What Is the Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry?

The Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (JASMS) is the official peer-reviewed research journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS). It publishes original research papers, communications, and reviews on all aspects of mass spectrometry, from fundamental ion chemistry and instrumentation to applied biological and environmental analysis. The journal is published monthly by the American Chemical Society (ACS) on behalf of ASMS ACS Publications.

Scope and Research Areas

JASMS covers the full breadth of mass spectrometry science. The journal does not restrict itself to one technique or application, making it a central resource for researchers in chemistry, biochemistry, medicine, and materials science.

Fundamental Mass Spectrometry

The journal publishes work on ion chemistry, gas-phase ion structures, and the physical chemistry of ion formation and detection. This includes studies on fragmentation mechanisms, ion-molecule reactions, and the development of new ionization sources. Papers often describe the behavior of ions in collision-induced dissociation or electron capture dissociation, providing the theoretical basis for analytical methods.

Instrumentation and Methods

A significant portion of the journal covers new instrumentation and method development. This includes improvements to mass analyzers (quadrupoles, time-of-flight, ion traps, Orbitraps, Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance), ion mobility spectrometry, and hyphenated techniques like liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Researchers also report novel sample preparation workflows and data analysis algorithms.

Applications in Biology and Medicine

JASMS features many papers applying mass spectrometry to biological and medical problems. Common topics include proteomics (protein identification and quantification), metabolomics (small-molecule profiling), lipidomics, and clinical diagnostics. A typical application might involve using LC-MS/MS to identify biomarkers in blood or tissue samples for early disease detection.

Environmental and Forensics

The journal also covers environmental analysis (pesticides, pollutants, water quality) and forensic applications (drug testing, explosives detection, toxicology). These papers emphasize sensitivity, selectivity, and the ability to handle complex matrices.

Editorial Process and Peer Review

The editorial team is led by an Editor-in-Chief, currently Vicki H. Wysocki (Ohio State University), along with associate editors who are active researchers in the field. The journal follows a standard single-anonymized peer review process, where reviewers know the authors’ identities but authors do not know the reviewers’ identities.

Manuscripts are submitted through the ACS Paragon Plus system. The initial screening by the editor checks for scope, novelty, and basic quality. Papers that pass are sent to at least two independent reviewers. The average time from submission to first decision is typically 30–45 days. Authors can expect a decision of accept, minor revision, major revision, or reject.

JASMS is a subscription-based journal, but authors have the option to pay an article processing charge (APC) to make their article open access under a Creative Commons license. The journal also participates in various read-and-publish agreements that allow authors at participating institutions to publish open access without individual fees.

Impact and Readership

The journal has a solid reputation within the mass spectrometry community. Its impact factor, as reported in the Journal Citation Reports, typically falls in the range of 3.0–4.0. This places it among the leading specialized journals for analytical chemistry and spectroscopy.

The primary audience includes academic researchers, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows in chemistry and biochemistry departments. Industrial scientists in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and environmental testing labs also rely on the journal for method updates. The journal is also relevant for instrument manufacturers who track new developments in mass spectrometry hardware.

Key Takeaways

• JASMS is the official peer-reviewed journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, published monthly by ACS.
• The journal covers all areas of mass spectrometry, including fundamental ion chemistry, instrumentation, proteomics, metabolomics, and environmental analysis.
• The editorial process involves single-anonymized peer review with an average first decision time of 30–45 days.
• Authors can choose to publish open access by paying an APC, or publish under the standard subscription model.
• The journal has an impact factor around 3.0–4.0 and is widely read by academic, industrial, and clinical researchers.