Journal profile · Multiple
RSC Medicinal Chemistry
ISSN 2632-8682 · ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY · ENGLAND
RSC Medicinal Chemistry: CAS Zone 3 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 4.64; hybrid open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 72 days to acceptance (111 articles, last 24 months); 425 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
RSC Medicinal Chemistry is published by ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY and is in Zone 3 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Synthesis and biological activity, Click Chemistry and Applications and Computational Drug Discovery Methods, together about 29.6% of its articles. Its main subfields are Organic Chemistry and Molecular Biology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Research articles published in this journal must show a breakthrough or significant advance on previously published work, or bring new thinking or results that will have a strong impact in their field. Examples of areas within the journal's scope are: Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel chemical entities or biotherapeutic modalities. To be suitable for publication these must exhibit significant potential as new pharmacological agents, tools, probes or potential drugs.Modifications of known chemical entities or biotherapeutic modalities that result in a significantly greater understanding of their structure-activity relationships, an improvement of their properties or provide other information of significant value, for example, the identification of a new target or mode of action for a known agent. Routine modifications with minimal or no improvement are not suitable for RSC Medicinal Chemistry.Novel methodologies and technologies in the broader chemical and biological sciences (for example, enabling synthetic chemistry, chemical biology, -omics sciences, nanoscience) with application to drug discovery, target identification or elucidation of the mechanism of action. Biological studies should present sufficient innovation with respect to the chemistry.Computational studies are welcome where they significantly advance medicinal chemistry knowledge. Studies that use established computational methods should include an original prediction and be accompanied by new experimental data which validates the prediction made. Studies that report novel computational methodology must demonstrate its use in medicinal chemistry through comparison with experimental data. Computational research that does not clearly relate the results obtained to experimental data or that has no demonstrated utility (or where the utility is unlikely to advance the field significantly) is not suitable for RSC Medicinal Chemistry. Docking studies presented without experimental data are not suitable for publication in the journal.Studies that examine the effect of the molecular structure of a compound on pharmacokinetic behaviour and pharmacodynamics.Studies that present new insights into drug design based on analysis of existing experimental datasets or new theoretical approaches if supported by experimental evidence.Studies presenting new drug delivery systems with novel chemical agents are welcomed, in particular those that involve chemical modification of the delivery syste
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Multiple
Editor-in-chief Mike WaringPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 25%); most named Mainland China 1, India 1, Spain 1, Australia 1 (4 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Synthesis and biological activityChemistry12.2%
- Click Chemistry and ApplicationsChemistry8.8%
- Computational Drug Discovery MethodsComputer Science8.6%
- Protein Degradation and InhibitorsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.9%
- Cancer therapeutics and mechanismsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.7%
- Synthesis and Biological EvaluationChemistry5.2%
- Diverse Scientific and Economic StudiesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance4.7%
- Chemical Synthesis and AnalysisBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology3.7%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Chemistry, Medicinal | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Chemistry, Medicinal | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Chemistry, Medicinal | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | 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
Web of SciencePubMedPublisher 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
- 4.64LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 4.6Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.7LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.76LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.98LetPub ·
- h-index
- 53OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 511OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.58OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 2.2%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 28.86%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 369LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,885 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 264 | 240 | 119 |
| 2025 | 425 | 424 | 1,539 |
| 2024 | 370 | 367 | 3,189 |
| 2023 | 244 | 237 | 2,736 |
| 2022 | 181 | 142 | 2,415 |
| 2021 | 203 | 152 | 4,494 |
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
72 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 49 days – 102 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 7 days (111 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 80 days
- Sample
- 111 articles with submission and acceptance dates (737 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
- Submission to first decision
- 11 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publisher website | GBP 3,100 | — | — |
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 prepare3 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- 50–250 words
- Reference style
- Numbered, in order of citation
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
Article types accepted4
- commentsRSC Medicinal Chemistry publishes: Research articles Review articles Opinion CommentsLength not stated
- opinionOpinions are short, personal viewpoints on a topic of current interest to the community. They can be speculative in nature and stimulate counter-opinion, provid…Length not stated
- research articleRSC Medicinal Chemistry publishes: Research articles Review articles Opinion CommentsLength not stated
- review articleThese are easy-to-read articles covering current areas of interest for a broad medicinal chemistry audience. They are a concise and critical appraisal of an are…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- Authorship Authorship
Include full names and affiliations for all authors. Everyone who made a significant contribution to the conception, design or implementation of the work should be listed as co-authors. The corresponding author has the responsibility to include all (and only) co-authors. The corresponding author also signs a copyright licence on behalf of all the authors. If there are more than 10 co-authors on th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflicts of interest
In accordance with our policy on Conflicts of interest please ensure that a conflicts of interest statement is included in your manuscript. This statement is required for all submitted manuscripts. If no conflicts exist, please state that ‘There are no conflicts to declare’.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability
Digital preservation policy: committed to preserving online content (electronic journals and eBooks) in CLOCKSS, LOCKSS, and Portico. Model summary
A data availability statement (DAS) is required to be submitted alongside all articles. Please see the submit section of these guidelines for more details and examples of suitable statements you can use.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Using images and copyright
Any images that are used should be numerically referenced in the figure caption. If your work is solely for your course, and will not be published publicly, you don’t need to obtain copyright permission. If you are preparing an article to be published you will have to obtain copyright permission. The publisher/copyright owner of the image will need to be contacted and asked for their process for r…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publishing options
Gold open access For authors who want to publish their article gold open access, our article processing charge (APC) of £3,100 (+ any applicable tax) is applied. Our APC is all-inclusive and makes your article freely available online immediately, permanently, and includes your choice of Creative Commons licence (CC BY or CC BY-NC) at no extra cost. It is not a submission charge, so you only pay if…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Transparent peer review
Transparent peer review: editor's decision letter, reviewers' comments and authors' response published alongside the article under CC-BY; opt-in during submission and peer review, can change mind prior to acceptance. Model summary
In the interest of transparency and open science, transparent peer review is where the editor’s decision letter, reviewers’ comments and authors’ response for all versions of the manuscript are published alongside the article under an Open Access Creative Commons licence (CC-BY) . You can see some examples here: Transparent peer review example oneTransparent peer review example twoTransparent peer…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprint servers (for example, ChemRxiv, arXiv)
ChemRxiv & bioRxiv: The citation should include the author(s), the name of the preprint server, the year, the word “preprint” and the DOI (including version number). S. Bhattacharjee, S. P. Chaudhary and S. Bhattacharyya, ChemRxiv, 2019, preprint, DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv.9794270.v1 arXiv: The citation should include the author(s), the name of the preprint server, the year, the article number and th…
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
- ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- ISSN
- 2632-8682
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about RSC Medicinal Chemistry
What CAS zone is RSC Medicinal Chemistry in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, RSC Medicinal Chemistry is in Zone 3 of Medicine, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Biochemistry & Molecular Biology / Chemistry, Medicinal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Medicine. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of RSC Medicinal Chemistry?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 4.64; CiteScore 5.7, h-index 53.
How long does peer review take at RSC Medicinal Chemistry?
Based on the dates recorded on 111 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 72 days (interquartile range 49–102 days). 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 are the manuscript requirements of RSC Medicinal Chemistry?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 50–250 words; Reference style: Numbered, in order of citation; Templates: LaTeX and Word. 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.
Where are the editorial board members of RSC Medicinal Chemistry based?
Of the 4 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 25%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (1), India (1) and Spain (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index RSC Medicinal Chemistry?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, RSC Medicinal Chemistry is indexed in SCIE and Scopus. The journal's website also lists Web of Science and PubMed; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is RSC Medicinal Chemistry open access, and what is the APC?
RSC Medicinal Chemistry is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC charged, amount not published.
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 2026-08-28). Last updated: .