Journal profile · Engineering-Mechanical Engineering
Friction
ISSN 2223-7690 · eISSN 2223-7704 · Tsinghua University Press · PEOPLES R CHINA · Bimonthly · Founded 2013
Friction: CAS Zone 1 · Engineering (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 8.17; fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; review about 13 weeks (community reports); 158 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Friction is published by Tsinghua University Press and is in Zone 1 of Engineering in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Lubricants and Their Additives, Tribology and Wear Analysis and Adhesion, Friction, and Surface Interactions, together about 42.6% of its articles. Its main subfields are Mechanics of Materials and Mechanical Engineering. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Volume 14 Issue 10, October 2026 All Issues Friction is a double-blind peer-reviewed open access journal published by Tsinghua University Press on behalf of the State Key Laboratory of Tribology in Advanced Equipment (Tsinghua University, China) and the Tribology Institute of Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society. It publishes the theoretical and experimental research works related to the friction, lubrication and wear. Original, high quality research papers and review articles on all aspects of tribology are welcome, including, but are not limited to, a variety of topics, such as: Friction: Origin of friction, Friction theories, New phenomena of friction, Nano-friction, Ultra-low friction, Molecular friction, Ultra-high friction, Friction at high speed, Friction at high temperature or low temperature, Friction at solid/liquid interfaces, Bio-friction, Adhesion, etc. Lubrication: Superlubricity, Green lubricants, Nano-lubrication, Boundary lubrication, Thin film lubrication, Elastohydrodynamic lubrication, Mixed lubrication, New lubricants, New additives, Gas lubrication, Solid lubrication, etc. Wear: Wear materials, Wear mechanism, Wear models, Wear in severe conditions, Wear measurement, Wear monitoring, etc. Surface Engineering: Surface texturing, Molecular films, Surface coatings, Surface modification, Bionic surfaces, etc. Basic Sciences: Tribology system, Principles of tribology, Thermodynamics of tribo-systems, Micro-fluidics, Thermal stability of tribo-systems, etc. View Aims and Scope Editor-in-Chief: Jianbin Luo View Editorial Board Tsinghua University View Society, Partner and Affiliation Tsinghua University Press View Publisher Infomation 8.1 Impact Factor (2025) 14.2 CiteScore (2025) 45 days First Decision 93 days Acceptance 59 days Publication
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Engineering-Mechanical Engineering
Editor-in-chief Jianbin LuoPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 81 in mainland China (about 62%); most named Mainland China 81, United States 9, Germany 6, United Kingdom 5, Japan 3 (131 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Lubricants and Their AdditivesEngineering16.9%
- Tribology and Wear AnalysisEngineering15%
- Adhesion, Friction, and Surface InteractionsEngineering10.7%
- Tribology and Lubrication EngineeringEngineering7.6%
- Force Microscopy Techniques and ApplicationsPhysics and Astronomy6.5%
- Metal and Thin Film MechanicsEngineering6.2%
- Diamond and Carbon-based Materials ResearchMaterials Science6.1%
- Gear and Bearing Dynamics AnalysisEngineering5.8%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Engineering Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Engineering, Mechanical | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Engineering Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Engineering, Mechanical | Zone 1 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Engineering Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Engineering, Mechanical | Zone 1 |
Top journal: noReview 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
- 8.17LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 8.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 14.2LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 14.2Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.34LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 2.02LetPub ·
- h-index
- 19LetPub ·
- h-index
- 81OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 793OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 5.98OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 7.4%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.75%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 165LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,422 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 122 | 122 | 21 |
| 2025 | 158 | 158 | 328 |
| 2024 | 281 | 281 | 3,008 |
| 2023 | 139 | 139 | 3,619 |
| 2022 | 117 | 117 | 4,502 |
| 2021 | 95 | 95 | 3,107 |
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 13 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 45 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 21 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 | EUR 1,600 | No | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | USD 0 | — | — | |
| LetPub | No APC | No | — | |
| Publisher website | EUR 1,600 / USD 1,650 / CNY 12,000 | — | — |
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 prepare4 items from the author guidelines
- Reference style
- Numbered, in order of citation
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
- Graphical abstract
- Required
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted1
- review articleReview ArticleLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, License & copyright, Peer review
- Authorship Authorship clarified
Originality and exclusivity of submissions Model summary
The Journal and Publisher assume all authors agreed with the content and that all gave explicit consent to submit and that they obtained consent from the responsible authorities at the institute/organization where the work has been carried out, before the work is submitted.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Disclosures and declarations
All authors are requested to include information regarding sources of funding, financial or non-financial interests, study-specific approval by the appropriate ethics committee for research involving humans and/or animals, informed consent if the research involved human participants, and a statement on welfare of animals if the research involved animals (as appropriate).
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability
Data transparency Model summary
All authors are requested to make sure that all data and materials as well as software application or custom code support their published claims and comply with field standards.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright License agreement
Permission required for previously published material Model summary
Authors will be asked to sign an OA license agreement of the article to the Publisher. This will ensure the widest possible protection and dissemination of information under copyright laws.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review
Suggesting/excluding reviewers Model summary
Around four reviewers will be invited for peer review. When a submission has two (or one in exceptional cases) useable reports, the handling editor will use the reviewers' comments to suggest whether to accept the manuscript for publication, return it for revision (major or minor), or reject it. The Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision. Infrequently, after several rounds of invitations to peer…
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
- Tsinghua University Press
- Country or region
- PEOPLES R CHINA
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Bimonthly
- Founded
- 2013
- ISSN
- 2223-7690
- Electronic ISSN
- 2223-7704
- Official links
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Friction
What CAS zone is Friction in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Friction is in Zone 1 of Engineering, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Engineering, Mechanical; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Engineering. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Friction?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 8.17; CiteScore 14.2, h-index 81.
How long does peer review take at Friction?
Authors report an average review time of about 13 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 are the manuscript requirements of Friction?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Reference style: Numbered, in order of citation; Suggested reviewers: Optional; Graphical abstract: Required; 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 Friction based?
Of the 131 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 81 (about 62%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (81), United States (9) and Germany (6). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Friction?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Friction is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Friction open access, and what is the APC?
Friction 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, 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: .