologous and widespread among the ancestors of mammals, birds and crocodylians

    (2021)
    115 Citations
  • The biology of human hair greying.

    James D B O'Sullivan;Carina Nicu;Martin Picard;Jérémy Chéret

    (2021)
    94 Citations
  • The Handicap Principle: how an erroneous hypothesis became a scientific principle

    Dustin J Penn;Szabolcs Számadó

    (2020)
    86 Citations
  • The PERKs of mitochondria protection during stress: insights for PERK modulation in neurodegenerative and metabolic diseases

    (2022)
    86 Citations

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