Independent · open data · no publication fees
Know what a journal will cost you before you submit.
11,447 biomedical journals, with the numbers publishers make you hunt for: the article processing charge, whether waivers exist, how long review actually takes, and which registries list them.
Four tools, all free
APC finder
Filter 11,447 journals by what they charge — including the 1,290 that charge nothing at all. Set a budget, a field and a turnaround, and see what fits.
Open the finder →Journal matcher
Paste your abstract and get ranked suggestions across every publisher, not just one. Publisher-run matchers only recommend their own titles; this one has no stake in the answer.
Match my abstract →Journal check
Look up any journal and see which verifiable facts hold: registry listings, declared review model, stated fees, preservation, DOIs. Facts, so you can judge for yourself.
Check a journal →Journal directory
Every journal we track, with its charges, metrics and scope on one page, plus the closest alternatives if it turns you down.
Browse the directory →What we are, and what we are not
We publish nothing. We run no journal, charge no submission fee, and accept no payment from any publisher to appear, rank higher, or be described more kindly. Every figure here comes from a public registry you can check yourself, and every journal page links back to its sources.
We also do not label journals “predatory.” That word is a legal fight, not an analysis, and the best-known attempt at such a list was taken offline in 2017 under pressure. We give you the verifiable facts instead — who lists it, what it discloses, what it charges — and let you draw the conclusion.
How we build this data ·Sources and licensing ·Editorial and affiliate disclosure
Browse by field
Guides
Written from the same dataset the tools run on. Start with how to verify a journal is legitimate — the seven checks that matter most before you submit.
How to verify a journal is legitimate
Seven checks, in about twenty minutes: verify the ISSN independently, confirm indexing at the source, find the fee in writing, and test the editorial board.
Read & Publish agreements: how researchers pay $0 in APC without knowing it
Many institutions already hold deals that cover the charge in full. With a median APC of $3,140, not checking is an expensive habit.
Impact Factor vs h-index vs CiteScore: what they actually measure
Three metrics, three different things being counted. Across our directory the median h-index is 26 — a number that mostly reflects age and volume.
All guides → · Glossary · Updates · For institutions
Most-cited open access journals
Nucleic Acids Research
Oxford University Press
Open access$3,992
Journal of Biological Chemistry
Elsevier BV
Open access$3,430
Nature Communications
Nature Portfolio
Open access$6,990
Journal of Clinical Investigation
American Society for Clinical Investigation
Open access$5,200
PLoS ONE
Public Library of Science
Open access$2,382
Genes & Development
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
Open access—