Journal profile · CRYSTALLOGRAPHYMATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDIS-MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY
Crystals
ISSN 2073-4352 · MDPI (Basel, Switzerland) · SWITZERLAND · Monthly · Founded 2011
Crystals: CAS Zone 4 · Materials Science (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.87; JCR Q2 (journal website); fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; review about 11 weeks (community reports); 1,056 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Crystals is published by MDPI (Basel, Switzerland) and is in Zone 4 of Materials Science in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Crystallography and molecular interactions, Aluminum Alloys Composites Properties and Liquid Crystal Research Advancements, together about 17.9% of its articles. Its main subfields are Materials Chemistry. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Crystals (ISSN 2073-4352) is an open access journal that covers all aspects of crystalline material research in different sections: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/crystals/sections. Crystals provides a forum for the advancement of our understanding of the nucleation, growth, processing, and characterization of crystalline and liquid crystalline materials. Their mechanical, chemical, electronic, magnetic, and optical properties, and their diverse applications, are all considered to be of importance. Additionally, we encourage contributors to send articles focused on crystals research (of small and high molecular weight). Their characterization by using modern techniques for crystal growth and high resolution characterization such as synchrotron radiation and modern methods for the growth of crystals for X-ray free electron lasers (XFELS) would also be welcome. Crystals can be used as a reference and publication source for the crystalline research community. Crystals publishes reviews, regular research articles, short communications and perspectives et al. Our aim is to encourage scientists to publish their experimental, theoretical and computational results in as much detail as possible so that results can be reproduced. Therefore, there is no restriction on article length.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): CRYSTALLOGRAPHYMATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDIS-MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY
Editor-in-chief Alessandra ToncelliPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 5 in mainland China (about 16%); most named United States 7, Mainland China 5, Italy 3, Hong Kong, China 2, Japan 2 (32 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Crystallography and molecular interactionsChemistry6.6%
- Aluminum Alloys Composites PropertiesEngineering6.3%
- Liquid Crystal Research AdvancementsMaterials Science5.1%
- Metal-Organic Frameworks: Synthesis and ApplicationsChemistry5%
- ZnO doping and propertiesMaterials Science4.7%
- Microstructure and mechanical propertiesMaterials Science4.6%
- Aluminum Alloy Microstructure PropertiesEngineering4.5%
- Crystallization and Solubility StudiesMaterials Science4.4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Materials Science Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Materials Science | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Crystallography | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Materials Science, Multidisciplinary | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Materials Science Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Materials Science | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Crystallography | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Materials Science, Multidisciplinary | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Materials Science Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Materials Science | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Crystallography | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Materials Science, Multidisciplinary | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- JCR Q2 · Crystallography
- CiteScore Q2 · Condensed Matter Physics
Publisher-reported: JCR figures are Clarivate's and CiteScore figures Scopus's to confirm; both are a different system from the CAS zones.Publisher website
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
EI CompendexWeb of ScienceINSPECCASPublisher website
As the journal's website lists them, not checked against each database; for Web of Science editions the records above apply.
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
- 2.87LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.4LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 5.4Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.5LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.83LetPub ·
- h-index
- 22LetPub ·
- h-index
- 103OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 3,838OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.67OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 6.9%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.95%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 1,082LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 11,085 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 583 | 583 | 239 |
| 2025 | 1,056 | 1,056 | 3,313 |
| 2024 | 1,096 | 1,096 | 6,498 |
| 2023 | 1,695 | 1,695 | 15,538 |
| 2022 | 1,869 | 1,869 | 20,660 |
| 2021 | 1,620 | 1,620 | 24,248 |
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
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 11 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 12.9 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 2.8 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 6 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer reviewDOAJ
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 accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | CHF 2,600 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | CHF 2,100 | — | — | |
| LetPub | CHF 2,600 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
Open calls for papers8, by deadline
- Crystalline COFs: Design and ApplicationsDeadline
- Research Progress in Pharmaceutical CrystallizationDeadline
- Advances in Research on Single-Crystal SuperalloysDeadline
- Alloys in Additive Manufacturing and Welding: Microstructure and PropertiesDeadline
- Advances in Thin-Film Materials and Their ApplicationsDeadline
- Bridging the Embryonic Period for Disruptive Innovation in Crystal GrowthDeadline
- Innovations in Magnetic Composites: Synthesis to ApplicationDeadline
- Microstructure Characterization and Design of Advanced AlloysDeadline
What to prepare7 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 200 words
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Required, 3
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted18
- book reviewAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- brief communicationAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- brief reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- case reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- commentaryAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- conference reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- editorialAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- hypothesisAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- letterAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- opinionAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- perspectiveAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- protocolAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- registered reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- reviewAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- systematic reviewAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- technical noteAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- tutorialAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- viewpointAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- Authorship Authorship
MDPI follows the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines which state that, in order to qualify for authorship of a manuscript, the following criteria should be observed: Make substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; Draft the work or review it critically for important intel…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflicts of Interest
According to The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, “Authors should avoid entering into agreements with study sponsors, both for-profit and non-profit, that interfere with authors’ access to all of the study’s data or that interfere with their ability to analyze and interpret the data and to prepare and publish manuscripts independently when and where they choose.” All authors mus…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability statements
Data availability statements are required for all articles published with MDPI. During the peer review and editorial decision process, authors can be asked to share existing datasets or raw data that have been analyzed in the manuscript, and whether they will be made available to other researchers following publication. Authors will also be asked for the details of any existing datasets that have …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Publication Ethics Statement
Crystals is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). We fully adhere to its Code of Conduct and to its Best Practice Guidelines. The editors of this journal enforce a rigorous peer review process together with strict ethical policies and standards to ensure to add high quality scientific works to the field of scholarly publication. Unfortunately, cases of plagiarism, data falsificat…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright / Open Access
Articles published in Crystals will be Open-Access articles distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The copyright is retained by the author(s). MDPI will insert the following note at the end of the published text: © 2026 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and c…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publication fees
If you transfer your manuscript to another open access (OA) journal, you will be charged an Article Processing Charge (APC) if your article is accepted for publication. The APC for each journal can be found on the individual journal’s website. For more information about APCs, please see here.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Editorial Process and Peer Review
All submissions are thoroughly peer-reviewed by experts within the field and undergo a structured editorial workflow designed to ensure quality, transparency, and scientific integrity. The full editorial procedure is available on the Editorial Process page and is also provided below. Pre-check Pre-check consists of a technical pre-check performed by the Editorial Office and an editorial pre-check …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints and Conference Papers
Crystals accepts submissions that have previously been made available as preprints provided that they have not undergone peer review. A preprint is a draft version of a paper made available online before submission to a journal. MDPI operates Preprints, a preprint server to which submitted papers can be uploaded directly after completing journal submission. Note that Preprints operates independent…
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- MDPI (Basel, Switzerland)
- Country or region
- SWITZERLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Founded
- 2011
- ISSN
- 2073-4352
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 16 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Crystals
What CAS zone is Crystals in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Crystals is in Zone 4 of Materials Science, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Crystallography / Materials Science, Multidisciplinary. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Materials Science. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Crystals?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.87; CiteScore 5.4, h-index 103.
How long does peer review take at Crystals?
Authors report an average review time of about 11 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.
What JCR quartile is Crystals in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q2; by category, Crystallography Q2. JCR quartiles are Clarivate's to confirm and a different system from the CAS zones; in the CAS ranking the journal is in Zone 4 of Materials Science.
What are the manuscript requirements of Crystals?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 200 words; Reference style: Author–date; Templates: LaTeX and Word; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Required, 3; Graphical abstract: Optional; Cover letter: Required. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Where are the editorial board members of Crystals based?
Of the 32 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 5 (about 16%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (7), Mainland China (5) and Italy (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Crystals?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Crystals is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists EI Compendex, Web of Science, INSPEC and CAS; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Crystals open access, and what is the APC?
Crystals is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, DOAJ; 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: .