In 1983, Farquhar and other scientists attended a meeting at Annual Reviews to plan the topics and authors for the first volume.

The Annual Review of Cell Biology published its first volume in 1985, with George E. Palade as the inaugural editor.

The title change was made to acknowledge that a third of the reviews published by the journal by that point dealt with developmental biology.

[6] Beginning in 2005, each volume starts with a prefatory chapter written by a prominent cell or developmental biologist in which they reflect upon their career and experiences.

All other members of the editorial committee are appointed by the Annual Reviews board of directors and serve five-year terms.