How long does peer review typically take for top journals?

For top-tier journals like Nature, Cell, and Science, the time to first decision after peer review can range from 3 to 8 weeks. Journals that aim for a faster turnaround might provide a desk rejection in as little as 4–7 days.

What is the difference between "time to first decision" and "time to desk rejection"?

"Time to first decision" refers to how long it takes a journal to provide a decision (accept, reject, or revise) after the manuscript has undergone a full peer review process. "Time to desk rejection" is the much shorter period before a manuscript is sent for peer review, when the editorial office decides it's not a good fit for the journal.

Can I speed up the peer review process?

While you cannot directly control the journal's review timeline, submitting a highly polished manuscript that perfectly matches the journal's scope and guidelines can help avoid delays or early desk rejection. Pre-submission review services can help identify and fix potential issues before submission.

Scope: 57 journals · 8 fields·Data: Publisher sources + SciRev data·Last reviewed: February 2026·Source: Manusights editorial team (researchers with publications in Cell, Nature, Science)·Cite this guide ↓

Peer Review Timelines: How Long Does Review Take? (57 Journals)

Waiting to hear back after submission is one of the most frustrating parts of academic publishing. These timelines give you realistic expectations: organized by speed, not by prestige.

Each journal has two columns: time to desk rejection (if that's how things end), and time to first decision if the paper gets sent to reviewers. Both matter, and they're very different experiences.

Desk Decision vs. Peer Review Decision: What's the Difference?

Desk rejection (days to ~2 weeks)

An editor reads your paper without sending it to reviewers and rejects it. At top journals, this is the most common outcome: over 90% of submissions to Nature, NEJM, and Lancet are desk rejected. Fast journals like Nature Methods return desk rejections in 4–7 days. Slow journals like NEJM or Nature Medicine take 2–4 weeks. A quick desk rejection isn't a sign the work is bad. It often just means scope mismatch.

Peer review decision (weeks to months)

If the editor sends your paper for review, the clock restarts. Reviewer recruitment, availability, and back-and-forth with reviewers can add weeks or months. Most top journals return a first decision after peer review in 6–12 weeks. Some journals: particularly specialty journals and fully OA journals: take 3–5 months. Knowing this upfront helps you decide whether to wait or move on.

Fastest Desk Decisions (under 2 weeks)

Journal	IF (2024)	Desk Decision	After Review	Desk Reject Rate	Notes
Circulation	38.6	~7 days	4–6 weeks	~70%	Fast desk for a major cardiology journal; AHA journal
European Heart Journal	35.6	~10 days	4–6 weeks	~75%	Fast desk for ESC journal
Immunity	26.3	3–5 days	3–4 weeks	~75%	Fastest desk decisions at Cell Press
Molecular Cell	16.6	3–5 days	3–4 weeks	~60%	Fast desk for Cell Press
Nature	48.5	~7 days	~8–12 weeks	>90%	Most submissions desk rejected within one week
Nature Biotechnology	41.7	~4 days	6–8 weeks	>85%	Among the fastest first responses in Nature family
Nature Methods	32.1	~7 days	6–8 weeks	>85%	–
Nature Immunology	27.6	~5 days	6–10 weeks	>90%	–
Cell Reports	6.9	~5 days	5–7 weeks	~50%	Faster than other Cell Press journals at tier-1 level
Nature Communications	15.7	~9 days	6–8 weeks	~50%	Lower desk reject rate than flagship Nature journals
Cell Metabolism	30.9	3–7 days	9–10 weeks	>80%	Fast desk but slower full review than other Cell Press journals
Cancer Cell	44.5	~5 days	~8 weeks	>85%	Very fast desk decisions; full review takes 8 weeks if paper advances

Rapid Process Overall (under 30 days to first decision)

Journal	IF (2024)	Desk Decision	After Review	Desk Reject Rate	Notes
Science	45.8	~14 days	8–12 weeks	>90%	–
Cell	42.5	~14 days	6–10 weeks	>85%	–
The Lancet Oncology	35.9	~14 days	4–6 weeks	>85%	Fast editorial decisions across the board
Molecular Cell	16.6	3–5 days	3–4 weeks	~60%	Fast desk decisions for Cell Press
JACC	22.3	14–21 days	4–6 weeks	>85%	Very selective upfront; fast once through
JAMA Cardiology	14.1	14–21 days	4–6 weeks	~80%	–
Lancet Infectious Diseases	31.0	2–4 weeks	6–10 weeks	>85%	Lancet family; decisions within 2-4 weeks

Standard Timeline (30–45 days to first decision)

Journal	IF (2024)	Desk Decision	After Review	Desk Reject Rate	Notes
The Lancet	88.5	21–28 days	6–10 weeks	>90%	Slower desk process than some Nature journals; editorial board review
NEJM	78.5	~21 days	6–10 weeks	>90%	Statistical review adds time; thorough editorial board assessment
JAMA	55.0	2–3 weeks	6–8 weeks	>90%	–
Nature Medicine	50.0	~30 days	8–12 weeks	>85%	–
Journal of Clinical Oncology	41.9	~30 days	6–8 weeks	~70%	–
Nature Genetics	29.0	~30 days	8–12 weeks	>85%	–
Neuron	15.0	3–5 days	4–5 weeks	~75%	–
GUT	25.8	~14 days	~5 weeks	~70%	–
Gastroenterology	25.1	~14 days	5–7 weeks	~70%	–
The BMJ	42.7	Days to 2 weeks	~48 days with review	>85%	BMJ publishes median time-to-decision data publicly
JAMA Oncology	20.1	~21 days	6–8 weeks	>85%	–
Journal of Clinical Investigation	13.6	2–4 weeks	6–10 weeks	~70%	Explicitly prohibits preprints; fast desk decisions
Science Advances	12.5	1–3 weeks	6–10 weeks	~60%	AAAS fully OA; faster desk decisions than Science; same editorial standards
Blood	23.1	~30 days	6–8 weeks	~60%	–
Lancet Neurology	45.5	2–4 weeks	6–8 weeks	>85%	–
Cell Host & Microbe	18.7	30–45 days total	8–10 weeks	~75%	–
Cell Stem Cell	20.4	30–45 days total	8–10 weeks	~75%	–
Circulation Research	16.2	21–35 days	6–8 weeks	~70%	–
Hepatology	15.8	~30 days	6–8 weeks	~65%	–
Nature Structural & Molecular Biology	10.1	30–45 days total	8–12 weeks	>80%	–
PNAS	9.1	~45 days total	6–8 weeks	~50%	Track 1 (contributed by NAS member) faster; Track 3 (direct) standard timeline
eLife	N/A	~30 days	10–16 weeks	~50%	eLife assesses at ~30 days; reviews published regardless of outcome

Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision)

Journal	IF (2024)	Desk Decision	After Review	Desk Reject Rate	Notes
Molecular Psychiatry	10.1	45–60 days total	10–12 weeks	~65%	Slower first response than most Cell Press or Nature journals
Nature Neuroscience	20.0	45–60 days	12–16 weeks	>85%	Longer initial assessment than other Nature family journals; more thorough editorial review before sending to reviewers
Genome Biology	9.4	30–45 days total	8–12 weeks	~55%	Longer desk assessment at BioMed Central
Nature Chemical Biology	13.7	30–45 days total	8–12 weeks	>75%	Longer desk assessment for chemistry-focused biology
Developmental Cell	8.7	30–45 days total	8–12 weeks	~65%	–
Current Biology	7.5	30–45 days total	6–10 weeks	~40%	Reports format moves faster than full research articles
BMC Medicine	8.3	30–45 days total	8–12 weeks	~45%	BioMed Central flagship; longer desk than some
PLOS ONE	2.6	~40 days total	8–12 weeks	~30%	Sound methodology focus; slower than flagship journals overall
The EMBO Journal	8.3	4–6 weeks total	8–14 weeks	~65%	EMBO Press; moderate desk timeline
Brain	11.7	6–8 weeks total	10–14 weeks	~65%	Oxford journal; slower desk but thorough review
Journal of Neuroscience	4.0	45–60 days total	8–12 weeks	~40%	–
Nucleic Acids Research	13.1	~45 days total	6–10 weeks	~40%	Database/resource papers reviewed differently from research articles
Frontiers in Immunology	5.9	~80 days total	12–16 weeks	~30%	Frontiers journals generally slower across the board
Scientific Reports	3.9	~120 days total	14–20 weeks	~20%	Longest average turnaround in this list; high submission volume
BMJ Open	2.3	~134 days total	16–20 weeks	~30%	Median published by BMJ; slower than many fully OA journals
The EMBO Journal	8.3	4–6 weeks total	8–14 weeks	~65%	–
Science Translational Medicine	14.6	4–8 weeks total	8–14 weeks	~75%	–
PLOS Medicine	9.9	6–8 weeks total	10–14 weeks	~50%	–
BMC Medicine	8.3	30–45 days total	8–12 weeks	~45%	–

How to Use This Data

If you're on a deadline

Grant submissions, job applications, and graduation timelines all interact with publication timelines. If you need a decision within 6 weeks, avoid journals where full review takes 3–5 months. Journals like Circulation, Neuron, and Immunity return first decisions within 3–5 weeks once past the desk.

If you're trying to avoid wasting months

Top journals with fast desk decisions (Nature Methods at 4 days, Cell at ~14 days) are actually efficient even with high rejection rates. A 5-day desk rejection from Nature Methods is much better than waiting 90 days at a lower-tier journal only to get revisions you could have handled elsewhere.

If you're comparing submission options

A journal with a 40% acceptance rate and 120-day timeline (Scientific Reports) might serve you worse than a journal with a 15% rate and a 35-day timeline (Science Advances). Timeline and acceptance rate together determine your expected time from submission to a yes. Run both numbers.

Data Sources

• Publisher statistics: Journal websites and annual editorial reports where publicly available (BMJ publishes median time-to-decision; Nature family journals publish metrics; AAAS journals publish statistics)
• Author-reported timelines: SciRev.org (peer-verified submission outcome reports), supplemented by published author surveys and Web of Science Reviewer Recognition data
• Publisher-published data: Journals that disclose average time-to-first-decision in their author information pages, including BMJ (bmj.com/about-bmj), eLife (elifesciences.org), and PLOS (journals.plos.org/plosone/s/journal-information)
• Editor commentary: Published editorials and interviews where editors have disclosed timeline data
• All figures are ranges or estimates: individual experiences vary based on reviewer availability, editorial workload, and seasonal factors
• Last updated: February 2026

Suggested Citation

APA

Manusights. (2026). Peer review timelines for biomedical journals. Retrieved from https://manusights.com/resources/peer-review-timelines

MLA

Manusights. "Peer Review Timelines for Biomedical Journals." Manusights, 2026, manusights.com/resources/peer-review-timelines.

VANCOUVER

Manusights. Peer review timelines for biomedical journals [Internet]. 2026. Available from: https://manusights.com/resources/peer-review-timelines

CC BY 4.0 - share and adapt freely with attribution to Manusights (manusights.com/resources).

About these resources: Manusights is a pre-submission manuscript review service staffed by researchers with publications in Cell, Nature, Science, and related journals. These reference guides are produced as free, independent resources for the research community. No sign-up required. Data sources and methodology are cited on each page. Browse all 25 resource guides or learn about Manusights.

Related guides in this collection

Acceptance Rates →Peer Review Explained →Cover Letter Guide →

← Acceptance Rates All Resources Impact Factor Explained →