Journal profile · POLYMER SCIENCE
Gels
ISSN 2310-2861 · MDPI · SWITZERLAND
Gels: CAS Zone 2 · Chemistry (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 6.43; JCR Q1 (journal website); fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 34 days to acceptance (196 articles, last 24 months); 1,041 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Gels is published by MDPI and is in Zone 2 of Chemistry in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications, 3D Printing in Biomedical Research and Electrospun Nanofibers in Biomedical Applications, together about 31.2% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
AimsThe journal Gels (ISSN 2310-2861) is an international, open access journal on physical (supramolecular) and chemical gel-based materials. Our aim is to encourage scientists to publish their experimental and theoretical results in as much detail as possible. Therefore, there is no restriction on the maximum length of the papers, and full experimental details must be provided so that the results can be reproduced. Short communications, full research papers and review papers are accepted formats for the preparation of the manuscripts.Gels aims to serve as a reference journal with a focus on gel materials for researchers working in both academia and industry. Therefore, papers demonstrating practical applications of these materials are particularly welcome. Occasionally, invited contributions (i.e., original research and review articles) on emerging issues and high-tech applications of gels are published as special issues.ScopeGeneral subject areas include: Organogels, hydrogels and ionic gels made either from low molecular weight compounds and/or polymers (i.e., physical (supramolecular) and chemical gels); Composite and hybrid materials where a metal is by some means incorporated into the gel network (i.e., metallogels); Dried-gels; Colloidal gels; Gels made in mixtures of solvents; Computational modeling of these materials in order to provide a better understanding of gelation mechanism; Synthesis, characterization and applications of the above-mentioned materials Gels as raw materials for the synthesis of non-gel functional materials MDPI Publication Ethics Statement MDPI is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). MDPI takes the responsibility to enforce a rigorous peer-review together with strict ethical policies and standards to ensure to add high quality scientific works to the field of scholarly publication. Unfortunately, cases of plagiarism, data falsification, inappropriate authorship credit, and the like, do arise. MDPI takes such publishing ethics issues very seriously and our editors are trained to proceed in such cases with a zero tolerance policy. To verify the originality of content submitted to our journals, we use iThenticate to check submissions against previous publications.Book ReviewsAuthors and publishers are encouraged to send review copies of their recent related books to the following address. Received books will be listed as Books Received within the journal's News & Announcements section. MDPI Grosspeteranlage 5
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): POLYMER SCIENCE
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applicationsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology18.2%
- 3D Printing in Biomedical ResearchEngineering6.9%
- Electrospun Nanofibers in Biomedical ApplicationsMaterials Science6.2%
- Wound Healing and TreatmentsMedicine5.3%
- Aerogels and thermal insulationChemistry5.2%
- Proteins in Food SystemsAgricultural and Biological Sciences5.1%
- Advanced Drug Delivery SystemsPharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics4.8%
- Polysaccharides Composition and ApplicationsAgricultural and Biological Sciences4.5%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Chemistry Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Chemistry | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Polymer Science | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Chemistry Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Chemistry | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Polymer Science | Zone 2 |
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 | Polymer Science | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- JCR Q1 · Polymer Science
- CiteScore Q1 · Organic Chemistry
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
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of SciencePMCPubMedCASPublisher website
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
- 6.43LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 6.4Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 6.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 10.3LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 10.3Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.95LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.1LetPub ·
- h-index
- 101OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 2,294OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 7.89OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 10.9%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 1,031LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 5,136 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 839 | 839 | 776 |
| 2025 | 1,041 | 1,041 | 8,589 |
| 2024 | 830 | 830 | 12,006 |
| 2023 | 991 | 991 | 20,209 |
| 2022 | 850 | 850 | 22,821 |
| 2021 | 301 | 301 | 9,846 |
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
34 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 27 days – 45 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 4 days (196 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 39 days
- Sample
- 196 articles with submission and acceptance dates (2,086 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 11 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 13 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 2.8 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication
- 36 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 6 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 2,600 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | CHF 2,100 | — | — | |
| LetPub | CHF 2,600 | 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 prepare7 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 200 words
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Required, 3
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted19
- articleArticle: These are original research manuscripts. The work should report scientifically sound experiments and provide a substantial amount of new information.Length not stated
- book reviewAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- brief communicationAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- brief reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- case reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- commentaryAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- conference reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- editorialAll peer-reviewed articles published by MDPI are assessed by our independent Academic Editors, and MDPI staff are not involved in any editorial decisions regard…Length not stated
- hypothesisAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- letterAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- opinionAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- perspectiveAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- protocolAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- registered reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- reviewAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- systematic reviewAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- technical noteAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- tutorialAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- viewpointAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- Authorship Authorship
MDPI follows the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines which state that, in order to qualify for authorship of a manuscript, the following criteria should be observed: Make substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; Draft the work or review it critically for important intel…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflicts of Interest
Prohibits excessive self-citation, copying unread references, preferential citation, and citing advertisements; follows COPE guidance on quotation and citation manipulation. Model summary
According to The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, “Authors should avoid entering into agreements with study sponsors, both for-profit and non-profit, that interfere with authors’ access to all of the study’s data or that interfere with their ability to analyze and interpret the data and to prepare and publish manuscripts independently when and where they choose.” All authors mus…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability statements
Data sharing encouraged; FAIR principles; deposit in trusted repositories; Data Availability Statement required; restrictions explained where applicable. Model summary
Data availability statements are required for all articles published with MDPI. During the peer review and editorial decision process, authors can be asked to share existing datasets or raw data that have been analyzed in the manuscript, and whether they will be made available to other researchers following publication. Authors will also be asked for the details of any existing datasets that have …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Publication Ethics Statement
Gels is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). We fully adhere to its Code of Conduct and to its Best Practice Guidelines. The editors of this journal enforce a rigorous peer review process together with strict ethical policies and standards to ensure to add high quality scientific works to the field of scholarly publication. Unfortunately, cases of plagiarism, data falsification,…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright / Open Access
Articles published in Gels will be Open-Access articles distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The copyright is retained by the author(s). MDPI will insert the following note at the end of the published text: © 2026 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and condi…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publication fees
If you transfer your manuscript to another open access (OA) journal, you will be charged an Article Processing Charge (APC) if your article is accepted for publication. The APC for each journal can be found on the individual journal’s website. For more information about APCs, please see here.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Editorial Process and Peer Review
All submissions are thoroughly peer-reviewed by experts within the field and undergo a structured editorial workflow designed to ensure quality, transparency, and scientific integrity. The full editorial procedure is available on the Editorial Process page and is also provided below. Pre-check Pre-check consists of a technical pre-check performed by the Editorial Office and an editorial pre-check …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints and Conference Papers
Gels accepts submissions that have previously been made available as preprints provided that they have not undergone peer review. A preprint is a draft version of a paper made available online before submission to a journal. MDPI operates Preprints, a preprint server to which submitted papers can be uploaded directly after completing journal submission. Note that Preprints operates independently o…
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
- MDPI
- Country or region
- SWITZERLAND
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2310-2861
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 12 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- 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 Gels
What CAS zone is Gels in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Gels is in Zone 2 of Chemistry, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Polymer Science. 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 Gels?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 6.43; CiteScore 10.3, h-index 101.
How long does peer review take at Gels?
Based on the dates recorded on 196 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 34 days (interquartile range 27–45 days); authors report an average review time of about 11 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 JCR quartile is Gels in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q1; by category, Polymer Science Q1. 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 Chemistry.
What are the manuscript requirements of Gels?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 200 words; Reference style: Author–date; Templates: LaTeX and Word; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Required, 3; Graphical abstract: Optional; 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.
Which databases index Gels?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Gels is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science, PMC, PubMed and CAS; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Gels open access, and what is the APC?
Gels is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
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: .