Journal Guide

ACS Applied Bio Materials is an interdisciplinary journal publishing original research covering all aspects of biomaterials and biointerfaces including and beyond the traditional biosensing, biomedical and therapeutic applications.

The journal is devoted to reports of new and original experimental and theoretical research of an applied nature that integrates knowledge in the areas of materials, engineering, physics, bioscience, and chemistry into important bio applications. The journal is specifically interested in work that addresses the relationship between structure and function and assesses the stability and degradation of materials under relevant environmental and biological conditions.

Sample research topics:

• Inorganic, hybrid, and organic materials for bio applications
• Antibacterial/antimicrobial and anticancer materials
• Biofouling and antifouling materials
• Biomolecular imaging/sensing materials
• Biomimetic materials
• Self-healing materials and bio-assembly materials
• Sustainable biomaterials
• Novel approaches to synthesis of new and existing materials for drug delivery/targeting, photodynamic/photothermal therapy.
• Materials for Bioenergy and biocatalysis
• Bioaerosols
• Bioelectronics materials & devices
• Biomaterials for environmental and water safety applications

ACS Applied Electronic Materials is an interdisciplinary journal publishing original research covering all aspects of electronic materials. The journal is devoted to reports of new and original experimental and theoretical research of an applied nature that integrate knowledge in the areas of materials science, engineering, optics, physics, and chemistry into important applications of electronic materials. Sample research topics that span the journal's scope are inorganic, organic, ionic, and polymeric materials with properties that include conducting, semiconducting, superconducting, insulating, dielectric, magnetic, optoelectronic, piezoelectric, ferroelectric, and thermoelectric.
Example applications include:
• Diodes and transistors
• Memory devices and memristors
• Energy storage
• Optoelectronic devices
• Spintronic devices
• Photonic & plasmonic devices
• Molecular devices
• Flexible devices
• Sensors/detectors and Quantum detectors
• Quantum computing
• Soft actuators
• Electromechanical systems
• Bioelectronics
• Neuromorphic system
• Solid-state battery and supercapacitor
• Power devices
• Subthreshhold electronics
• Theory, modeling, and simulation of electronic materials
• Micro/nano-electronic fabrication and
• Other novel preparation and characterization of electronic materials and devices

ACS Applied Energy Materials is an interdisciplinary journal publishing original research covering aspects of materials, engineering, chemistry, physics, and biology relevant to sustainable applications in energy conversion and storage. 

Sample research topics that span the journal's scope for energy storage applications:

• Electrode and membrane materials for various energy applications
• Solid state batteries, fuel cells, supercapacitors, and redox flow batteries
• Energy conversion applications include new inorganic, hybrid, catalytic, and/or organic materials
• Thermoelectrics
• Photovoltaics
• Photo-electrosynthesis cells

Submissions that are NOT suitable for ACS Applied Energy Materials:

• Reports that are essentially reporting data or applications of data
• Low power energy conversion materials, such as piezoelectric materials
• Luminescent materials & devices
• Studies of traditional fossil fuel
• Energetic/explosive materials for military applications
• Photodegradation of environmental pollutants

All submissions are subject to critical, anonymous peer review. It is to be understood that the final decision relating to a manuscript's suitability rests solely with the Editor.

ACS Applied Engineering Materials is an international and interdisciplinary forum devoted to original research covering all aspects of engineered materials, complementing the ACS Applied Materials portfolio. Papers that describe theory, simulation, modeling, or machine learning assisted design of materials and that provide new insights into engineering applications are welcomed.

The scope of ACS Applied Engineering Materials includes high quality research of an applied nature that integrates knowledge in materials science, engineering, physics, mechanics, and chemistry. 

Examples of materials and applications that fit the scope of the journal include:

Materials

• Adaptive and reconfigurable materials
• Bioinspired materials
• Biomaterials
• Carbon and 2D materials
• Ceramics and composites
• Foams and emulsions
• Intermetallics
• Membranes
• Metals, liquid metals, and alloys
• Polymers and plastics
• Porous materials
• Smart and stimuli responsive materials
• Structural and high strength materials
• Textiles and fibers

Applications

• 3D printing and additive manufacturing
• Adhesion or adhesion prevention
• Anti-corrosion
• Bioengineering
• Biotechnology and healthcare
• Catalysis
• Environmental remediation and protection
• Friction, wear, and lubrication
• Materials designed for a circular economy
• Materials for use in extreme environments
• Packaging
• Scaffolds
• Separations
• Structural materials

ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces serves the interdisciplinary community of chemists, engineers, physicists, and biologists focusing on how newly discovered materials and interfacial processes can be developed and used for specific applications. The editors are proud of the rapid growth of the journal since its inception in 2009, both in terms of the number of published articles and the impact of the research reported in those articles. ACS AMI is also truly international, with the majority of published articles now coming from outside the United States, capturing the rapid growth in applied research around the globe. Details about the journal article types and submission requirements may be found in the Author Guidelines.

The following journal TOC sections provide a high-level guide to the journal scope:

• Biological and medical applications of materials and interfaces
• Energy, environmental, and catalysis applications
• Functional inorganic materials and devices
• Organic electronic devices
• Functional nanostructured materials (including low-d carbon)
• Applications of polymer, composite, and coating materials
• Surfaces, interfaces, and applications

ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, with its focus on applications, complements the portfolio of existing ACS publications focusing on fundamental materials science discovery, including Chemistry of Materials, Langmuir, Biomacromolecules, Macromolecules, The Journal of Physical Chemistry B and C, The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, ACS Energy Letters, and ACS Photonics.

ACS Applied Nano Materials is an interdisciplinary journal publishing original research covering all aspects of engineering, chemistry, physics, and biology relevant to applications of nanomaterials. The journal is devoted to reports of new and original experimental and theoretical research of an applied nature that integrate knowledge in the areas of materials, engineering, physics, bioscience, and chemistry into important applications of nanomaterials.

Sample topics within the scope of this journal:

Materials:

• Inorganic, organic and hybrid nanomaterials
• Quantum dots
• Metallic and semiconducting nanoparticles
• Nanowires and nanotubes
• Self-assembled nanostructures
• 1- and 2-D materials
• Nano carbon, graphene, and related materials.

Applications:

• Catalysis and photocatalysis
• Sensors
• Plasmonics and photonics
• Biology, nanomedicine and theranostics
• Energy conversion and storage
• Nanopatterning and nanotechnology
• Novel approaches to synthesis of new and existing nanomaterials that have important applications

ACS Applied Optical Materials is an international and interdisciplinary forum to publish original experimental and theoretical, including simulation and modeling, research in optical materials, complementing the ACS Applied Materials portfolio. With a focus on innovative applications, ACS Applied Optical Materials also complements and expands the scope of existing ACS publications that focus on fundamental aspects of the interaction between light and matter in materials science. 

The scope of ACS Applied Optical Materials includes high quality research of an applied nature that integrates knowledge in materials science, chemistry, physics, optical science, and engineering.

Examples of materials and applications that fit the scope of the journal include:

Materials

• Photonic Crystals
• Disordered and amorphous photonic materials
• Structured Colored Materials
• Phosphors
• Fluorophores and light-emitting and absorbing materials
• Metamaterials
• Semiconductors and Heterostructured materials
• Low-dimensional Quantum Confined Materials, Quantum dots, wells, and rods
• Light-Manipulating Micro- and Nanostructures
• 2-D Materials
• Carbon materials and Organic Functional Materials
• Plasmonic materials
• Photochromes and Electrochromes
• Up-conversion and Down-conversion Materials
• MOFs, COFs and HOFs as Optical Materials
• Perovskites
• Solar Absorbers and Concentrators

Applications

• LEDs, OLEDs, OLETs and Optically Switchable OLEDs
• Lasers and Non-Linear Optics
• Confinement and waveguiding
• Quantum photonic applications
• Photochromics and Electrochromics
• Bio-inspired Optical Materials and Devices
• Imaging and Bioimaging
• Detectors, switches and Sensors
• Optoelectronics, THz Optoelectronics
• Optical computing and Data Storage
• Stealth and Chameleon
• Optical Encryption and Security, Optical Communications
• Holography, Anti-Forgery, and Physically Unclonable Functions
• QD electroluminescence
• Photoluminescent materials and devices
• Optics in AR, VR, XR systems
• Color science and applications

Manuscripts that are essentially reporting data or applications of data are, in general, not suitable for publication in ACS Applied Optical Materials. All manuscripts are subject to critical, anonymous peer review. It is to be understood that the final decision relating to a manuscript's suitability rests solely with the Editor.

ACS Applied Polymer Materials is an interdisciplinary journal publishing original research covering all aspects of engineering, chemistry, physics, and biology relevant to applications of polymers.

The journal is devoted to reports of new and original experimental and theoretical research of an applied nature that integrates fundamental knowledge in the areas of materials, engineering, physics, bioscience, polymer science and chemistry into important polymer applications. The journal is specifically interested in work that addresses relationships among structure, processing, morphology, chemistry, properties, and function as well as work that provide insights into mechanisms critical to the performance of the polymer for applications. Sample research topics that span the journal's scope are but not limited to:

• Polymer applications in energy storage and conversion
• Separations
• Membranes
• Adhesives
• Functional coatings
• Sensing
• Adaptive and reconfigurable materials

The journal also considers novel approaches to the synthesis of new and existing polymers that are designed for specific applications.

ACS Bio & Med Chem Au is an open access journal publishing work on all aspects of biological and medicinal chemistry. Studies providing fundamental insights or describing novel syntheses, as well as clinical or other applications-based work, are welcomed. The broad scope includes experimental and theoretical studies on the chemical, physical, mechanistic, and/or structural basis of biological or cell function, as well as medicinal chemistry and infection disease research.

Biological chemistry and chemical biology

• Chemical biology
• Enzymology
• Metallobiochemistry
• Synthetic biology
• Disease biology
• Cell biology
• Agriculture and food
• Natural products research
• Nucleic acid biology
• Neuroscience
• Structural biology
• Biophysics

Medicinal Chemistry

• Compound design and optimization
• Biological evaluation
• Molecular mechanistic understanding of drug delivery and drug delivery systems
• Imaging agents
• Pharmacology and translational science of small and large bioactive molecules
• Novel computational, cheminformatics, and structural studies for the identification (or structure-activity relationship analysis) of bioactive molecules, ligands, and their targets
• Computational studies applying established methods will be considered only in combination with novel experimental data (e.g., in cases where new compounds have been designed and tested).

Infectious Disease Research

• Pathogens
• Host-pathogen interactions
• Therapeutics
• Diagnostics
• Vaccines
• Drug-delivery systems
• Other biomedical technology development pertaining to infectious diseases

ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering is the leading journal in the field of biomaterials, serving as an international forum for publishing cutting-edge research and innovative ideas on a broad range of topics:

• Applications and Health – implantable tissues and devices, prosthesis, health risks, toxicology
• Bio-interactions and Bio-compatibility – material-biology interactions, chemical/morphological/structural communication, mechanobiology, signaling and biological responses, immuno-engineering, calcification, coatings, corrosion and degradation of biomaterials and devices, biophysical regulation of cell functions
• Characterization, Synthesis, and Modification – new biomaterials, bioinspired and biomimetic approaches to biomaterials, exploiting structural hierarchy and architectural control, combinatorial strategies for biomaterials discovery, genetic biomaterials design, synthetic biology, new composite systems, bionics, polymer synthesis
• Controlled Release and Delivery Systems – biomaterial-based drug and gene delivery, bio-responsive delivery of regulatory molecules, pharmaceutical engineering
• Healthcare Advances – clinical translation, regulatory issues, patient safety, emerging trends
• Imaging and Diagnostics – imaging agents and probes, theranostics, biosensors, monitoring
• Manufacturing and Technology – 3D printing, inks, organ-on-a-chip, bioreactor/perfusion systems, microdevices, BioMEMS, optics and electronics interfaces with biomaterials, systems integration
• Modeling and Informatics Tools – scaling methods to guide biomaterial design, predictive algorithms for structure-function, biomechanics, integrating bioinformatics with biomaterials discovery, metabolomics in the context of biomaterials
• Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine – basic and applied studies, cell therapies, scaffolds, vascularization, bioartificial organs, transplantation and functionality, cellular agriculture

The preeminent comprehensive catalysis journal. 

ACS Catalysis is dedicated to publishing original research on heterogeneous catalysis, homogeneous catalysis, and biocatalysis. ACS Catalysis includes both experimental and theoretical research on molecules, macromolecules and materials that are catalytic in nature, that is, they exhibit catalytic turnover.

Wide-ranging coverage of catalysis includes, but is not limited to:

• drug discovery and synthesis
• electrochemistry
• energy and fuels
• life sciences
• materials science
• organometallics and synthesis
• photochemistry
• polymer discovery and synthesis
• synthesis of organic, medicinal, and bio-organic molecules

Potential authors are encouraged to read our instructive Editorials for guidance as well as the manuscript submission requirements checklist.

• To Err is Human; To Reproduce Takes Time
• Best Practices in Pursuit of Topics in Heterogeneous Electrocatalysis
• The Scope of Papers Sought in Three Catalysis Subdisciplines: Biocatalysis and Enzymology, Molecular Catalysis for Organic Synthesis, and Heterogeneous Photocatalysis
• Organic Electrosynthesis: When is it Electrocatalysis?
• The Burden of Disproof
• A Matter of Life(time) and Death
• Superlative Scientific Writing
• Nano-Apples and Orange-Zymes
• New Guidelines for Presenting Electrochemical Data in All ACS Journals
• Preparing Your Manuscript for Submission to ACS Catalysis

All manuscripts are subject to critical, anonymous peer review. It is to be understood that the final decision relating to a manuscript’s suitability rests solely with the Editor.

ACS Central Science publishes the most compelling, important primary reports on research in chemistry and in allied fields, wherein chemical approaches play a key role. It is also the first fully open access journal published by the American Chemical Society. 

The term "central science" is frequently used to describe chemistry's focal role in bridging the physical and life sciences, and the basic sciences with applied disciplines such as medicine and engineering.

ACS Central Science is a multi- and inter-disciplinary journal that publishes articles of exceptional quality and interest to the broad chemistry and scientific community. The journal addresses important advances in fundamental areas of chemistry, as well as applied and interdisciplinary research highlighting the seminal role of chemistry in a wide range of other scientific disciplines. The journal considers submissions in core fields such as, but not limited to:

• Analytical, physical, inorganic, and organic chemistry
• Biological and medicinal chemistry, and biotechnology
• Sustainable and environmental chemistry
• Computational and theoretical chemistry
• Materials and nanoscience
• Energy and catalysis
• Chemical engineering
• Earth, atmospheric and space chemistry
• Chemical education

The journal also publishes inter- and multidisciplinary research applicable to allied fields across the physical sciences, life sciences, engineering, medicine, and beyond. 

ACS Chemical Biology provides an international forum for the rapid communication of research that broadly embraces the interface between chemistry and biology.

The journal also serves as a forum to facilitate the communication between biologists and chemists that will translate into new research opportunities and discoveries. Results will be published in which molecular reasoning has been used to probe questions through in vitro investigations, cell biological methods, or organismic studies.

We welcome mechanistic studies on proteins, nucleic acids, sugars, lipids, and nonbiological polymers. The journal serves a large scientific community, exploring cellular function from both chemical and biological perspectives. It is understood that submitted work is based upon original results and has not been published previously.

While safety permeates all ACS journals, it benefits from its preeminence in ACS Chemical Health & Safety where its authors influence chemical safety and guide tomorrow’s science. Chemical safety research can be transformational and innovative, and it can also focus on practice and be narrowly scoped. This includes foundational datasets or variations on well-studied themes because they hold value to those working with hazardous materials. ACS Chemical Health & Safety provides the opportunity to publish across all these areas. As a discipline, chemical health and safety does not limit itself to laboratories and chemical facilities, and our authors are more than just chemists and chemical engineers; they are scientists with broad research backgrounds and members of the public from many disciplines, including environmental safety and health professionals, industrial hygienists, public health professionals, safety policy makers, human factors specialists, and more. 

Refer to Author Guidelines for detailed topic lists. Sample topics that span the journal's scope include:

• Fundamental chemical safety research and datasets
• Chemical health safety and security warnings
• Chemical risk assessment and management for all settings (e.g., laboratory, industrial, educational, public spaces, etc.)
• Other topics that influence chemical safety and guide tomorrow’s science (e.g., occupational safety, regulatory, emergency response, training/education, etc.)

Manuscripts relating to commercial products are welcome, provided that they are not advertisements. 

Topics that address new medical approaches (e.g., those utilizing nano materials to deliver targeted drug therapies) and environmental contaminates will be considered but are not regularly accepted for peer review because we believe the topics could be better served by the journals that specialize in those fields.

All manuscripts are subject to critical, anonymous peer review. The final decision relating to a manuscript’s suitability for the journal rests solely with the Editor.

ACS Chemical Neuroscience publishes high-quality research articles and reviews that showcase chemical, quantitative biological, biophysical and bioengineering approaches to the understanding of the nervous system and to the development of new treatments for neurological disorders. Research in the journal focuses on aspects of chemical neurobiology and bio-neurochemistry such as the following:

• Neurotransmitters and receptors
• Neuropharmaceuticals and therapeutics
• Neural development—Plasticity, and degeneration
• Chemical, physical, and computational methods in neuroscience
• Neuronal diseases—basis, detection, and treatment
• Mechanism of aging, learning, memory, and behavior
• Pain and sensory processing
• Neurotoxins
• Neuroscience-inspired bioengineering
• Development of methods in chemical neurobiology
• Neuroimaging agents and technologies
• Animal models for central nervous system diseases
• Behavioral research

Research articles reporting the identification of general principles that govern how information is processed by neuronal circuits; or using genetic model systems in conjunction with computational biology, imaging, electrophysiological, and computational neuroscience (neuroinformatics) are also welcomed.

ACS ES&T Air welcomes novel, cutting-edge, and globally relevant original research on all aspects of outdoor and indoor air quality sciences and engineering. The journal focuses on investigations of air chemistry and physics, air pollution, and climate change that impact human and ecosystem health, encompassing laboratory and in-situ measurements, remote sensing observations, and computational and modeling studies. Specific topics of interest may include (but are not limited to):

• Chemical, physical, and biological processes in the atmosphere
• Gases, aerosols, and clouds
• Climate change and air quality across scales
• Health impacts of air pollution
• Effects of air pollution on ecosystems
• Atmosphere-biosphere interactions
• Atmosphere-hydrosphere interactions
• Air pollution sources, control technologies and atmospheric implications
• Advances in instrumentation, model development, and remote sensing techniques
• Indoor air chemistry and air quality
• Science/Policy interface
• Air quality in disproportionately impacted communities

ACS ES&T Water is a high-quality specialist journal dedicated to water research and policy. This international, multidisciplinary journal publishes novel, high-impact, peer-reviewed research on all aspects of water quality, chemistry, treatment, protection, and sustainable use/reuse and supply. The Journal considers both marine and freshwater environments as well as water utilized for industrial and municipal applications. ACS ES&T Water's multi-disciplinary research focus also welcomes other water-related research fields. Manuscripts describing public policy and the underlying science utilized for decision making are also encouraged. Specific topics of interest may include (but are not limited to) the following areas:

• Water quality and the transformation, transport, and behavior of contaminants in aquatic environments (groundwater, surface water, snow/ice, precipitation, and marine water) and engineered systems
• Water/wastewater treatment and innovative technologies, including biological, physical, chemical, and natural processes
• Sustainable water supply, reuse, and integrated water resource management
• Industrial water systems and process water treatment
• Marine, estuarine, and freshwater biogeochemistry and ecology
• Direct and indirect impacts of climate change on water sustainability
• Remediation and restoration of natural aquatic systems
• Innovative technologies for water quality monitoring and spatial vulnerability assessments
• Modelling groundwater, surface water and marine flow and contaminant fate and transport
• Spatial data on global and local water supply and water quality monitoring data trends.
• Water quality impacts on human and environmental health, including pathogen, chemical, and physical stressors
• Risk assessment and regulatory frameworks
• Life-cycle assessments and economic impact calculations, and social science implications

ACS ES&T Engineering publishes high-impact research and review/perspective/viewpoint articles. It is a specialist journal that aims to serve as an international forum for research and innovation, welcoming contributions on materials, technologies, processes, data analytics and engineering systems that can manage, protect, and remediate air, water, and soil quality, treat wastes, and recover resources. Research contributions that support effective decision-making within complex engineered systems and are informed by mechanistic science and analytics that describe complex environmental engineering systems are encouraged. Papers that present novel, innovative advancements will be considered across the continuum from lab-based discovery to field-based application. Case/demonstration studies without significant scientific advances and technological innovations will not be considered. Papers containing experimental and/or theoretical methods and knowledge grounded in engineering principles that are integrated with core knowledge from other disciplines are welcome. Specific topics may include (but are not limited to) the following environmental engineering areas:

• Novel materials, technologies, processes, data analytical methods, and systems that:
• evaluate, protect and remediate air, water, and soil quality
• solve or address multiple emerging environmental issues at various nexuses
• (e.g., energy, material, sustainability, public health)
• Novel separation, desalination, and resource recovery technologies
• Environmental nanotechnology and biotechnology
• Environmental catalysis for pollution abatement and cleaner sustainable processes
• Redox processes for engineering applications
• Waste management, treatment, valorization, and waste-to-energy
• Environmental technologies developed for monitoring, sensing, and assessing environmental exposure & hazards
• Macroscopic and microscopic mechanisms that inform environmental engineering systems
• Novel analytical and simulation methods (e.g., data-driven science, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data scraping) for environmental engineering application 

The Journal does NOT cover the following areas if they are presented as solitary topics and without making their connection to engineered systems or technological innovation clear:

• Environmental policy and regulation as a solitary focus (i.e., papers about the impact of engineered systems on the environment and health, and policy/regulation implications are considered within scope as long as outcomes link to advancements around the engineered system as a central theme of the paper)
• Characterization and monitoring of the environment as a solitary focus
• Fate and transport of contaminants and biogeochemical cycling
• Ecotoxicology and environmental health
• Atmospheric chemistry and processes, climate change
• Environmental chemistry as a primary focus (e.g., fundamental reaction mechanisms). However, environmental chemistry works that are necessary to demonstrate or understand engineering technologies or engineered systems may be suitable.

The scope of ACS Earth and Space Chemistry includes the application of analytical, experimental, and theoretical chemistry to investigate research questions relevant to the Earth and Space. The journal encompasses the highly interdisciplinary nature of research in this area, while emphasizing chemistry and chemical research tools as the unifying theme. The journal publishes broadly in the domains of high- and low-temperature geochemistry, atmospheric chemistry, marine chemistry, planetary chemistry, astrochemistry, and analytical geochemistry.

Among the areas the journal covers are:

Earth Interior

• High pressure experiments
• Core and mantle investigations
• Studies of planetary Interiors
• Mineral-melt phase equilibria, partitioning, and kinetics
• Mineralogy and mineral physics
• Igneous and metamorphic petrology, petrogenesis, and geochronology

Earth Surface

• Mineral-microbe-water reactions, thermodynamics, and kinetics
• Reactive transport modeling and colloid transport
• Multiscale science and scaling of geochemical and biogeochemical reactions

Atmosphere

• Atmospheric composition and reaction pathways
• Chemistry-climate interactions
• Biogeochemical cycles

Ocean

• Chemical fluxes and marine trace element chemistry
• Effects of global change on marine chemistry and the cryosphere
• Chemistry of the paleo-environment

Space

• Chemistry of planetary atmospheres and surfaces
• Investigations of meteorites and tektites
• Properties of cometary and interstellar materials
• Spectroscopy and chemistry of stars, interstellar clouds, and planetary formation

Analytical

• Analytical methods for characterization of Earth and Space materials

ACS Electrochemistry is an international forum for high-quality, cutting-edge original research in all areas of electrochemistry. The journal aspires to provide a platform for the diverse communities of scientists practicing electrochemistry to address global challenges. The journal welcomes submissions across fundamental, applied, experimental and theoretical aspects of electrochemistry research.