Journal profile · Chemistry, Analytical
Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry
ISSN 0951-4198 · eISSN 1097-0231 · John Wiley and Sons Ltd · ENGLAND · Semimonthly · Founded 1987
Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry: CAS Zone 4 · Chemistry (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.76; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,840; median 88 days to acceptance (107 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: 50%; 248 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry is published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd and is in Zone 4 of Chemistry in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Mass Spectrometry Techniques and Applications, Analytical Chemistry and Chromatography and Metabolomics and Mass Spectrometry Studies, together about 51.3% of its articles. Its main subfields are Spectroscopy. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry is a journal whose aim is the rapid publication of original research results and ideas on all aspects of the science of gas-phase ions; it covers all the associated scientific disciplines. There is no formal limit on paper length (“rapid” is not synonymous with “brief”), but papers should be of a length that is commensurate with the importance and complexity of the results being reported. Contributions may be theoretical or practical in nature; they may deal with methods, techniques and applications, or with the interpretation of results; they may cover any area in science that depends directly on measurements made upon gaseous ions or that is associated with such measurements. In general, submissions that use conventional MS, GC/MS or LC/MS methods to catalogue or screen for components of extracts including Traditional Chinese Medicines are discouraged, except where the authors can clearly demonstrate that their contribution represents a significant extension of the capabilities or applications of mass spectrometry or new understanding of ion chemistry and related disciplines. In addition, articles reporting Stable Isotope analyses may only be published if they express novelty or significant developments in SI methodology.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Chemistry, Analytical
Editor-in-chief Dietrich Volmer Humboldt-UniversitätPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 8 in mainland China (about 16%); most named United States 13, Mainland China 8, Canada 6, United Kingdom 5, Germany 5 (50 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Mass Spectrometry Techniques and ApplicationsChemistry29.5%
- Analytical Chemistry and ChromatographyChemistry14.6%
- Metabolomics and Mass Spectrometry StudiesBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology7.2%
- Isotope Analysis in EcologyEnvironmental Science6.9%
- Analytical chemistry methods developmentChemistry6.5%
- Advanced Proteomics Techniques and ApplicationsChemistry5.7%
- Ion-surface interactions and analysisEngineering4.5%
- Advanced Chemical Sensor TechnologiesEngineering3.3%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Chemistry Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Chemistry | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Biochemical Research Methods | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Chemistry, Analytical | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Spectroscopy | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Chemistry Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Chemistry | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Biochemical Research Methods | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Chemistry, Analytical | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Spectroscopy | Zone 3 |
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 | Biochemical Research Methods | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Chemistry, Analytical | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Spectroscopy | Zone 4 |
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 ScienceMEDLINEPubMedINSPECCASCurrent 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
- 1.76LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 1.8Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.2LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 3.2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 3.2Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.36LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.65LetPub ·
- h-index
- 126LetPub ·
- h-index
- 176OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 7,931OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.83OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 11.1%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 33.33%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 202LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 218Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 594,763Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 14,560 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 183 | 98 | 33 |
| 2025 | 248 | 122 | 422 |
| 2024 | 272 | 154 | 834 |
| 2023 | 193 | 104 | 930 |
| 2022 | 237 | 66 | 1,416 |
| 2021 | 238 | 59 | 2,221 |
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
88 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 55 days – 118 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 14 days (107 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 106 days
- Sample
- 107 articles with submission and acceptance dates (444 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 3 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- 50%LetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 68%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 68%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 36 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 36 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 90 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 14 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Open 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 4,840 / EUR 4,020 / GBP 3,240 | — | — | |
| 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)
Article types accepted8, with length limits
- lettervel aspects of this earlier research. A Letter typically contains no more than about 2000 words, sometimes accompanied by 1-2 figures or tables in supportmain text ≤ 2,000 words
- letters to the editorA Letter typically contains no more than about 2000 words, sometimes accompanied by 1-2 figures or tables in support of the discussion.Length not stated
- mini-reviewsMini-reviews typically contain no more than 50 references.Length not stated
- perspectivesThe Perspective should be accompanied by an abstract and generally contain less than 50 references.Length not stated
- protocolsProtocols describe in detail innovative experimental procedures for mass spectrometry.Length not stated
- research articlesResearch articles have no formal limits on length.Length not stated
- reviewsReviews should offer a broad and accessible précis of a topic. There are no formal limits on article length but they should typically contain in excess of 70 re…Length not stated
- tutorialsTutorials must be accompanied by an abstract and typically contain less than 50 references.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Data availability, License & copyright, Peer review, Preprints
- AI use Disclosing the use of artificial intelligence (AI)
If you or your co-authors have used Artificial Intelligence Generated Content (AIGC) tools such as ChatGPT and others based on large language models (LLMs) to develop any portion of a manuscript, their use must be described transparently and in detail in the Methods section. Find more details on Wiley’s AI guidelines for researchers and Wiley’s AI policy in full in the Best Practices Guidelines on…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Author Contributions
For all articles, the journal mandates the CRediT (Contribution Roles Taxonomy)—more information is available on our Author Services site.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Expects Data Sharing
Data sharing policy: encourages data sharing in public repositories Model summary
RCM encourages authors to share the data and other artefacts supporting the results in the paper by archiving it in an appropriate public repository. Authors should include a data accessibility statement, including a link to the repository they have used, in order that this statement can be published alongside their paper. Visit re3data.org or fairsharing.org to help identify registered and certif…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright and Permissions
Copyright Transfer Agreement / Licence: Following the acceptance of a manuscript, the corresponding author will receive an email prompting them to login into Author Services where they can complete a CTA/Licence agreement on behalf of all authors on the paper. For authors choosing OnlineOpen If the OnlineOpen option is selected the corresponding author will have a choice of the following Creative …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Transparent Peer Review
Peer review transparency pilot Model summary
This journal is participating in a pilot on Peer Review Transparency. By submitting to this journal, authors agree that the reviewer reports, their responses, and the editor’s decision letter will be linked from the published article to where they appear on Publons in the case that the article is accepted. Authors have the opportunity to opt out during submission, and reviewers may remain anonymou…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprint policy
Preprint policy: preprint submissions accepted Model summary
This journal accepts submissions previously published on preprint servers.
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
- John Wiley and Sons Ltd
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Semimonthly
- Founded
- 1987
- ISSN
- 0951-4198
- Electronic ISSN
- 1097-0231
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 40, Issue 23 (December 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry
What CAS zone is Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry is in Zone 4 of Chemistry, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Biochemical Research Methods / Chemistry, Analytical / Spectroscopy. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Chemistry. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.76; CiteScore 3.2, h-index 176.
How long does peer review take at Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry?
Based on the dates recorded on 107 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 88 days (interquartile range 55–118 days); authors report an average review time of about 3 months; the community-reported acceptance is “50%”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 68% (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 Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry based?
Of the 50 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 8 (about 16%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (13), Mainland China (8) and Canada (6). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry is indexed in SCIE and Scopus. The journal's website also lists EI Compendex, Web of Science, MEDLINE, PubMed, INSPEC, CAS and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry open access, and what is the APC?
Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,840.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .