ACS Central Science: review time and acceptance speed

ISSN 2374-7943 · ISSN 2374-7951 · American Chemical Society · Multidisciplinary

Half of the articles ACS Central Science accepted in 2025 were accepted within 79 days of submission (n = 189); the middle half took 63–99 days.

Submission → acceptance (2025)
79 days median
middle half 63–99 · n = 189
Acceptance → online
13 days median
middle half 10–16 · n = 190
Change since 2023
No clear change since 2023 (median 77 → 79 days; 90% CI -13 to +17 days).
Open access · fees
Open access (DOAJ) · No fee (DOAJ)

Accepted articles only · dates deposited by the publisher in PubMed · data as of Sep 15, 2026

Plan submissions to a deadline — free

How long does ACS Central Science take to accept a paper?

days045901351802023: middle half 55–123 days772023n=542024: middle half 63–103 days802024n=1832025: middle half 63–99 days792025n=189
Line = median; shaded box = middle half of articles (25th–75th percentile). Year of acceptance.
Days from submission to acceptance, by year of acceptance
YearArticles (n)25th pctMedian75th pct90th pctAccepted <14 daysHave a revised date
20251896379990.0%100%
202418363801030.0%100%
20235455771231.8%100%

Distribution in 2025

0–29 days: 3% (5 articles)030–59 days: 19% (35 articles)3060–89 days: 43% (82 articles)6090–119 days: 22% (41 articles)90120–149 days: 10% (19 articles)120150–179 days: 2% (3 articles)150180–209 days: 1% (2 articles)180210–239 days: 0% (0 articles)210240–269 days: 1% (2 articles)240270–299 days: 0% (0 articles)270300–329 days: 0% (0 articles)300330–359 days: 0% (0 articles)330360+ days: 0% (0 articles)360+days from submission to acceptance (30-day bins)
Show as a table
DaysArticlesShare
0–2952.6%
30–593518.5%
60–898243.4%
90–1194121.7%
120–1491910.1%
150–17931.6%
180–20921.1%
210–23900.0%
240–26921.1%
270–29900.0%
300–32900.0%
330–35900.0%
360+00.0%

From acceptance to online publication

After acceptance, half of the 2025 articles appeared online within 13 days (middle half 10–16 days, n = 190).

From submission to online publication, the median was 96 days (middle half 73–115 days, n = 189).

Read these numbers carefully

  • These times describe articles the journal accepted. Rejected manuscripts never appear in public data, so they cannot tell you how long a rejection takes.
  • Dates are the ones the publisher deposited with PubMed. Some publishers record the date a revised manuscript arrived as the submission date, which makes review look faster.
  • Invited articles and special issues can move faster than regular submissions.

Open access status and publishing fees

Open access (listed in DOAJ). DOAJ lists no article processing charge for this journal.

No institutional payments for this journal are recorded in OpenAPC.

Many journals waive or reduce fees for authors from eligible countries or institutions with publishing agreements — check with the journal and your library.

Integrity and indexing signals

Facts from public records, shown without judgement. See the methodology for why each can be worth a closer look.

Listed in DOAJYes (DOAJ record)
Articles indexed for MEDLINE in 2025None found (the journal may be in PubMed through PubMed Central instead)
Retractions0 retracted articles among 898 added to PubMed in 2021–2025 (0.00 per 1,000), per the Retraction Watch Database.
Accepted within 14 days of submission0.0% of 2025 articles
Publication volume197 articles added to PubMed in 2025 (-5% vs 2024).

Topics and scope

Similar journals — faster or cheaper, side by side

Journals publishing on the most similar topics (OpenAlex), ordered by similarity. Only 2025 figures are compared with the 2025 median of ACS Central Science, 79 days.

Paid APC medianDOAJMEDLINE
Communications Chemistry139 (2025, n = 447)$3,890$3,649 (38 payments)YesNo
JACS Au59 (2025, n = 573)$3,500$3,293 (58 payments)YesNo
ACS Bio & Med Chem Au87 (2025, n = 64)$3,500$3,618 (6 payments)YesNo
ACS Materials Au74 (2025, n = 94)$3,500$3,618 (6 payments)YesNo
Frontiers in Chemistry55 (2025, n = 376)≈$3,850$3,245 (46 payments)YesNo
RSC Chemical Biology80 (2025, n = 167)≈$2,831$2,295 (15 payments)YesNo
ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science91 (2025, n = 289)≈$4,500NoNo
Nature Chemistry285 (2025, n = 215)≈$12,690$12,315 (6 payments)NoYes

Frequently asked questions

How long does ACS Central Science take to accept a paper?

Half of the articles ACS Central Science accepted in 2025 were accepted within 79 days of submission (n = 189); the middle half took 63–99 days. Based on dates in PubMed for accepted articles only.

How long after acceptance are ACS Central Science articles published online?

Half of the articles accepted in 2025 appeared online within 13 days of acceptance (n = 190).

Does ACS Central Science charge an article processing charge (APC)?

DOAJ lists no article processing charge for this journal.

Sources and method

Journal identity: ISSN-L 2374-7943; NLM ID 101660035; OpenAlex record. Speed figures use 189 articles accepted in 2025 with valid dates; excluded records for that year: no received date 1.

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Data sources. Submission, acceptance and publication dates: Courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (PubMed, entries through Sep 15, 2026). NLM does not endorse Journal Clock, and these figures may not reflect the most current PubMed data. Journal fees and open-access listing: DOAJ (CC0, retrieved Sep 16, 2026). Fees paid by institutions: OpenAPC (Open Database License, retrieved Sep 16, 2026). Retractions: Retraction Watch Database via Crossref (retrieved Sep 16, 2026). Journal identifiers and topics: OpenAlex (CC0). Currency conversion: ECB reference rates (Sep 15, 2026). How these numbers are calculated · For organisations.