Journal profile · Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
ACS Chemical Biology
ISSN 1554-8929 · eISSN 1554-8937 · American Chemical Society · UNITED STATES · Monthly · Founded 2006
ACS Chemical Biology: CAS Zone 2 · Biology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.56; transformative journal; APC about USD 4,500; median 82 days to acceptance (75 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: fairly easy; 311 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
ACS Chemical Biology is published by American Chemical Society and is in Zone 2 of Biology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Microbial Natural Products and Biosynthesis, RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms and Academic Writing and Publishing, together about 22.4% of its articles. Its main subfields are Molecular Biology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
ACS Chemical Biology reports research on cellular processes using in vitro cellular or whole organism studies at the chemical and biological interface.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Editor-in-chief Chuan HePublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Microbial Natural Products and BiosynthesisMedicine8.1%
- RNA and protein synthesis mechanismsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology7.7%
- Academic Writing and PublishingArts and Humanities6.7%
- Chemical Synthesis and AnalysisBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology6.2%
- Click Chemistry and ApplicationsChemistry5.9%
- Glycosylation and Glycoproteins ResearchBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.1%
- Monoclonal and Polyclonal Antibodies ResearchMedicine5%
- Advanced biosensing and bioanalysis techniquesBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.5%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Biology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Biology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Biology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
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
- 3.56LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 3.6Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 6.9LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 6.9Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.37LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.86LetPub ·
- h-index
- 91LetPub ·
- h-index
- 169OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 3,959OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.74OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 2.8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 28.96%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 264LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 6,345 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 271 | 130 | 91 |
| 2025 | 311 | 180 | 930 |
| 2024 | 296 | 168 | 2,267 |
| 2023 | 290 | 154 | 3,219 |
| 2022 | 381 | 214 | 6,278 |
| 2021 | 327 | 186 | 7,141 |
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
82 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 63 days – 106 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 13 days (55 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 104 days
- Sample
- 75 articles with submission and acceptance dates (580 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 3.3 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly easyLetPub ·
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
Transformative journalLetPub
A subscription journal moving to full open access.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 4,500 | — | — |
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
- 2006
- ISSN
- 1554-8929
- Electronic ISSN
- 1554-8937
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 21, Issue 9 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about ACS Chemical Biology
What CAS zone is ACS Chemical Biology in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, ACS Chemical Biology is in Zone 2 of Biology, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Biology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of ACS Chemical Biology?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.56; CiteScore 6.9, h-index 169.
How long does peer review take at ACS Chemical Biology?
Based on the dates recorded on 75 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 82 days (interquartile range 63–106 days); authors report an average review time of about 3.3 months; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly easy”. 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 Chemical Biology?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, ACS Chemical Biology is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is ACS Chemical Biology open access, and what is the APC?
ACS Chemical Biology is a transformative journal. APC about USD 4,500.
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: .