Journal profile · Multidisciplinary Sciences
Scientific American
ISSN 0036-8733 · eISSN 1946-7087 · Scientific American Inc. · UNITED STATES · Monthly · Founded 1845
Scientific American: CAS Zone 4 · Multidisciplinary (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 0.25; subscription journal; review 4–8 weeks (community reports); community-reported acceptance: easy; 417 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Scientific American covers the most important and exciting research and ideas in science, health, technology and society. It is committed to sharing trustworthy information, enhancing our understanding of the world, and advancing science and promoting its applications.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Multidisciplinary Sciences
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Diverse Scientific and Economic StudiesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance15.4%
- Human auditory perception and evaluationEngineering11%
- Legal Cases and CommentaryMedicine9.1%
- Earthquake and Disaster Impact StudiesSocial Sciences6.5%
- Legal case studies and regulationsSocial Sciences5.5%
- History and Developments in AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy4.9%
- Educational Robotics and EngineeringComputer Science4.8%
- Educational Leadership and PracticesSocial Sciences4.7%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Multidisciplinary Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Multidisciplinary | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Multidisciplinary Sciences | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Multidisciplinary Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Multidisciplinary | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Multidisciplinary Sciences | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Multidisciplinary Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Multidisciplinary | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Multidisciplinary Sciences | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview 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
- 0.25LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 0.2LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.11LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0LetPub ·
- h-index
- 83LetPub ·
- h-index
- 260OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 5,396OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.2OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 0%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 9LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 200Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 192,147 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 294 | 7 | 6 |
| 2025 | 417 | 8 | 35 |
| 2024 | 510 | 10 | 199 |
| 2023 | 336 | 8 | 134 |
| 2022 | 558 | 10 | 482 |
| 2021 | 586 | 9 | 443 |
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
- Average review time (community reports)
- 4–8 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
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
Subscription journalLetPub
A subscription journal: articles are read by subscription or purchase, and authors usually pay no publication charge.
No source has fee information yet; check the journal's website.
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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websitePublication ethics
- Publication ethics
Editorial independence policy Model summary
Scientific American maintains a strict policy of editorial independence in reporting developments in science to our readers.
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
- Scientific American Inc.
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Founded
- 1845
- ISSN
- 0036-8733
- Electronic ISSN
- 1946-7087
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Scientific American
What CAS zone is Scientific American in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Scientific American is in Zone 4 of Multidisciplinary, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Multidisciplinary Sciences. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 4 of Multidisciplinary. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Scientific American?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 0.25; CiteScore 0.2, h-index 260.
How long does peer review take at Scientific American?
Authors report an average review time of 4–8 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Easy”. 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 Scientific American?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Scientific American is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is Scientific American open access, and what is the APC?
Scientific American is a subscription journal. Fee information is not available yet; check the journal's website.
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: .