Journal profile · Chemical Engineering-General Chemical Engineering
ACS Central Science
ISSN 2374-7943 · eISSN 2374-7951 · American Chemical Society · UNITED STATES · Monthly · Founded 2015
ACS Central Science: CAS Zone 1 · Chemistry (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 11.12; fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 69 days to acceptance (120 articles, last 24 months); 275 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
ACS Central Science is published by American Chemical Society and is in Zone 1 of Chemistry in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are History and advancements in chemistry, Advanced biosensing and bioanalysis techniques and Metal-Organic Frameworks: Synthesis and Applications, together about 21% of its articles. Its main subfields are Molecular Biology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
ACS Central Science publishes the most compelling, important primary reports on research in chemistry and in allied fields, wherein chemical approaches play a key role. It is also the first fully open access journal published by the American Chemical Society. The term "central science" is frequently used to describe chemistry's focal role in bridging the physical and life sciences, and the basic sciences with applied disciplines such as medicine and engineering. ACS Central Science is a multi- and inter-disciplinary journal that publishes articles of exceptional quality and interest to the broad chemistry and scientific community. The journal addresses important advances in fundamental areas of chemistry, as well as applied and interdisciplinary research highlighting the seminal role of chemistry in a wide range of other scientific disciplines. The journal considers submissions in core fields such as, but not limited to: Analytical, physical, inorganic, and organic chemistry Biological and medicinal chemistry, and biotechnology Sustainable and environmental chemistry Computational and theoretical chemistry Materials and nanoscience Energy and catalysis Chemical engineering Earth, atmospheric and space chemistry Chemical education The journal also publishes inter- and multidisciplinary research applicable to allied fields across the physical sciences, life sciences, engineering, medicine, and beyond.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Chemical Engineering-General Chemical Engineering
Editor-in-chief Carolyn R. BertozziPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- History and advancements in chemistryChemistry9.8%
- Advanced biosensing and bioanalysis techniquesBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.8%
- Metal-Organic Frameworks: Synthesis and ApplicationsChemistry5.3%
- scientometrics and bibliometrics researchDecision Sciences5.2%
- Academic Writing and PublishingArts and Humanities5.2%
- Chemical Synthesis and AnalysisBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.1%
- Machine Learning in Materials ScienceMaterials Science4.9%
- RNA and protein synthesis mechanismsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.6%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Chemistry Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Chemistry | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Chemistry, Multidisciplinary | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Chemistry Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Chemistry | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Chemistry, Multidisciplinary | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Chemistry Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Chemistry | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Chemistry, Multidisciplinary | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor
- 11.12LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 11.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 14.9LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 14.9Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 2.68LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.76LetPub ·
- h-index
- 39LetPub ·
- h-index
- 193OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,686OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 8.96OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 1.8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 188LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,867 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 189 | 189 | 184 |
| 2025 | 275 | 275 | 1,892 |
| 2024 | 278 | 278 | 4,573 |
| 2023 | 290 | 290 | 8,251 |
| 2022 | 225 | 225 | 6,705 |
| 2021 | 261 | 261 | 17,434 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
Review time from article dates manuscript dates registered with PubMed · to
69 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 39 days – 99 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 17 days (121 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 88 days
- Sample
- 120 articles with submission and acceptance dates (497 in the window); the latest was accepted on
Only articles that were accepted and published are counted, not the time spent on rejected manuscripts, so this usually runs longer than a publisher's "time to first decision".
Other sources
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 10 weeksLetPub ·
- Peer review
- Anonymous peer reviewLetPub
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Fully open accessOpenAlex
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 0 / EUR 0 / GBP 0 / JPY 0 / CHF 0 / CAD 0 / AUD 0 | — | — | |
| LetPub | No APC | No | — |
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Founded
- 2015
- ISSN
- 2374-7943
- Electronic ISSN
- 2374-7951
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 12, Issue 8 (August 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about ACS Central Science
What CAS zone is ACS Central Science in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, ACS Central Science is in Zone 1 of Chemistry, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Chemistry, Multidisciplinary; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Chemistry. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of ACS Central Science?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 11.12; CiteScore 14.9, h-index 193.
How long does peer review take at ACS Central Science?
Based on the dates recorded on 120 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 69 days (interquartile range 39–99 days); authors report an average review time of about 10 weeks. Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
Which databases index ACS Central Science?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, ACS Central Science is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is ACS Central Science open access, and what is the APC?
ACS Central Science is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, Publisher website; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-25). Last updated: .