Journal profile · Chemistry-General Chemistry
Frontiers in Chemistry
ISSN 2296-2646 · Frontiers Media S.A. · UNITED STATES
Frontiers in Chemistry: CAS Zone 3 · Chemistry (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 5.28; fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 50 days to acceptance (134 articles, last 24 months); 448 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Frontiers in Chemistry is published by Frontiers Media S.A. and is in Zone 3 of Chemistry in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Advanced biosensing and bioanalysis techniques, Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques and Advancements in Battery Materials, together about 18.3% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Frontiers in Chemistry is a PubMed Central (PMC), Scopus and Web of Science (SCIE) indexed journal that explores the role of chemistry in our everyday lives. Led by Field Chief Editor Prof Steve Suib (University of Connecticut, USA), Frontiers in Chemistry welcomes original research articles, review articles, commentaries, and ideas about all aspects of chemistry, from electronics and manufacturing to health and well-being. The journal covers all areas of the chemical sciences and aims to advance our understanding of how atoms, ions, and molecules come together and come apart. Frontiers in Chemistry covers a wide range of topics including, but not limited to: analytical chemistry astrochemistry catalytic reactions and chemistry chemical biology chemical physics and physical chemistry electrochemistry green and sustainable chemistry inorganic chemistry medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry molecular liquids nanoscience organic chemistry organometallic chemistry photocatalysis and photochemistry polymer chemistry porous crystalline networks solid state chemistry supramolecular chemistry theoretical and computational chemistry. Collaborative research across areas of Chemistry is highly encouraged, particularly those covering specific subdisciplines such as analytical, inorganic, organic and physical chemistries. The journal actively welcomes submissions which support and advance the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), notably SDG 9: industry, innovation and infrastructure. Manuscripts that focus primarily on biological or medical applications, such as cell culture studies, cancer research, tissue engineering, or drug delivery systems, are not suitable for publication in this journal. Similarly, studies that are primarily concerned with the physical properties of materials, such as Fourier transform or photoelectron spectroscopy, without a relevance to chemical principles or reactions, are also outside the scope of this journal. Frontiers’ journals require that manuscripts primarily comprising computational studies of public data, such as Bibliometric studies and Mendelian Randomization, must include appropriate validation. Please refer to the Frontiers Standards for research methodology policy, for more information. Manuscripts not adhering to these standards will not be considered. Frontiers in Chemistry is committed to advancing developments in the field by allowing unrestricted access to articles and communicating scientific knowledge to researcher
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Chemistry-General Chemistry
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 6%); most named United States 2, United Kingdom 2, Italy 2, Israel 2, Mainland China 1 (17 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Advanced biosensing and bioanalysis techniquesBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology6.8%
- Advanced Photocatalysis TechniquesEnergy6%
- Advancements in Battery MaterialsEngineering5.6%
- Computational Drug Discovery MethodsComputer Science5.6%
- Nanoplatforms for cancer theranosticsEngineering5.4%
- Luminescence and Fluorescent MaterialsMaterials Science5.1%
- Electrocatalysts for Energy ConversionEnergy4.5%
- Advanced Nanomaterials in CatalysisMaterials Science4.5%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Chemistry Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Chemistry | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Chemistry, Multidisciplinary | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Chemistry Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Chemistry | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Chemistry, Multidisciplinary | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Chemistry Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Chemistry | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Chemistry, Multidisciplinary | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of SciencePMCINSPECPublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Astrophysics Data System, CLOCKSS, Crossref
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
- 5.28LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 5.3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 10.2LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 10.2Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.82LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.02LetPub ·
- h-index
- 32LetPub ·
- h-index
- 162OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 5,013OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 6.62OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.94%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 388LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 8,560 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 402 | 402 | 219 |
| 2025 | 448 | 448 | 2,462 |
| 2024 | 653 | 653 | 7,272 |
| 2023 | 797 | 797 | 11,815 |
| 2022 | 1,719 | 1,719 | 30,029 |
| 2021 | 1,241 | 1,241 | 30,292 |
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
50 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 35 days – 73 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 21 days (134 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 78 days
- Sample
- 134 articles with submission and acceptance dates (972 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 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 12 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 3,150 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | CHF 3,150 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 3,295 | 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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Conflicts of interest, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- AI use Use of AI to create written or visual content
Authors should not list a generative AI technology as a co-author or author of any submitted manuscript. Generative AI technologies cannot be held accountable for all aspects of a manuscript and consequently do not meet the criteria required for authorship. If the author of a submitted manuscript has used written or visual content produced by or edited using a generative AI technology, this use mu…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Safeguards against financial conflicts of interest
Only leading researchers acting as Associate Editors, who are not part of Frontiers' staff, can make acceptance decisions based on reviews performed by external experts acting as Community Reviewers or Reviewers. None have a financial incentive to accept articles, i.e. they are not paid for their role as Associate Editor or community Reviewer, and any award scheme is not linked to acceptances of m…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Open access and copyright
Figures/tables/images published under CC-BY; permission needed for copyrighted third-party material. Model summary
All Frontiers' articles from July 2012 onwards are published with open access under the Creative Commons CC-BY license (the current version is CC-BY, version 4.0). This means that the author(s) retains copyright, but the content is free to download, distribute, and adapt for commercial or non-commercial purposes, given appropriate attribution to the original article. Upon submission, the author(s)…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access and copyright
Open access under CC-BY v4.0 since July 2012; authors retain copyright. Model summary
All Frontiers' articles from July 2012 onwards are published with open access under the Creative Commons CC-BY license (the current version is CC-BY, version 4.0). This means that the author(s) retains copyright, but the content is free to download, distribute, and adapt for commercial or non-commercial purposes, given appropriate attribution to the original article. Upon submission, the author(s)…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review
CrossMark policy for maintaining content versions. Model summary
Our rigorous, transparent peer review process combines expert review and constructive dialogue to strengthen your manuscript.
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
- Frontiers Media S.A.
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2296-2646
- 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 Frontiers in Chemistry
What CAS zone is Frontiers in Chemistry in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Frontiers in Chemistry is in Zone 3 of Chemistry, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Chemistry, Multidisciplinary. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Chemistry. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Frontiers in Chemistry?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 5.28; CiteScore 10.2, h-index 162.
How long does peer review take at Frontiers in Chemistry?
Based on the dates recorded on 134 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 50 days (interquartile range 35–73 days); authors report an average review time of about 12 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Frontiers in Chemistry based?
Of the 17 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 6%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (2), United Kingdom (2) and Italy (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Frontiers in Chemistry?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Frontiers in Chemistry is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science, PMC and INSPEC; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Frontiers in Chemistry open access, and what is the APC?
Frontiers in Chemistry 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: .