Journal profile · MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY-OPTICS
Optical Materials Express
ISSN 2159-3930 · The Optical Society · UNITED STATES · Founded 2011
Optical Materials Express: CAS Zone 3 · Physics & Astronomy (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.63; fully open access; APC about USD 1,940; median 59 days to acceptance (102 articles, last 24 months); 238 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Optical Materials Express is published by The Optical Society and is in Zone 3 of Physics & Astronomy in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Photonic and Optical Devices, Solid State Laser Technologies and Plasmonic and Surface Plasmon Research, together about 23.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The Optical Society (OSA) publishes high-quality, peer-reviewed articles in its portfolio of journals, which serve the full breadth of the optics and photonics community. Optical Materials Express (OMEx), OSA's open-access, rapid-review journal, primarily emphasizes advances in both conventional and novel optical materials, their properties, theory and modeling, synthesis and fabrication approaches for optics and photonics; how such materials contribute to novel optical behavior; and how they enable new or improved optical devices. The journal covers a full range of topics, including, but not limited to: Artificially engineered optical structures Biomaterials Optical detector materials Optical storage media Materials for integrated optics Nonlinear optical materials Laser materials Metamaterials Nanomaterials Organics and polymers Soft materials IR materials Materials for fiber optics Hybrid technologies Materials for quantum photonics Optical Materials Express considers original research articles, feature issue contributions, invited reviews, and comments on published articles. The Journal also publishes occasional short, timely opinion articles from experts and thought-leaders in the field on current or emerging topic areas that are generating significant interest.
Source: LetPub
Research area (LetPub): MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY-OPTICS
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Photonic and Optical DevicesEngineering9.3%
- Solid State Laser TechnologiesEngineering7.1%
- Plasmonic and Surface Plasmon ResearchEngineering6.8%
- Metamaterials and Metasurfaces ApplicationsMaterials Science6.4%
- Advanced Fiber Laser TechnologiesPhysics and Astronomy6.3%
- Photonic Crystals and ApplicationsPhysics and Astronomy6.3%
- Luminescence Properties of Advanced MaterialsMaterials Science5.9%
- Glass properties and applicationsMaterials Science5.5%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Physics & Astronomy Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Physics & Astronomy | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Materials Science, Multidisciplinary | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Optics | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Physics & Astronomy Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Physics & Astronomy | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Materials Science, Multidisciplinary | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Optics | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Materials Science Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Materials Science | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Materials Science, Multidisciplinary | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Optics | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
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
- 2.63LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 6.3LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.65LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.88LetPub ·
- h-index
- 49LetPub ·
- h-index
- 99OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 2,817OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.83OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 3.8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 98.73%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 231LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 5,111 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 245 | 245 | 96 |
| 2025 | 238 | 238 | 639 |
| 2024 | 253 | 253 | 1,347 |
| 2023 | 323 | 323 | 2,607 |
| 2022 | 394 | 394 | 5,343 |
| 2021 | 416 | 416 | 5,746 |
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 Crossref · to
59 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 42 days – 77 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 14 days (102 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 84 days
- Sample
- 102 articles with submission and acceptance dates (560 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)
- 3–6 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 9 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 | USD 1,940 | Yes | CC BY, Publisher's own license | |
| OpenAlex | USD 1,843 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 1,890 | Yes | — |
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
- The Optical Society
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Founded
- 2011
- ISSN
- 2159-3930
- Official links
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Optical Materials Express
What CAS zone is Optical Materials Express in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Optical Materials Express is in Zone 3 of Physics & Astronomy, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Materials Science, Multidisciplinary / Optics. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Physics & Astronomy. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Optical Materials Express?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.63; CiteScore 6.3, h-index 99.
How long does peer review take at Optical Materials Express?
Based on the dates recorded on 102 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 59 days (interquartile range 42–77 days); authors report an average review time of 3–6 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.
Which databases index Optical Materials Express?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Optical Materials Express is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Optical Materials Express open access, and what is the APC?
Optical Materials Express is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 1,940.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, 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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .