Journal profile · Chemistry, Medicinal
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry
ISSN 0022-2623 · eISSN 1520-4804 · American Chemical Society · UNITED STATES · Biweekly · Founded 1959
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry: CAS Zone 1 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 7.27; transformative journal; APC about USD 4,500; median 104 days to acceptance (93 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: fairly hard; 1,525 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry is published by American Chemical Society and is in Zone 1 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Receptor Mechanisms and Signaling, Synthesis and biological activity and Synthesis and Biological Evaluation, together about 20.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are Molecular Biology and Organic Chemistry. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry reports research relationships between molecular structure and biological activity or mode of action in drug discovery and development.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Chemistry, Medicinal
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Receptor Mechanisms and SignalingBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology6.9%
- Synthesis and biological activityChemistry6.8%
- Synthesis and Biological EvaluationChemistry6.8%
- Chemical Synthesis and AnalysisBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology6.7%
- Computational Drug Discovery MethodsComputer Science6.4%
- HIV/AIDS drug development and treatmentMedicine4.9%
- Synthesis and Characterization of Heterocyclic CompoundsChemistry4.8%
- Cancer therapeutics and mechanismsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.5%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Chemistry, Medicinal | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Chemistry, Medicinal | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Chemistry, Medicinal | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
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
- 7.27LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 7.3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 11.1LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 11.1Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.73LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.56LetPub ·
- h-index
- 240LetPub ·
- h-index
- 372OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 30,789OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 7.51OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 12.3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 19.31%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 1,370LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 40,918 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1,215 | 348 | 1,042 |
| 2025 | 1,525 | 684 | 9,815 |
| 2024 | 1,300 | 839 | 19,478 |
| 2023 | 1,016 | 719 | 20,954 |
| 2022 | 936 | 677 | 28,205 |
| 2021 | 1,120 | 811 | 41,503 |
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
104 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 78 days – 145 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 20 days (2 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 118 days
- Sample
- 93 articles with submission and acceptance dates (2,911 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 2.1 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly hardLetPub ·
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
Transformative journalLetPub
A subscription journal moving to full open access.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 4,500 | — | — |
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Biweekly
- Founded
- 1959
- ISSN
- 0022-2623
- Electronic ISSN
- 1520-4804
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 69, Issue 17 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Medicinal Chemistry
What CAS zone is Journal of Medicinal Chemistry in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Medicinal Chemistry is in Zone 1 of Medicine, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Chemistry, Medicinal; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Medicine. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Journal of Medicinal Chemistry?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 7.27; CiteScore 11.1, h-index 372.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Medicinal Chemistry?
Based on the dates recorded on 93 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 104 days (interquartile range 78–145 days); authors report an average review time of about 2.1 months; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly hard”. 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.
Which databases index Journal of Medicinal Chemistry?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Medicinal Chemistry is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is Journal of Medicinal Chemistry open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry is a transformative journal. APC about USD 4,500.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, Publisher website; 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: .