Journal profile · PHARMACOLOGY & PHARMACY
Frontiers in Pharmacology
ISSN 1663-9812 · Frontiers Media S.A. · SWITZERLAND
Frontiers in Pharmacology: CAS Zone 3 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 5.39; fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 63 days to acceptance (200 articles, last 24 months); 4,127 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Frontiers in Pharmacology is published by Frontiers Media S.A. and is in Zone 3 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Pharmacological Effects of Natural Compounds, Computational Drug Discovery Methods and Traditional Chinese Medicine Analysis, together about 18% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Frontiers in Pharmacology is an interdisciplinary journal that publishes research on the interactions between drugs and living beings to prevent and cure human disease. Our partners include: The International Federation of Associations of Pharmaceutical Physicians and Pharmaceutical Medicine The Hungarian Society for Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology The Hellenic Society of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology The South African Society for Basic and Clinical Pharmacology Led by Field Chief Editor Heike Wulff (University of California, Davis, US), Frontiers in Pharmacology explores basic and clinical pharmacology, medicinal chemistry, pharmacy, and toxicology to clarify the fundamental processes of disease treatment and drug effects. Indexed in PubMed Central (PMC), Scopus, Web of Science (SCIE), and the DOAJ, the journal welcomes academic, industrial, and clinical work focused on pharmacology. Topics include, but are not limited to: cardiovascular and smooth muscle pharmacology drug metabolism and transport drugs outcomes research and policies ELSI in science and genetics ethnopharmacology experimental pharmacology and drug discovery gastrointestinal and hepatic pharmacology inflammation pharmacology integrative and regenerative pharmacology neuropharmacology obstetric and pediatric pharmacology pharmacoepidemiology pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics pharmacology of anti-cancer drugs pharmacology of infectious diseases pharmacology of ion channels and channelopathies predictive toxicology renal pharmacology respiratory pharmacology translational pharmacology. All submissions to the journal involving natural products, including plant extracts or preparations, must adhere to 'The Four Pillars of Ethnopharmacology' to be considered for peer review, regardless of the specialty section, as a baseline standard for sample characterization. These are a set of mandatory guidelines designed to maintain the scientific, cultural, and ethical integrity of the Journal, and describe what the leading journals in the field consider as the basic aspects of good research (full ConPhyMP statement available here, ConPhyMP statement overview here, and GA-tool here). Please refer to the FULL VERSION of these guidelines before submitting a manuscript to the journal. To be considered for publication in Frontiers in Pharmacology, studies incorporating complementary or alternative medicine must be based on a set of data linked to local or traditional uses that can be evaluated ph
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): PHARMACOLOGY & PHARMACY
Editorial board by country: 2 in mainland China (about 13%); most named United States 3, Italy 3, Mainland China 2, United Kingdom 2, Germany 1 (16 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Pharmacological Effects of Natural CompoundsPharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics6.6%
- Computational Drug Discovery MethodsComputer Science5.8%
- Traditional Chinese Medicine AnalysisMedicine5.7%
- Liver Disease Diagnosis and TreatmentMedicine5%
- Ferroptosis and cancer prognosisMedicine4.7%
- Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology ResearchNeuroscience4.6%
- Tryptophan and brain disordersNeuroscience4.3%
- Pharmacogenetics and Drug MetabolismPharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics4.2%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Pharmacology & Pharmacy | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Pharmacology & Pharmacy | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Pharmacology & Pharmacy | Zone 2 |
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 SciencePMCEmbasePublisher 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
- 5.39LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 5.4Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 9.5LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 9.5Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.25LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.27LetPub ·
- h-index
- 62LetPub ·
- h-index
- 243OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 17,393OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 5.11OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 3.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.91%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 3,844LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 32,553 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 3,282 | 3,282 | 1,695 |
| 2025 | 4,127 | 4,127 | 18,883 |
| 2024 | 3,417 | 3,417 | 34,795 |
| 2023 | 3,347 | 3,347 | 51,371 |
| 2022 | 5,823 | 5,823 | 124,011 |
| 2021 | 4,094 | 4,094 | 121,647 |
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
63 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 43 days – 95 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 29 days (200 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 97 days
- Sample
- 200 articles with submission and acceptance dates (7,977 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 14 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 14 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)
What to prepare2 items from the author guidelines
- Keywords
- 5–8
- Reference style
- Harvard
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Conflicts of interest, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Preprints
- 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
Reference styles: Harvard (author-date) or Vancouver (numbered). Model summary
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 ·- Publication ethics
Ethics approval statement required in Materials and methods for animal or human subject research. Model summary
For experiments reporting results on animal or human subject research, an ethics approval statement should be included in this section (for further information, see the 'Bioethics' section of our policies and publication ethics.)
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Open access and copyright
Figures, tables, and images published under CC-BY; authors must obtain permission for copyrighted material from other sources. 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 license (version 4.0) for articles from July 2012 onwards; 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
Our rigorous, transparent peer review process combines expert review and constructive dialogue to strengthen your manuscript.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism
Verbatim text must be in quotation marks with clear reference to original source. Model summary
Any inclusion of verbatim text must be contained in quotation marks and clearly reference the original source.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints
Preprints citable if DOI or archive URL available and clearly mentioned as preprint. Model summary
Preprints can be cited as long as a DOI or archive URL is available, and the citation clearly mentions that the contribution is a preprint.
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
- 1663-9812
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Frontiers in Pharmacology
What CAS zone is Frontiers in Pharmacology in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Frontiers in Pharmacology is in Zone 3 of Medicine, and in Zone 3 of the minor category 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 Frontiers in Pharmacology?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 5.39; CiteScore 9.5, h-index 243.
How long does peer review take at Frontiers in Pharmacology?
Based on the dates recorded on 200 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 63 days (interquartile range 43–95 days); authors report an average review time of about 14 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 Pharmacology?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Keywords: 5–8; Reference style: Harvard. 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 Pharmacology based?
Of the 16 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 2 (about 13%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (3), Italy (3) and Mainland China (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Frontiers in Pharmacology?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Frontiers in Pharmacology is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science, PMC and Embase; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Frontiers in Pharmacology open access, and what is the APC?
Frontiers in Pharmacology 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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .