World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
Plant Biology
H-index 33

Plant Biology

Ranking & Metrics

Discipline name Position Best Scientists Publications D-Index
Plant Science and Agronomy 51 156 160 29

Additional Metrics

Number of Best Scientists*: 341
Documents by Best Scientists*: 285
Top 100 Ranked Scientists*: 6
SCIMAGO H-index: 115
SCIMAGO SJR: 1.089
Impact Factor: 3.6

Overview

Top Research Topics at Plant Biology?

The journal investigates studies in Botany, Ecology, Biochemistry, Horticulture and Photosynthesis. Pollination, Pollen, Pollinator, Germination and Shoot are among the concentrations of Botany that garnered much attention in it. Discussions in Plant Biology are anchored in the subject of Pollinator and the similar topic of Nectar.

It encompasses Germination studies in the context of Agronomy as a whole. The research on Agronomy discussed in it draws on the closely related field of Nutrient. Ecology study tackled is connected to the field of Genetic diversity.

Biochemistry studies presented include Arabidopsis and Gene. It focuses on Arabidopsis as well as the interrelated topic of Cell biology. Plant Biology links adjacent topics like Photosynthesis with Chlorophyll.

  • Botany (47.51%)
  • Ecology (13.82%)
  • Biochemistry (13.42%)

What are the most cited papers published in the journal?

  • Transcriptional regulatory networks in cellular responses and tolerance to dehydration and cold stresses. (2178 citations)
  • The lipoxygenase pathway. (1118 citations)
  • Diffusive and metabolic limitations to photosynthesis under drought and salinity in C(3) plants. (967 citations)

Research areas of the most cited articles at Plant Biology:

The journal papers aim to foster the development of research in Botany, Biochemistry, Photosynthesis, Ecology and Agronomy. In addition to Botany research, the most cited papers aim to explore topics under Nutrient and Horticulture. The studies tackled in the most cited papers, which mainly focus on Biochemistry, apply to Biophysics as well.

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

  • Botany
  • Ecology
  • Gene

The previous edition focused in particular on these issues:

The journal primarily tackles Horticulture, Gene, Cell biology, Pollinator and Germination. Issues in Horticulture were discussed, taking into consideration concepts from other disciplines like Photosynthesis and Salinity. Genetics and Biochemistry are the foundational disciplines used for the Gene research featured in it.

The journal holds forums on Cell biology that merges themes from other disciplines such as Transcription factor, Auxin, Abiotic stress and Arabidopsis. Pollination, a part of studies in Pollen and Botany, is the main subject addressed in it. Herbivore and Interspecific competition are some of the facets of Botany tackled in Plant Biology.

The most cited articles from the last journal are:

  • Unravelling the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in mitigating the oxidative burst of plants under drought stress. (24 citations)
  • Melatonin as a regulatory hub of plant hormone levels and action in stress situations (11 citations)
  • Melatonin application differentially modulates the enzymes associated with antioxidative machinery and ascorbate-glutathione cycle during arsenate exposure in indica rice varieties. (5 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 Plant Biology (based on the number of publications) are:

  • Heinz Rennenberg (40 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Paulo Eugênio Oliveira (17 papers) published 2 papers at the last edition,
  • Ulrich Lüttge (16 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Rainer Matyssek (16 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Marlies Sazima (13 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 Plant Biology (based on the number of publications) are:

  • Spanish National Research Council (96 papers) published 2 papers at the last edition, 1 more than at the previous edition,
  • Chinese Academy of Sciences (90 papers) published 13 papers at the last edition, 8 more than at the previous edition,
  • University of Freiburg (89 papers) published 3 papers at the last edition,
  • Technische Universität München (59 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition,
  • Max Planck Society (51 papers) absent at the last 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, 4.79% of publications had an unrecognized affiliation. Out of the publications with recognized affiliations, 14.47% were posted by at least one author from the top 10 institutions publishing in the journal. Another 4.40% included authors affiliated with research institutions from the top 11-20 affiliations. Institutions from the 21-50 range included 11.32% of all publications and 69.81% 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.

Top Publications

  • Drought and crop yield.

    K.-J. Dietz;C. Zörb;C.-M. Geilfus

    (2021)
    371 Citations
  • Proline, a multifaceted signalling molecule in plant responses to abiotic stress: understanding the physiological mechanisms.

    (2021)
    337 Citations
  • Unravelling the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in mitigating the oxidative burst of plants under drought stress.

    Ying-Ning Zou;Qiang-Sheng Wu;Qiang-Sheng Wu;Kamil Kuca

    (2021)
    222 Citations
  • Assessment of proline function in higher plants under extreme temperatures.

    (2023)
    146 Citations
  • The role of species interactions for forest resilience to drought.

    Unknown

    (2022)
    144 Citations
  • Plant growth-promoting endophytic bacteria augment growth and salinity tolerance in rice plants.

    Muhammad Aaqil Khan;Sajjad Asaf;Abdul Latif Khan;Arjun Adhikari

    (2020)
    135 Citations
  • Ameliorating effects of biochar on photosynthetic efficiency and antioxidant defence of Phragmites karka under drought stress.

    Zainul Abideen;Zainul Abideen;Hans‐Werner Koyro;Bernhard Huchzermeyer;Raziuddin Ansari

    (2020)
    122 Citations
  • The influence of rising tropospheric carbon dioxide and ozone on plant productivity

    E. A. Ainsworth;E. A. Ainsworth;P. Lemonnier;P. Lemonnier;J. M. Wedow

    (2020)
    115 Citations
  • European beech dieback after premature leaf senescence during the 2018 drought in northern Switzerland

    (2022)
    84 Citations
  • Gas exchange and water-use efficiency in plant canopies.

    L. A. Cernusak

    (2020)
    81 Citations

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