ACS Journal Finder

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 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.

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 Infectious Diseases is the first journal to highlight chemistry and its role in the multidisciplinary and collaborative field of infectious disease research. With editors well-versed in both chemistry and the biology of infectious diseases, the journal aims to bridge the gap between these two disciplines. ACS Infectious Diseases welcomes submission of articles reporting investigations into chemistry and biology of infectious diseases, and encourages discussions centered on specific pathogen- and disease-related issues relating to bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi.

Topics covered by the journal include but are not limited to the following:

• Therapeutics
• Diagnostics
• Anti-infective Biomaterials and Drug Delivery Systems
• Drug Resistance
• Pathogens and Host-Pathogen Interactions
• Vaccines

ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters is interested in receiving manuscripts that discuss various aspects of medicinal chemistry. The journal will publish studies that pertain to a broad range of subject matter, including compound design and optimization, biological evaluation, drug delivery, imaging agents, drug interactome studies, and pharmacology of both small and large bioactive molecules.

Specific areas include but are not limited to:

• Identification, synthesis, and optimization of lead biologically active molecules and drugs (small molecules and biologics)
• Biological characterization of new molecular entities in the context of drug discovery towards delineating structure-activity relationship (SAR) trends
• Computational, cheminformatics, and structural studies for the identification or SAR analysis of bioactive molecules, ligands, and their targets, etc.
• Use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in drug discovery
• Novel and improved methodologies, including radiation biochemistry, with broad application to medicinal chemistry if the methods have been tested on relevant molecules. (e.g., DNA-encoded libraries, high-throughput experimentation, high-throughput parallel synthesis- compound library production, fragment-based drug discovery, covalent modulators.)
• New developments in discovery screening and bioassay technologies for biologically active molecules from both synthetic and natural (plant and other) sources.
• Chemistry patents relevant to the medicinal chemistry field
• Studies involving proximity-inducing agents including targeted protein degradation and molecular glues.

Chemical & Biomedical Imaging is a peer-reviewed open access journal devoted to the publication of cutting-edge research papers on all aspects of chemical and biomedical imaging. This interdisciplinary field sits at the intersection of chemistry, physics, biology, materials, engineering, and medicine. The journal aims to bring together researchers from across these disciplines to address cutting-edge challenges of fundamental research and applications. 

Chemical & Biomedical Imaging welcomes papers that:

• showcase innovations in molecular and biomedical imaging
• push the limits of chemical, spatial and temporal resolution at single molecule, single particle or single cell level
• demonstrate advances in developing new chemical probes and methodologies for biomedical applications 

Topics of particular interest include, but are not limited to:

• Imaging of processes and reactions
• Imaging of nanoscale, microscale, and mesoscale materials
• Imaging of biological interactions and interfaces
• Single-molecule and cellular imaging
• Whole-organ and whole-body imaging
• Molecular imaging probes and contrast agents
• Bioluminescence, chemiluminescence and electrochemiluminescence imaging
• Nanophotonics and imaging
• Chemical tools for new imaging modalities
• Chemical and imaging techniques in diagnosis and therapy
• Imaging-guided drug delivery
• AI and machine learning assisted imaging

APCs are automatically waived for all articles submitted by December 31, 2025, if accepted after peer review.

Chemical Research in Toxicology publishes on a wide range of topics in Toxicology that inform a chemical and molecular understanding and capacity to predict biological outcomes on the basis of structures and processes. The overarching goal of activities reported in the Journal is to provide knowledge and innovative approaches needed to promote intelligent solutions for human safety and ecosystem preservation. The journal emphasizes insight concerning mechanisms of toxicity over phenomenological observations. It upholds rigorous chemical, physical and mathematical standards for characterization and application of modern techniques. Representative research includes:

• Studies concerning the molecular mechanisms by which physical, chemical, or biological agents or materials, interact with and perturb the normal function and/or structure of biological systems, including living organisms, cells, or biomolecules.
• Studies that address hypotheses concerning mechanisms of adverse or therapeutic responses or contribute to the development of models of toxic/biological function on the basis of quantifying chemical, molecular and cellular responses to physical, chemical, or biological agents or materials.
• Studies involving data resulting from high content characterization of molecular responses to agents from the use of bioanalytical approaches such as proteomics, metabolomics, lipidomics, genomics, high content imaging, multi-omics, etc. to characterize targeted patterns or global cellular responses, as well as studies that use novel or existing data to create new models for quantifying exposures or building predictive models of biological pathways or networks.
• The identification and characterization of potentially hazardous agents such as environmental contaminants, industrial chemicals, drugs and drug-like molecules, natural products, biological toxins and engineered nanomaterials, and the development and application of novel methodologies for their detection and/or characterizations of their interactions with biological systems or biomolecules.
• Studies concerning pathological biochemistry and molecular mechanisms of disease etiology involving exogenous as well as endogenous agents and/or molecular pathways or networks.

In the case of uncertainty regarding the suitability of a manuscript, authors may send a pre-submission inquiry to the Editor that includes an abstract and cover letter indicating the intended manuscript format by e-mail (eic@crt.acs.org).

Environment & Health, a peer-reviewed, open access journal, is committed to exploring the relationship between the environment and human health. 

As a premier journal for multidisciplinary research, Environment & Health reports the health consequences for individuals and communities of changing and hazardous environmental factors. In supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the journal aims to help formulate policies to create a healthier world.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Air, water, and soil pollution
• Exposomics
• Environmental epidemiology
• Innovative analytical methodology and instrumentation
• Environmental toxicology
• Environmental microbiology, pathogen, and environmental transmission mechanisms of diseases
• Environmental modeling, bioinformatics, and artificial intelligence
• Emerging contaminants
• Climate change and related health effects
• Health impacts of energy evolution and carbon neutralization
• Food and drinking water safety
• Occupational exposure and medicine
• Innovations in environmental technologies for better health
• Policies and international relations concerned with environmental health

Authors who submit their manuscripts by December 31, 2025, may apply for an APC waiver if their paper is accepted after peer review.

Journal of Medicinal Chemistry publishes studies that contribute to an understanding of the relationship between molecular structure and biological activity or mode of action.

Some specific areas that are appropriate include the following:

• Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of novel biologically active compounds, diagnostic agents, or labeled ligands employed as pharmacological tools.
• Molecular modifications of reported series that lead to a significantly improved understanding of their structure-activity relationships (SAR). Routine extensions of existing series that do not utilize novel chemical or biological approaches or do not add significantly to a basic understanding of the SAR of the series will normally not be accepted for publication.
• Structural biological studies (X-ray, NMR, etc.) of relevant ligands and targets with the aim of investigating molecular recognition processes in the action of biologically active compounds.
• Molecular biological studies (e.g., site-directed mutagenesis) of macromolecular targets that lead to an improved understanding of molecular recognition.
• Computational studies that provide fresh insight into the SAR of compound series that are of current general interest or analysis of other available data that subsequently advance medicinal chemistry knowledge.
• Substantially novel computational chemistry methods with demonstrated value for the identification, optimization, or target interaction analysis of bioactive molecules.
• Effect of molecular structure on the distribution, pharmacokinetics, and metabolic transformation of biologically active compounds. This may include design, synthesis, and evaluation of novel types of prodrugs.
• Novel methodology with broad application to medicinal chemistry, but only if the methods have been tested on relevant molecules.

The Journal of Natural Products invites and publishes papers that make substantial and scholarly contributions to the area of natural products research. Contributions may relate to the chemistry and/or biochemistry of naturally occurring compounds or the biology of living systems from which they are obtained. When new compounds are reported, manuscripts describing their biological activity are much preferred.

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

• Secondary metabolites of microorganisms, including antibiotics and mycotoxins
• Physiologically active compounds from terrestrial and marine plants and animals
• Biochemical studies, including biosynthesis and microbiological transformations
• Fermentation and plant tissue culture
• Isolation, structure elucidation, and chemical synthesis of novel compounds from nature
• Pharmacology of compounds of natural origin 

Manuscripts that focus on biological properties of chemically complex extracts, mixtures, or essential oils are outside the scope of the journal.