Journal profile · Materials Science, Composites
Polymer Composites
ISSN 0272-8397 · eISSN 1548-0569 · WILEY · UNITED STATES · Monthly · Founded 1980
Polymer Composites: CAS Zone 2 · Materials Science (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 4.83; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,480; median 67 days to acceptance (175 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: 50%; 1,525 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Polymer Composites is published by WILEY and is in Zone 2 of Materials Science in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Mechanical Behavior of Composites, Natural Fiber Reinforced Composites and Polymer Nanocomposites and Properties, together about 33% of its articles. Its main subfields are Polymers and Plastics. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Polymer Composites (PC) is the engineering and scientific journal serving the fields of reinforced plastics and polymer composites and publishes peer-reviewed articles on research, production, processing, and applications of composite materials. Polymer composites are formed by two or more phases as the matrix (usually an organic polymer) and fibers (from the nano- to macro-scale) as the reinforcement, intended primarily for load-bearing applications. Generally, the strength and stiffness of the fiber materials are much higher than those of the polymer matrix materials and thus the fibers are the major load-bearing component in polymer composites. In some cases, organic polymers are modified by incorporation of fillers to augment stiffness that in turn can produce synergy in fiber-filled composites. PC brings you the details of developments in this rapidly expanding area of technology long before they become commercial realities. PC emphasizes the science and technology of composite materials, including fibrous and particulate reinforcements in polymeric and natural composites, such as plants and biological materials when primarily intended for load-bearing applications. Of interest to PC Properties, design, and manufacturing of reinforcing fibers and particles for the development of polymer composites Multifunctional and multiscale polymer composites Advances in fabrication and processing of polymer composite materials Polymer composites manufacturing science and technology Process modelling of polymer composite materials (compare with new or existing experimental data if possible) Microstructural characterization of polymer composites and their constituent phases Interfaces in polymer composites New approaches to prediction and measurement of mechanical, physical, and chemical behavior, wear behavior, and performance of polymer composites Enhancement of mechanical, thermal, electrical, and barrier properties of polymer composites by incorporation of various forms of fibers (glass, carbon, aramids, rigid chain polymers), nanoparticles, and their combinations. Of interest are filled polymer systems that are used in load-bearing applications Use of polymer composite materials in 3D printing Improvement of barrier properties of a polymer through the addition of nanoparticles when present in conjunction with high aspect ratio reinforcing fillers Not of interest to PC Filled and unfilled rubber unless they appear with continuous fiber reinforcement Manuscripts
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Materials Science, Composites
Editor-in-chief Alessandro PegorettiPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 4%); most named United States 10, Italy 5, Australia 2, Mainland China 1, Japan 1 (25 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Mechanical Behavior of CompositesEngineering12.5%
- Natural Fiber Reinforced CompositesMaterials Science10.8%
- Polymer Nanocomposites and PropertiesMaterials Science9.7%
- Fiber-reinforced polymer compositesEngineering7.8%
- Epoxy Resin Curing ProcessesEngineering6.2%
- Polymer crystallization and propertiesMaterials Science5.2%
- Tribology and Wear AnalysisEngineering5%
- biodegradable polymer synthesis and propertiesMaterials Science5%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Materials Science Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Materials Science | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Polymer Science | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Materials Science, Composites | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Materials Science Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Materials Science | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Materials Science, Composites | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Polymer Science | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Materials Science Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Materials Science | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Polymer Science | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Materials Science, Composites | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
EI CompendexWeb of ScienceINSPECCASCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: ProQuest
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
- 4.83LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 4.9Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 4.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 7.7LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 7.7Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 7.7Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.76LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.14LetPub ·
- h-index
- 73LetPub ·
- h-index
- 135OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 6,877OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 5.46OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 20.4%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 12.14%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 1,472LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 1,471Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 1,176,460Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 13,301 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 896 | 220 | 374 |
| 2025 | 1,525 | 531 | 5,939 |
| 2024 | 1,399 | 625 | 14,557 |
| 2023 | 859 | 357 | 12,721 |
| 2022 | 754 | 60 | 15,460 |
| 2021 | 561 | 52 | 14,328 |
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
67 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 49 days – 89 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 13 days (175 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 83 days
- Sample
- 175 articles with submission and acceptance dates (2,734 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 2.6 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- 50%LetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 33%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 33%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 5 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 5 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 77 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 15 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer reviewPublisher website
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
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 4,480 / EUR 3,750 / GBP 3,010 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
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
- Reference style
- ACS
- Not considered
- essentially the same research to multiple journals
Article types accepted2
- editorialPublication Ethics The authors, reviewers, and editors of the SPE Journals are expected to follow the standards determined by the Committee on Publication Ethic…Length not stated
- reviewManuscripts may be accepted for publication without change or with minor changes. If major revisions are needed, the manuscript may be sent back to the original…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- AI use
AI use allowed for language editing; authors must write initial manuscript; AI use must be described in Experimental section; misrepresentation not acceptable. Model summary
Artificial intelligence (AI) tools can provide a variety of benefits in the scientific research process including in the generation, collection, analysis, and visualization of research data. Authors are expected to carefully review any data generated by or analyzed using AI or related computational techniques and must carry out the final interpretation of the results presented in the manuscript.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Authorship
Authorship criteria; no changes in authorship (additions or removal) after acceptance; order changes allowed subject to editorial approval. Model summary
Credit for authorship should be based on: substantial contributions to research design, the acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data, drafting the paper or revising it critically, approval of the submitted and final versions. Authors should meet all three criteria. All contributors who do not meet all the criteria for authorship should be listed in the acknowledgement section. The correspon…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflict of Interest Statement
Funding disclosure required (text truncated). Model summary
Authors will be asked to provide a conflict of interest statement during the submission process. For details on what to include in this section, see the ‘Conflict of Interest’ section in the Editorial Policies and Ethical Considerations section above. Submitting authors should ensure they liaise with all co-authors to confirm agreement with the final statement.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data Sharing and Data Availability
Data sharing encouraged; data availability statement may be published; shared data should be cited with persistent identifier. Model summary
Polymer Composites encourages authors to share the data and other artefacts supporting the results in the paper by archiving it in an appropriate public repository. Authors may provide a data availability statement, including a link to the repository they have used, in order that this statement can be published in their paper. Shared data should be cited. All accepted manuscripts may elect to publ…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Publication Ethics
Publication ethics: COPE standards; no previously published results, plagiarism, fictitious results, or intentional reference omissions; disclose related manuscripts under consideration elsewhere; no duplicate submission; no salami slicing. Model summary
The authors, reviewers, and editors of the SPE Journals are expected to follow the standards determined by the Committee on Publication Ethics. In particular, authors should not submit manuscripts that contain previously published results, plagiarized material, fictitious results, or intentional reference omissions. Authors should disclose related manuscripts that are under consideration or in pre…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright Transfer Agreement
A signed Copyright Transfer Agreement (CTA) is required to be completed after manuscript acceptance. This must be done using the Wiley Author Licensing Service where authors may also indicate whether the article should be open access. After acceptance you will receive an email from Author Services with a link to your "My Publication" page and you will be guided through the process in order to sele…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access
Open access (hybrid) available for primary research articles; APC charged; CC license options; self-archiving allowed under standard copyright agreement. Model summary
Open access is available to authors of primary research articles who wish to make their article available to non-subscribers on publication, or whose funding agency requires grantees to archive the final version of their article. With open access, the author, the author's funding agency, or the author's institution pays a fee to ensure that the article is made available to non-subscribers upon pub…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer Review
Manuscripts are selected for external peer review based on the importance, novelty, interest of the work to the wider community, and quality of the described research. Manuscripts that are not selected for external peer review are normally returned to the author within five working days. Selected manuscripts describing original research are sent to multiple expert reviewers. Peer review for the SP…
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
- WILEY
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Founded
- 1980
- ISSN
- 0272-8397
- Electronic ISSN
- 1548-0569
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 47, Issue 18 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Polymer Composites
What CAS zone is Polymer Composites in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Polymer Composites is in Zone 2 of Materials Science, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Polymer Science / Materials Science, Composites. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Materials Science. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Polymer Composites?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 4.83; CiteScore 7.7, h-index 135.
How long does peer review take at Polymer Composites?
Based on the dates recorded on 175 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 67 days (interquartile range 49–89 days); authors report an average review time of about 2.6 months; the community-reported acceptance is “50%”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 33% (2025). 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Polymer Composites based?
Of the 25 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 4%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (10), Italy (5) and Australia (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Polymer Composites?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Polymer Composites is indexed in SCIE and Scopus. The journal's website also lists EI Compendex, Web of Science, INSPEC, CAS and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Polymer Composites open access, and what is the APC?
Polymer Composites is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,480.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex; 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: .