Reference notes
Coverage
57 journals · 3 speed groups
Sources
Journal Intelligence Dataset · per-metric evidence tags
Last reviewed
Dataset: 2026-03-30 · planning ranges
Prepared by the Manusights editorial team.
Submission-planning reference
Peer Review Timelines: How Long Does Review Take? (57 Journals)
Peer review timelines by journal are scattered across author instructions, editorial reports, and author-reported databases. This reference page puts desk decisions and after-review timelines for 57 biomedical journals in one searchable table.
Each row separates time to desk rejection from time to first decision after peer review, which is the distinction most timeline roundups skip. Both matter, and they lead to very different submission strategies.
Quick orientation
Use this page when the journal shortlist is set and the practical question is how long each outcome path usually takes.
Search, sort, and export desk timing, first decision after review, desk reject rate, and source notes for 57 biomedical journals. Timeline ranges stay visible where journals avoid publishing exact medians.
Reading the table
Desk timing and after-review timing answer different questions. A fast desk rejection can still be efficient. A long after-review cycle may still be worth it if the journal is the right strategic target.
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.
How to read these figures
(est.) means the journal does not publish the figure and this is our conservative estimate, so treat it as a directional prior rather than a measured time. (reported) means a public benchmark or author-reported dataset published it. A figure with no tag comes from the publisher’s own page. No journal in this set publishes a desk-rejection rate, so that column is estimated throughout. Timelines also vary by article type and season, so use these for planning rather than as a promise.
Peer review timelines by journal
Filter by journal name, timing pattern, or note text. Export the current view as CSV, TSV, or JSON for your own submission planning.
| Category | Journal | IF (2024) | Desk decision | After review |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fastest Desk Decisions (under 2 weeks) | Nature | 56.1 | ~7 days (est.) | ~8–12 weeks (est.) |
| Fastest Desk Decisions (under 2 weeks) | Science | 47.3 | ~14 days (est.) | 8–12 weeks (est.) |
| Fastest Desk Decisions (under 2 weeks) | Cell | 45.1 | ~14 days (est.) | 6–10 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | New England Journal of Medicine | 84.5 | ~21 days (est.) | 6–10 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | The Lancet | 109 | 21–28 days (est.) | 6–10 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | JAMA | 65.4 | 2–3 weeks (est.) | 6–8 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | Nature Medicine | 52.5 | ~30 days (est.) | 8–12 weeks (est.) |
| Fastest Desk Decisions (under 2 weeks) | Nature Communications | 18.1 | ~9 days (est.) | 6–8 weeks (est.) |
| Fastest Desk Decisions (under 2 weeks) | Cancer Cell | 56.1 | ~5 days (est.) | ~8 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | Journal of Clinical Oncology | 44.7 | ~30 days (est.) | 6–8 weeks (est.) |
| Fastest Desk Decisions (under 2 weeks) | Circulation | 41.3 | ~7 days (est.) | 4–6 weeks (est.) |
| Fastest Desk Decisions (under 2 weeks) | European Heart Journal | 45.3 | ~10 days (est.) | 4–6 weeks (est.) |
| Standard Timeline (30–45 days to first decision) | JACC | 22.3 | 14–21 days (est.) | 4–6 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | Blood | 23.9 | ~30 days (est.) | 6–8 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | Journal of Clinical Investigation | 14.3 | 2–4 weeks (est.) | 6–10 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | JAMA Oncology | 23.9 | ~21 days (est.) | 6–8 weeks (est.) |
| Fastest Desk Decisions (under 2 weeks) | The Lancet Oncology | 33.7 | ~14 days (est.) | 4–6 weeks (est.) |
| Fastest Desk Decisions (under 2 weeks) | Nature Biotechnology | 44.5 | ~4 days (est.) | 6–8 weeks (est.) |
| Fastest Desk Decisions (under 2 weeks) | Nature Methods | 28.3 | ~7 days (est.) | 6–8 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | Nature Genetics | 25.5 | ~30 days (est.) | 8–12 weeks (est.) |
| Fastest Desk Decisions (under 2 weeks) | Nature Immunology | 26.5 | ~5 days (est.) | 6–10 weeks (est.) |
| Fastest Desk Decisions (under 2 weeks) | Cell Metabolism | 37 | 3–7 days (est.) | 9–10 weeks (est.) |
| Fastest Desk Decisions (under 2 weeks) | Cell Reports | 7.7 | ~5 days (est.) | 5–7 weeks (est.) |
| Fastest Desk Decisions (under 2 weeks) | Molecular Cell | 16 | 3–5 days (est.) | 3–4 weeks (est.) |
| Fastest Desk Decisions (under 2 weeks) | Neuron | 16.9 | 3–5 days (est.) | 4–5 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | Nucleic Acids Research | 15 | ~45 days total (est.) | 6–10 weeks (est.) |
| Fastest Desk Decisions (under 2 weeks) | The BMJ | 55.1 | Days to 2 weeks (reported) | ~48 days with review (reported) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | BMJ Open | 2.5 | ~134 days total (reported) | 16–20 weeks (reported) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | BMC Medicine | 8.7 | 30–45 days total (est.) | 8–12 weeks (est.) |
| Fastest Desk Decisions (under 2 weeks) | Gastroenterology | 29.7 | ~14 days (est.) | 5–7 weeks (est.) |
| Fastest Desk Decisions (under 2 weeks) | GUT | 24.6 | ~14 days (est.) | ~5 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | Hepatology | 18 | ~30 days (est.) | 6–8 weeks (est.) |
| Fastest Desk Decisions (under 2 weeks) | Immunity | 30.6 | 3–5 days (est.) | 3–4 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | Genome Biology | 9.2 | 30–45 days total (est.) | 8–12 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | PNAS | 9.5 | ~45 days total (est.) | 6–8 weeks (est.) |
| Fastest Desk Decisions (under 2 weeks) | Science Advances | 13.9 | 1–3 weeks (est.) | 6–10 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | Brain | 12.6 | 6–8 weeks total (est.) | 10–14 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | Cell Host & Microbe | 23.2 | 30–45 days total (est.) | 8–10 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | Cell Stem Cell | 23.3 | 30–45 days total (est.) | 8–10 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | Circulation Research | 18 | 21–35 days (est.) | 6–8 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | Current Biology | 7.7 | 30–45 days total (est.) | 6–10 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | Developmental Cell | 9.2 | 30–45 days total (est.) | 8–12 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | eLife | N/A | ~30 days (reported) | 10–16 weeks (reported) |
| Fastest Desk Decisions (under 2 weeks) | The EMBO Journal | 8.4 | 4 days median first decision | 4 days median submission-to-first-decision |
| Standard Timeline (30–45 days to first decision) | JAMA Cardiology | 15.2 | 14–21 days (est.) | 4–6 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | Journal of Neuroscience | 4.3 | 45–60 days total (est.) | 8–12 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | Lancet Infectious Diseases | 29.4 | 2–4 weeks (est.) | 6–10 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | Lancet Neurology | 54.6 | 2–4 weeks (est.) | 6–8 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | Molecular Psychiatry | 10.4 | 45–60 days total (est.) | 10–12 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | Nature Chemical Biology | 15.8 | 30–45 days total (est.) | 8–12 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | Nature Neuroscience | 20.3 | 45–60 days (est.) | 12–16 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | Nature Structural & Molecular Biology | 10.1 | 30–45 days total (est.) | 8–12 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | PLOS Medicine | 9.9 | 6–8 weeks total (est.) | 10–14 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | Science Translational Medicine | 15.6 | 4–8 weeks total (est.) | 8–14 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | PLOS ONE | 2.8 | ~40 days total (reported) | 8–12 weeks (reported) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | Scientific Reports | 4.9 | ~120 days total (est.) | 14–20 weeks (est.) |
| Longer Timelines (45+ days to first decision) | Frontiers in Immunology | 7 | ~80 days total (est.) | 12–16 weeks (est.) |
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
- • Dataset snapshot: March 30, 2026. Use the evidence tag and range for planning, then check the journal's current author guidance when timing is consequential.
Version history
February 2026
Reviewed journal timing ranges, refreshed source notes, added dataset export options, and standardized citation formatting.
December 2025
Expanded the timeline coverage to 57 biomedical journals and separated desk timing from first decision after peer review.
Cite this resource
Citation formats
Free to use and cite, with attribution. See the reuse policy for what you may republish.
- APA
- Manusights. (2026). Peer review timelines for biomedical journals (Journal Intelligence Dataset snapshot March 30, 2026). https://manusights.com/resources/peer-review-timelines
- MLA
- Manusights. "Peer Review Timelines for Biomedical Journals." Manusights, Journal Intelligence Dataset snapshot Mar. 30, 2026, manusights.com/resources/peer-review-timelines.
- Vancouver
- Manusights. Peer review timelines for biomedical journals [Internet]. Journal Intelligence Dataset snapshot 2026 Mar 30. Available from: https://manusights.com/resources/peer-review-timelines
Related guides in this collection
Acceptance rates
Pair timeline expectations with selectivity when deciding where to submit next.
Submission specs
Check whether the manuscript can actually fit the target journal’s format and length constraints.
Reference library
Browse the full benchmark, policy, and submission-reference stack from one parent hub.