What Is the Impact Factor of ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering?
The journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering has a 2023 impact factor of 7.1, as reported in the Journal Citation Reports by Clarivate. This number places it among the stronger journals in the multidisciplinary chemistry and chemical engineering categories.
What the Impact Factor Represents
The impact factor measures the average number of citations received in a given year by articles published in the journal during the two preceding years. A 2023 impact factor of 7.1 means that, on average, articles published in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering in 2021 and 2022 were cited about seven times each during 2023.
This metric is often used as a rough proxy for a journal’s relative importance within its field. It is not a direct measure of the quality of any single article, but it does reflect the overall readership and use of the journal’s content by other researchers. The journal is published weekly by the American Chemical Society American Chemical Society, which adds institutional credibility.
How It Compares
An impact factor of 7.1 is high for a specialist journal focused on sustainability. For context, many well-regarded chemistry journals have impact factors in the range of 3 to 6. Within the specific areas of green chemistry and sustainable engineering, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering consistently ranks in the top quartile. Its focus on applied research—covering biomass, alternative energy, and life cycle assessment—means its articles are frequently cited by researchers working on practical solutions to environmental challenges.
The Journal’s Scope and Editorial Direction
The journal covers research at the intersection of chemistry, engineering, and sustainability. It publishes letters, full articles, features, and perspectives that address challenges in the chemical enterprise through the principles of green chemistry and green engineering Wikipedia — ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering. The editorial leadership changed in 2023, with Peter Licence of the University of Nottingham appointed as Editor-in-Chief.
Article Types and Acceptance
The journal accepts several formats. Letters are short, urgent reports. Articles are full-length research papers. Features and perspectives are longer, often invited, pieces that review a topic or propose new directions. The acceptance rate is not publicly disclosed, but like most ACS journals, it is selective. Authors should expect a thorough review process that checks for novelty, methodological soundness, and clear relevance to sustainability.
What the Impact Factor Does and Does Not Tell You
For researchers deciding where to submit, the impact factor is one data point among many. A journal with a factor of 7.1 will attract more readers and citations than one with a factor of 2.0. That can help a researcher’s career, especially in early stages.
However, the impact factor has well-known limitations. It can be influenced by a small number of highly cited review articles. It does not account for the quality of individual papers. And it varies significantly across fields—a factor of 7.1 in chemistry is not directly comparable to a factor of 7.1 in ecology.
Practical Use for Authors
If you are considering submitting to ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, look at recent articles in the journal to see if your work fits their scope. The impact factor is a secondary concern compared to whether your paper will find its audience there. For a concrete example: a paper on a new catalytic process that uses renewable feedstocks and reduces waste would be a strong match. A paper on a minor modification to an existing industrial synthesis that still uses toxic solvents would likely be rejected, regardless of the journal’s impact factor.
How the Impact Factor Is Calculated
The impact factor is a ratio. For the 2023 value of 7.1, Clarivate counts all citations in 2023 to articles the journal published in 2021 and 2022, then divides by the total number of citable articles (research papers and reviews) published in those same two years. Editorials, letters, and news items are excluded from the denominator. This two-year window means that journals covering fast-moving topics tend to accumulate citations quickly, while slower-moving fields have lower factors even if the work is equally important.
The Role of Review Articles
Review articles typically attract more citations than original research. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering does publish perspectives (which are review-like), but it maintains a strong focus on original research. This means its impact factor of 7.1 is driven more by primary research papers than by reviews, which some researchers consider a sign of genuine quality.
Key Takeaways
- The 2023 impact factor for ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering is 7.1, placing it in the top tier of chemistry and chemical engineering journals.
- The impact factor reflects average citations per article over two years, not the quality of any single paper.
- The journal is published by the American Chemical Society and focuses on green chemistry, green engineering, biomass, alternative energy, and life cycle assessment.
- For authors, the impact factor is useful for gauging a journal’s reach, but fit with the journal’s scope is more important than the number itself.
