Journal profile · Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics-Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics (miscellaneous)
Frontiers in Drug Discovery
ISSN 2674-0338 · Frontiers Media S.A. · Switzerland
Frontiers in Drug Discovery: impact factor 5.8 (journal website); fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; review about 15 weeks (community reports); 19 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Frontiers in Drug Discovery is published by Frontiers Media S.A.. By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Computational Drug Discovery Methods, SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research and vaccines and immunoinformatics approaches, together about 39.7% of its articles. Its main subfields are Molecular Biology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Frontiers in Drug Discovery is an ESCI and Scopus-indexed multidisciplinary journal focused on the discovery and development of new drugs and therapies. Led by Field Chief Editor Prof. Stefania Galdiero (University of Naples Federico II), this journal fosters studies across disciplines, with a primary focus on investigations dedicated to a wide range of therapeutic agents and their mode of action, including small molecules and biologics, along with cutting-edge technologies critical to drug discovery and development. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: a broad range of in silico methods from molecular modeling to artificial intelligence big data and smart data, knowledge discovery, and actionable knowledge biologics including therapeutic proteins, antibodies, cell therapies and gene therapies computational-chemistry-biology-medicine continuum drug combination drug repurposing experimental low-, medium-, and high-throughput approaches in silico and in vitro ADME-tox studies to assist drug discovery in vitro models for early-stage drug discovery such as 3D cell cultures and patient-derived organoids in vivo models and animal use alternatives mechanisms of action of drugs and drug candidates national and international drug discovery and development platforms and networks novel targets, pathways, and molecular mechanisms in health and disease states novel therapeutic strategies small molecules including short peptides, nucleic acids, and macrocycles. Frontiers in Drug Discovery is also interested in studies on personalized and stratified medicine, pharmacoeconomics, project mining, management and strategic planning, ecosystem mapping, public-private partnerships, academic drug discovery and translational medicine, training and education, empowering citizen and patients to contribute to the drug discovery process, and increasing the awareness of politicians and mass media about drug discovery. Furthermore, the journal welcomes submissions which support the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), notably SDG 3: good health and well-being. Manuscripts related to healthcare policy, drug delivery, molecules discovered in silico that have not been validated experimentally, pharmacoeconomics, drug manufacturing, drug marketing or ethics of drug development are not suitable for publication in this journal. The journal will consider traditional medicines, provided there is well-established, peer-reviewed scientific evidence of efficacy and the princi
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics-Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics (miscellaneous)
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 7, Italy 3, France 2, Mexico 2, United Kingdom 1 (18 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Computational Drug Discovery MethodsComputer Science25%
- SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 ResearchMedicine7.6%
- vaccines and immunoinformatics approachesBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology7.1%
- Monoclonal and Polyclonal Antibodies ResearchMedicine4.5%
- Microbial Natural Products and BiosynthesisMedicine4%
- Machine Learning in Materials ScienceMaterials Science4%
- COVID-19 Clinical Research StudiesMedicine3.6%
- Malaria Research and ControlMedicine3.6%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of SciencePublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, 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 (publisher)
- 5.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 5Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.87LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.65LetPub ·
- h-index
- 19OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 46OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 6.27OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 1.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 15LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 213 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 49 | 49 | 10 |
| 2025 | 19 | 19 | 78 |
| 2024 | 40 | 40 | 589 |
| 2023 | 36 | 36 | 490 |
| 2022 | 48 | 48 | 522 |
| 2021 | 4 | 4 | 151 |
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 15 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 15 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 1,950 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | CHF 1,950 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 2,125 | 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)
What to prepare3 items from the author guidelines
- Keywords
- 5–8
- Reference style
- Harvard
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, 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 ·- Authorship
Authors must select appropriate article type and comply with its description and word count limits. Model summary
Frontiers requires authors to select the appropriate article type for their manuscript and to comply with the article type descriptions defined in the journal's 'Article types' page, which can be seen from the 'For authors' menu on every Frontiers journal page.
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, and images published under CC-BY; permission required 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; author retains 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
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
- Switzerland
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2674-0338
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- 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 Drug Discovery
What is the impact factor of Frontiers in Drug Discovery?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 5.8; this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 5, h-index 19.
How long does peer review take at Frontiers in Drug Discovery?
Authors report an average review time of about 15 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 Frontiers in Drug Discovery?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Keywords: 5–8; Reference style: Harvard; Templates: LaTeX and Word. 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 Frontiers in Drug Discovery based?
Of the 18 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (7), Italy (3) and France (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Frontiers in Drug Discovery?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Frontiers in Drug Discovery is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Frontiers in Drug Discovery open access, and what is the APC?
Frontiers in Drug Discovery 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 2026-08-24). Last updated: .