Molecular Biology and Evolution

Molecular Biology and Evolution is a monthly peer-reviewed journal at the interface of molecular and evolutionary biology, founded in December 1983 and published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution, with a 2025 Journal Impact Factor of 6.4.（Molecular Biology and Evolution）（《分子生物学与进化》）是分子生物学与进化生物学交叉领域的月刊同行评审期刊，1983 年 12 月创刊，由牛津大学出版社（Oxford University Press）代表分子生物学与进化学会（SMBE）出版，2025 年 JIF 为 6.4。

Scope

• The journal publishes research at the interface of molecular, including genomics, and evolutionary biology, considering manuscripts on patterns, processes and predictions at all levels of population, taxonomic, functional and phenotypic organization.本刊发表分子（含基因组学）与进化生物学交叉面的研究，收录在种群、分类、功能与表型各组织层面探讨模式、过程与预测的稿件。
• Besides fundamental discoveries of broader scope and impact, the journal welcomes new and improved methods, resources, technologies and theories that will significantly advance evolutionary research.除具有较广范围与影响的基础发现外，本刊亦欢迎能显著推进进化研究的新方法与改良方法、资源、技术与理论。
• Manuscript types span Discoveries, Methods, Resources, Reviews, Protocols, Brief Communications and Perspectives, with dedicated sections for community tools such as evolutionary software and databases.稿件类型涵盖研究论文、方法、资源、综述、方法协议、简短通讯与观点评述，并为进化软件、数据库等社区工具设专门栏目。
• Reviews provide balanced summaries of recent developments in genome evolution, and Perspectives advocate future directions in a field or an application of molecular evolution.综述对基因组进化等方向的最新进展作平衡梳理，观点评述则倡导某领域或分子进化应用层面的未来方向。
• The journal does not publish manuscripts that are largely descriptive or confirmatory, or of limited scope and impact, and all work is expected to have a solid biological basis.本刊不发表以描述性、验证性或范围与影响有限为主的稿件，并要求全部工作具备扎实的生物学基础。
• As a society-owned not-for-profit journal, MBE channels publishing proceeds into Society activities including annual meetings, satellite meetings, fellowships and awards.作为学会所有的非营利期刊，本刊将出版收益回馈学会的年会、卫星会议、奖学金与奖项等活动。

History

• MBE traces its origin to a June 1982 symposium on the Evolution of Genes and Proteins at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where Masatoshi Nei proposed a new journal, and the first issue appeared in December 1983 with Walter Fitch as Editor-in-Chief and Nei as Managing Editor.本刊源于 1982 年 6 月在纽约州立大学石溪分校举行的“基因与蛋白质进化”研讨会，Masatoshi Nei 在会上倡议创办新刊，1983 年 12 月出版第一期，由 Walter Fitch 任首任主编、Nei 任管理编辑。^[1]
• The founding aims were to bridge molecular and evolutionary biology, publish high-quality papers rapidly, reach a large international readership at an affordable price and keep the journal owned and controlled by the scientific community, which led to the creation of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.创刊宗旨在于沟通分子生物学与进化生物学、快速发表高质量论文、以可负担价格服务广大国际读者，并由科学共同体所有与掌控，分子生物学与进化学会（SMBE）由此创立并一直独家所有本刊。
• Volume 1 was published in six issues across 1983 and 1984 by the University of Chicago Press, and by 1991 the journal had become the leading journal in evolutionary biology.第 1 卷由芝加哥大学出版社（University of Chicago Press）于 1983—1984 年分 6 期出版，到 1991 年本刊已居进化生物学期刊之首。
• The Society was activated as a membership society on 1 January 1993 with Walter Fitch as its first president, Barry Hall became Editor with Volume 11 in 1994, and the Council then took over publication, ending the University of Chicago Press era with Volume 12 in 1995.学会于 1993 年 1 月 1 日正式激活为会员制组织，Walter Fitch 任首任理事长，Barry Hall 自第 11 卷（1994 年）起任主编，学会理事会同年决定接手出版，1995 年第 12 卷出版后结束与芝加哥大学出版社的合作。
• Allen Press published the journal on behalf of the Society from 1995, issues per volume rose to ten, and MBE became a monthly journal in 1997 with Volume 14.1995 年起由（Allen Press）代表学会出版，每卷期数增至 10 期，1997 年（第 14 卷）起改为月刊。
• Oxford University Press became the publisher on behalf of the Society in 2003, and since 2005 the journal has published 250 to 300 papers a year.2003 年起改由牛津大学出版社代表学会出版，2005 年以来每年发表 250 至 300 篇论文。
• The Society launched a sister journal, Genome Biology and Evolution, in 2009, and MBE runs a manuscript transfer service with it.学会于 2009 年创办姊妹刊（Genome Biology and Evolution），本刊现与其运行稿件转投服务。
• MBE completed its transition to fully open access at the end of 2020, with the January 2021 issue containing only open access manuscripts, and the December 2020 issue was its last printed on paper.本刊于 2020 年底完成向完全开放获取的转型，2021 年 1 月号起仅含开放获取稿件，2020 年 12 月号为最后一期纸质版。^[2]
• The 2025 Journal Impact Factor is 6.4 with a five-year Journal Impact Factor of 14.7, following 5.3 in 2024, 8.8 in 2022 and 16.24 in 2021, and in JCR 2025 the journal ranks Q1 in Evolutionary Biology (5/54), Genetics and Heredity (21/192) and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (57/328).2025 年 JIF 为 6.4、五年 JIF 为 14.7，2024 年为 5.3，2022 年为 8.8，2021 年为 16.24，2025 年 JCR 中本刊在进化生物学（5/54）、遗传学（21/192）与生物化学与分子生物学（57/328）均列 Q1。

Editors

• The Editors-in-Chief are Claudia A. M. Russo of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Brandon S. Gaut of the University of California, Irvine, USA, who began their terms as co-editors-in-chief in July 2022.现任共同主编为巴西里约热内卢联邦大学的 Claudia A. M. Russo 与美国加州大学欧文分校的 Brandon S. Gaut，二人于 2022 年 7 月开始共同主编任期。
• The founding editors were Walter Fitch and Masatoshi Nei, and Sudhir Kumar served as Editor-in-Chief for the decade before the current team took over.创刊编辑为 Walter Fitch 与 Masatoshi Nei，Sudhir Kumar 在现任团队接任前执掌本刊十年。^[3]
• The editorial office is led by Managing Editor Heather Rowe of Temple University, supported by Editorial Assistant Chloe Masten and Social Media Editor Pedro Andrade, with dedicated protocols editors overseeing protocol manuscripts.编辑部由天普大学（Temple University）的管理编辑 Heather Rowe 领衔，配有编辑助理 Chloe Masten 与社交媒体编辑 Pedro Andrade，方法协议类稿件由专职编辑负责。
• The Board of Editors comprises more than 60 senior editors and associate editors recruited for their expertise and for geographic and demographic balance, and the journal drew on over 6,000 reviewers in a two-year span.编委会由 60 余位资深编辑与副编辑组成，依专业能力并兼顾地域与群体均衡聘任，两年间共有 6,000 余名审稿人参与评审。
• MBE operates single-anonymized peer review in which authors are known to editors and reviewers while reviewer identities are hidden from authors, manuscripts are typically sent to two reviewers, and authors may suggest reviewers at submission.本刊实行单盲评审：编辑与审稿人知晓作者身份，而审稿人身份对作者隐藏，稿件通常送交两位审稿人，作者可在投稿时推荐审稿人。
• Distinctive policies include a fast track that publishes the most enthusiastic manuscripts online within one week of acceptance, a transfer service to Genome Biology and Evolution offered to about one third of original submissions, and a generous APC waiver policy administered by a Society committee independent of the editorial boards.本刊特有编辑方针包括：最受青睐的稿件录用后一周内在线发表的快速通道，向约三分之一原创投稿提供的转投（Genome Biology and Evolution）服务，以及由独立于编委会的学会委员会管理的慷慨 APC 减免政策。