Journal profile · CHEMISTRY, MEDICINAL-PHARMACOLOGY & PHARMACY
Drug Design Development and Therapy
ISSN 1177-8881 · Dove Medical Press Ltd. · ENGLAND · Founded 2007
Drug Design Development and Therapy: CAS Zone 2 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 6.08; JCR Q1 (journal website); fully open access; APC about USD 3,940; median 78 days to acceptance (154 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 10% (journal website); 762 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Drug Design Development and Therapy is published by Dove Medical Press Ltd. and is in Zone 2 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Anesthesia and Sedative Agents, Anesthesia and Pain Management and Advanced Drug Delivery Systems, together about 27.2% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Editor-in-Chief: Professor Frank Boeckler Drug Design, Development and Therapy is an Open Access peer-reviewed journal covering the spectrum of drug design, discovery, and development through to clinical applications. The journal’s audience includes pharmaceutical chemists, clinicians, Principal Investigators with academic and industry profiles interested in specific topics which include:• Drug target identification and validation• Phenotypic screening and target deconvolution• Biochemical analyses of drug targets and their pathways• New methods or relevant applications in molecular/drug design and computer-aided drug discovery*• Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of novel biologically active compounds (including diagnostics or chemical probes)• Structural or molecular biological studies elucidating molecular recognition processes• Fragment-based drug discovery• Pharmaceutical/red biotechnology• Isolation, structural characterization, (bio)synthesis, bioengineering and pharmacological evaluation of natural products**• Distribution, pharmacokinetics and metabolic transformations of drugs or biologically active compounds in drug development• Drug delivery and formulation (design and characterization of dosage forms, release mechanisms and in vivo testing)• Preclinical development studies• Translational animal models• Mechanisms of action and signalling pathways• Toxicology• Gene therapy, cell therapy and immunotherapy• Personalized medicine and pharmacogenomics• Clinical drug evaluation• Patient safety and sustained use of medicines The journal provides an open access platform for outstanding reviews on drug efficacy, therapies, and drug profiles. We are proud our authors show a high level of satisfaction based on an engaged Editor in Chief and Editorial Board, a quality peer review, and rapid decision making. The journal welcomes for consideration the following paper types: original research, reviews, expert opinions, commentary and clinical studies in all therapeutic areas. All articles received by the Journal will be subject to a single-anonymous peer review. The journal does not accept study protocols, case reports or bibliometric analyses and meta-analysis studies can only be submitted through prior invitation by the editor(s) or editorial office. Case reports/series submitted to Drug Design, Development and Therapy will be diverted to the International Medical Case Reports Journal (Journal metric data for this journal can be accessed here). *
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): CHEMISTRY, MEDICINAL-PHARMACOLOGY & PHARMACY
Editor-in-chief Frank BoecklerPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 11 in mainland China (about 13%); most named United States 32, Mainland China 11, United Kingdom 7, Australia 7, Germany 6 (88 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Anesthesia and Sedative AgentsMedicine12.1%
- Anesthesia and Pain ManagementMedicine9.5%
- Advanced Drug Delivery SystemsPharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics5.7%
- Nausea and vomiting managementMedicine5.4%
- Intensive Care Unit Cognitive DisordersMedicine4.7%
- Drug Solubulity and Delivery SystemsPharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics4.5%
- Traditional Chinese Medicine AnalysisMedicine4.3%
- Diabetes Treatment and ManagementMedicine4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Chemistry, Medicinal | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Pharmacology & Pharmacy | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Chemistry, Medicinal | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Pharmacology & Pharmacy | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Chemistry, Medicinal | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Pharmacology & Pharmacy | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- JCR Q1 · best quartile · 2025
- CiteScore Q1 · 2025
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
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
- 6.08LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 6.2Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 6.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 6.9LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 1.47Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.31LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.47LetPub ·
- h-index
- 48LetPub ·
- h-index
- 132OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 3,410OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.59OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 6.6%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.71%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 722LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 30Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 601,762Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 5,967 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 742 | 742 | 315 |
| 2025 | 762 | 762 | 3,658 |
| 2024 | 427 | 427 | 4,892 |
| 2023 | 283 | 283 | 5,126 |
| 2022 | 315 | 315 | 7,394 |
| 2021 | 399 | 399 | 12,413 |
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
78 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 51 days – 99 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 13 days (154 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 94 days
- Sample
- 154 articles with submission and acceptance dates (1,638 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)
- over 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 10%Publisher website ·
- Desk decision
- 49 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 16 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 | USD 3,940 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC | |
| OpenAlex | USD 2,836 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 3,300 | Yes | — |
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)
What to prepare2 items from the author guidelines
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
Article types accepted2
- case reportAuthors may use these detailed descriptions of different paper types accepted by Dove Medical Press (case reports, reviews, etc) to decide how to label their pa…Length not stated
- reviewAuthors may use these detailed descriptions of different paper types accepted by Dove Medical Press (case reports, reviews, etc) to decide how to label their pa…Length not stated
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
- Dove Medical Press Ltd.
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Founded
- 2007
- ISSN
- 1177-8881
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- 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 Drug Design Development and Therapy
What CAS zone is Drug Design Development and Therapy in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Drug Design Development and Therapy is in Zone 2 of Medicine, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Chemistry, Medicinal / Pharmacology & Pharmacy. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Medicine. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Drug Design Development and Therapy?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 6.08; CiteScore 6.9, h-index 132.
How long does peer review take at Drug Design Development and Therapy?
Based on the dates recorded on 154 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 78 days (interquartile range 51–99 days); authors report an average review time of over 12 weeks; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 10%. 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 Drug Design Development and Therapy in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q1 (best quartile). JCR quartiles are Clarivate's to confirm and a different system from the CAS zones; in the CAS ranking the journal is in Zone 2 of Medicine.
What are the manuscript requirements of Drug Design Development and Therapy?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Reference style: Author–date; Graphical abstract: Optional. 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 Drug Design Development and Therapy based?
Of the 88 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 11 (about 13%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (32), Mainland China (11) and United Kingdom (7). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Drug Design Development and Therapy?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Drug Design Development and Therapy is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Drug Design Development and Therapy open access, and what is the APC?
Drug Design Development and Therapy is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,940.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .