Journal profile · Spectroscopy
Spectroscopy Letters
ISSN 0038-7010 · eISSN 1532-2289 · Taylor and Francis Ltd. · UNITED STATES · Bimonthly · Founded 1968
Spectroscopy Letters: CAS Zone 4 · Chemistry (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.37; subscription journal; APC charged, amount not published; median 89 days to acceptance (117 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: easy; 131 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Spectroscopy Letters is published by Taylor and Francis 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 Solid-state spectroscopy and crystallography, Analytical Chemistry and Chromatography and Molecular spectroscopy and chirality, together about 21.3% of its articles. Its main subfields are Spectroscopy. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Spectroscopy Letters provides vital coverage of all types of spectroscopy across all the disciplines where they are used—including novel work in fundamental spectroscopy, applications, diagnostics and instrumentation. The audience is intended to be all practicing spectroscopists across all scientific (and some engineering) disciplines, including: physics, chemistry, biology, instrumentation science, and pharmaceutical science. The journal publishes communications about original experimental and theoretical work on such methods as: Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (nuclear and electron spin) Mass Spectroscopy (atomic and molecular) Optical spectrophotometry (atomic and molecular in the UV, Visible and infrared) Molecular spectroscopy (fluorescence and phosphorescence in the UV, Visible and infrared) Optical Atomic spectroscopy (flames, furnaces and plasmas) X-ray spectroscopy Microwave spectroscopy Laser spectroscopy Manuscripts may be submitted as full papers, or as short papers of a preliminary nature (letters). Letters may include instrumental developments that may be useful for other spectroscopists. Manuscripts of particular interest are Spectroscopy Education Letters. These letters may contain novel research done by undergraduate students, any new experiments that may be used for teaching, or any new pedagogical approaches used for the teaching of spectroscopy at any level. Such manuscripts are reviewed with same rigor as others submitted to the journal and the names of undergraduate contributors are highlighted as footnotes in the manuscript. **Reviews of topics in spectroscopy will be referred to our sister journal, Applied Spectroscopy Reviews. All submitted manuscripts are subject to initial appraisal by the Editor, and if found suitable for further consideration, will be peer-reviewed by independent and anonymous expert referees. All peer review is single anonymized.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Spectroscopy
Editor-in-chief Robert G. MichelPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Solid-state spectroscopy and crystallographyMaterials Science7.6%
- Analytical Chemistry and ChromatographyChemistry6.9%
- Molecular spectroscopy and chiralityChemistry6.8%
- Photochemistry and Electron Transfer StudiesChemistry6.7%
- Analytical chemistry methods developmentChemistry6%
- Spectroscopy and Chemometric AnalysesChemistry5.1%
- Advanced Chemical Physics StudiesPhysics and Astronomy4.4%
- Spectroscopy and Laser ApplicationsChemistry4.1%
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 | 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 | Spectroscopy | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Chemistry Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Chemistry | 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
Web of ScienceINSPECCASGeoRefCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: ProQuest, OCLC, De Gruyter Saur, EBSCOhost (various), Elsevier BV Chimica, Genamics JournalSeek, OCLC ArticleFirst Electronic Collections Online, Ovid, Personal Alert (Email), ProQuest (various), Royal Society of Chemistry Analytical Abstracts (Online), Clarivate Analytics Current Chemical Reactions Database, World Ceramics Abstracts (Online)
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
- 1.37LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.4Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 2.4LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 2.4Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.22LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.22Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.42LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 0.42Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 34LetPub ·
- h-index
- 52OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,134OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.26OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 0.81%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 130LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 45,000Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 45,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 5,476 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 188 | 6 | 42 |
| 2025 | 131 | 10 | 185 |
| 2024 | 70 | 5 | 262 |
| 2023 | 48 | 8 | 168 |
| 2022 | 55 | 3 | 343 |
| 2021 | 65 | 3 | 470 |
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
89 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 58 days – 124 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 20 days (117 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 112 days
- Sample
- 117 articles with submission and acceptance dates (334 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 1 monthLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 35%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 35%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 25 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 25 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 26 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review 2025
- 26 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 22 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 22 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
Subscription journalLetPub
A subscription journal: articles are read by subscription or purchase, and authors usually pay no publication charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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 prepare1 items from the author guidelines
- Not considered
- Reviews of topics in spectroscopy
Article types accepted3
- full paperManuscripts may be submitted as full papers, or as short papers of a preliminary nature (letters).Length not stated
- short paper (letter)Manuscripts may be submitted as full papers, or as short papers of a preliminary nature (letters).Length not stated
- spectroscopy education letterManuscripts of particular interest are Spectroscopy Education Letters.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access
- Open access Open access
Spectroscopy Letters is a hybrid open access journal that is part of the Taylor & Francis Open Select publishing program, giving you the option to publish open access. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership, and impact of your research. Why choose open access? Increase the discoverability and re…
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
- Taylor and Francis Ltd.
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Bimonthly
- Founded
- 1968
- ISSN
- 0038-7010
- Electronic ISSN
- 1532-2289
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 59, Issue 8 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Spectroscopy Letters
What CAS zone is Spectroscopy Letters in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Spectroscopy Letters is in Zone 4 of Chemistry, and in Zone 4 of the minor category 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 Spectroscopy Letters?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.37; CiteScore 2.4, h-index 52.
How long does peer review take at Spectroscopy Letters?
Based on the dates recorded on 117 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 89 days (interquartile range 58–124 days); authors report an average review time of about 1 month; the community-reported acceptance is “Easy”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 35% (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.
Which databases index Spectroscopy Letters?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Spectroscopy Letters is indexed in SCIE and Scopus. The journal's website also lists Web of Science, INSPEC, CAS, GeoRef and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Spectroscopy Letters open access, and what is the APC?
Spectroscopy Letters is a subscription journal. APC charged, amount not published.
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: .