World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
Cell
H-index 289

Cell

0092-8674

Published by: Elsevier

https://www.journals.elsevier.com/cell

Ranking & Metrics

Discipline name Position Best Scientists Publications D-Index
Biology and Biochemistry 1 1268 1140 238
Molecular Biology 1 330 420 136

Additional Metrics

Number of Best Scientists*: 4148
Documents by Best Scientists*: 2041
Top 100 Ranked Scientists*: 257
SCIMAGO H-index: 925
SCIMAGO SJR: 22.612
Impact Factor: 42.5

Overview

Top Research Topics at Cell?

The concepts of Cell biology, Genetics, Molecular biology, Gene and Biochemistry are tackled in the journal. It emphasizes research on Cell biology, which includes concerns such as Signal transduction. The Genetics study featured in it draws parallels with the field of Computational biology.

Issues in Molecular biology were discussed, taking into consideration concepts from other disciplines like RNA, Mutant, DNA, Messenger RNA and Transcription (biology). Cell features studies on Gene, including topics such as Gene expression. The study on Biochemistry presented in it intersects with the topics under Biophysics.

  • Cell biology (31.15%)
  • Genetics (22.68%)
  • Molecular biology (21.49%)

What are the most cited papers published in the journal?

  • Hallmarks of cancer: the next generation. (38848 citations)
  • MicroRNAs: Genomics, Biogenesis, Mechanism, and Function (27766 citations)
  • The hallmarks of cancer. (23487 citations)

Research areas of the most cited articles at Cell:

The most cited publications generally zeroe in on subjects such as Cell biology, Molecular biology, Genetics, Biochemistry and Gene. While the primary focus in the published papers is Cell biology, they also dissect topics surrounding Immunology and Cancer research as a whole. The most cited papers explore issues in Molecular biology which can be linked to other research areas like Cell culture, Gene expression, DNA, Complementary DNA and Transcription (biology).

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

  • Gene
  • Internal medicine
  • Enzyme

The previous edition focused in particular on these issues:

The journal is mainly concerned with subjects like Cell biology, Virology, Immune system, Computational biology and Neuroscience. The majority of Cell biology studies in the journal are focused on the subject of Effector. Antibody, Monoclonal antibody and Coronavirus are some topics wherein Virology research discussed in Cell have an impact.

While the primary focus in Cell is Immune system, it also dissects topics surrounding Cancer research and Cell as a whole. Research on Computational biology addressed in Cell frequently intersections with the field of Gene. Gene research is concerned with Genome in particular.

The most cited articles from the last journal are:

  • Multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants escape neutralization by vaccine-induced humoral immunity. (405 citations)
  • Evaluating the Effects of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Mutation D614G on Transmissibility and Pathogenicity. (377 citations)
  • Evidence of escape of SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.351 from natural and vaccine-induced sera. (326 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 Cell (based on the number of publications) are:

  • David Baltimore (80 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Tom Maniatis (64 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Phillip A. Sharp (62 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition,
  • Gerald M. Rubin (61 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Richard Axel (59 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 Cell (based on the number of publications) are:

  • Harvard University (2229 papers) published 60 papers at the last edition, 20 less than at the previous edition,
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute (1508 papers) published 36 papers at the last edition, 8 less than at the previous edition,
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1084 papers) published 21 papers at the last edition, 1 less than at the previous edition,
  • University of California, San Francisco (1016 papers) published 22 papers at the last edition, 6 less than at the previous edition,
  • Stanford University (897 papers) published 32 papers at the last edition, 15 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, 3.39% of publications had an unrecognized affiliation. Out of the publications with recognized affiliations, 36.16% were posted by at least one author from the top 10 institutions publishing in the journal. Another 15.29% included authors affiliated with research institutions from the top 11-20 affiliations. Institutions from the 21-50 range included 14.26% of all publications and 34.30% 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.

Contribution to the Field of Nutritional Sciences

Even though the journal traditionally publishes papers concerning molecular and cell biology, genetics and biochemistry, there is an emerging trend of incorporating nutritional research in some of the studies. This reflects the increasing recognition of nutrition as an important factor in cell function, gene expression, and overall human health. Recognition of nutritional sciences as a multidisciplinary field is necessary to attain a full understanding of human health and disease. For aspiring researchers interested in the area of nutritional biology, having a background in nutrition can be beneficial. This kind of research could be especially appealing for people pursuing a career in nutritional therapy, dietetics or nutritional consulting. For information on how you can start a career in this field, you can refer to this guide on how to become a nutritionist in Iowa for more insights. Nutritional biology research can greatly enhance our understanding of metabolic processes and genetic modulation. It can also provide profound insights into ways of optimizing dietary interventions for health promotion and disease prevention. Thus, nutritionists, dietitians, and molecular biologists may find equal value in studies published in this journal. It is hoped that future editions of this journal will continue to reflect the evolving understanding of the significant role of nutrition in cell biology and genomics, and foster cross-disciplinary collaborations.

Top Publications

  • Integrated analysis of multimodal single-cell data

    Yuhan Hao;Stephanie Hao;Erica Andersen-Nissen;William M. Mauck

    (2021)
    14985 Citations
  • Structure, Function, and Antigenicity of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Glycoprotein.

    Alexandra C. Walls;Young Jun Park;M. Alejandra Tortorici;M. Alejandra Tortorici;Abigail Wall

    (2020)
    12287 Citations
  • Tracking Changes in SARS-CoV-2 Spike: Evidence that D614G Increases Infectivity of the COVID-19 Virus.

    Bette Korber;Will M. Fischer;Sandrasegaram Gnanakaran;Hyejin Yoon

    (2020)
    5241 Citations
  • Imbalanced Host Response to SARS-CoV-2 Drives Development of COVID-19.

    Daniel Blanco-Melo;Benjamin E. Nilsson-Payant;Wen Chun Liu;Skyler Uhl

    (2020)
    4242 Citations
  • Hallmarks of aging: An expanding universe

    (2022)
    3287 Citations
  • SARS-CoV-2 Receptor ACE2 Is an Interferon-Stimulated Gene in Human Airway Epithelial Cells and Is Detected in Specific Cell Subsets across Tissues.

    Carly G.K. Ziegler;Samuel J. Allon;Sarah K. Nyquist;Ian M. Mbano

    (2020)
    2401 Citations
  • Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 Infections in Engineered Human Tissues Using Clinical-Grade Soluble Human ACE2.

    Vanessa Monteil;Hyesoo Kwon;Patricia Prado;Astrid Hagelkrüys

    (2020)
    2191 Citations
  • The Architecture of SARS-CoV-2 Transcriptome.

    Dongwan Kim;Joo Yeon Lee;Jeong Sun Yang;Jun Won Kim

    (2020)
    2079 Citations
  • Deep Mutational Scanning of SARS-CoV-2 Receptor Binding Domain Reveals Constraints on Folding and ACE2 Binding.

    Tyler N. Starr;Allison J. Greaney;Allison J. Greaney;Sarah K. Hilton;Sarah K. Hilton;Daniel Ellis

    (2020)
    2069 Citations

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