The scholarly publications of the American Chemical Society (ACS) once again rank as the most cited and most impactful across their respective subject categories, as reported by the 2018 Journal Citation Reports (JCR) from Clarivate Analytics’ Web of Science Group that were released on June 20. The latest JCR rankings highlight the sustained quality, relevance and global prominence of the research published across the breadth of the Society’s preeminent peer-reviewed journals.
“As a professional society, we are grateful to our many authors, editors, referees and readers worldwide for continuing to make ACS journals the most influential across the chemical sciences,” says James Milne, Ph.D., senior vice president of the Journals Publishing Group within ACS Publications. “We remain mindful that Impact Factors are but one measure by which to assess the overall value of a scholarly publication to the community it serves. For this reason, we are delighted by the many positive metrics that underpin the reputation for excellence that ACS journals enjoy globally.”
The following indicators also demonstrate how ACS journals continued to be the most significant in chemistry during 2018:
- Researchers: Published 51,154 articles in ACS journals (up 11% annually)
- Readers: Downloaded ACS full-text articles more than 130 million times (up 27%)
- Authors: Cited ACS journal articles more than 3.4 million times (up 7%)
Taken together with the JCR rankings, these achievements emphasize the Society’s influence and central role in publishing the highest-quality science on a broad scale, in close partnership with the global research community.
Almost half of ACS titles achieved JCR Impact Factors greater than 5.0 in 2018, according to the Web of Science Group’s statistics. The latest metrics also affirmed the important impact of the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS) andthe growing influence of ACS Central Science — both preeminent forums for publishing groundbreaking findings of broad significance across the chemical sciences. JACS recorded its highest-ever Impact Factor at 14.695, again ranking ahead of other major multidisciplinary chemistry publications, and affirming its reputation as the most-cited journal in chemistry, with more than half-a-million citations in 2018. ACS Central Science, the Society’s award-winning, fully open access journal, has quickly emerged as the platinum standard for publishing interdisciplinary chemical research of exceptional quality. Free to both authors and readers, its Impact Factor grew to 12.837 in 2018. One of the Society’s newer publications, ACS Energy Letters, achieved a remarkable second reported Impact Factor of 16.331. That journal’s editorial influence highlights the intended broad appeal of its coverage of alternative energy capture, conversion and storage — in keeping with the Society’s mission as a provider of indispensable research information — including studies that foster research related to the United Nations’ global sustainability goals.
Complementing the Society’s portfolio of original research journals, ACS titles dedicated to the publication of timely and topical reviews also continue to be highly influential and relied upon by scholars. Accounts of Chemical ResearchandChemical Reviews each recorded significant Impact Factors. Presenting concise summaries of recent research developments, Accounts of Chemical Research (21.661) offers easily understandable overviews of basic and applied research advances across the landscape of chemistry and allied sciences. Chemical Reviews (54.301, its highest Impact Factor ever) provides authoritative and incisive reviews of seminal research that are acknowledged to be the most comprehensive in the chemical sciences.
Of the 53 ACS journals with 2018 JCR rankings, more than 75% are positioned within the top quartile of their respective topical categories. This year’s results clearly demonstrate ACS’ commitment to be the most-authoritative, comprehensive and indispensable provider of chemistry-related information — in keeping with the Society’s vision of “improving people’s lives through the transforming power of chemistry”.
The American Chemical Society thanks the global research community for its support in once again making ACS journals the “most trusted, most cited, most read” in the sciences.
For full 2018 JCR data for ACS journals, visit: https://axial.acs.org/JCR/.
