What are the best journals for Chemistry?

From a 17,782-venue index, the highest-ranked Chemistry journals include Chemical Reviews, Chemical Society Reviews, Progress in Polymer Science, Nature Reviews Chemistry, Advances in Colloid and Interface Science. The top 40 of 399 ranked venues are listed on this page; all 40 are Scimago Q1. Each shows its open-access status and indexing, and predatory venues are excluded. For a shortlist matched to your specific paper, use the Journal Finder (15 credits; free account starts with 25).

How were these Chemistry journals ranked?

Journals are listed when both OpenAlex and Scimago file them under Chemistry, plus any documented corrections; a journal Scimago does not cover is listed on OpenAlex's word alone. 57 journals OpenAlex files under Chemistry are left out because Scimago files them only under other fields. They are ranked by Scimago quartile first (Q1 → Q4, then journals without one); within a quartile, journals Scimago places in Chemistry come before those it does not cover, and then OpenAlex cites/paper over a 2-year window decides. Cites/paper is a transparent citation rate, not a licensed Impact Factor, and journals flagged as predatory are excluded.

Why don't all Chemistry journals show a quartile?

Scimago doesn't cover every journal — many strong regional and open-access venues are absent from it. We show "no Scimago quartile" for those rather than hide them; it's a coverage gap, not a quality judgement.

How do I find the best journal for my specific Chemistry paper?

Paste your title and abstract into the Journal Finder — it returns a shortlist matched to your paper's topic from the same index, with acceptance-fit signals, open-access status, and predatory flags. A free account starts with 25 welcome credits; each run costs 15.

Chemistry · 399 journals ranked · top 40 listed

Best journals for Chemistry

The top 40 of 399 Chemistry journals, ranked by Scimago quartile, then OpenAlex cites/paper (2-year window), leaving out journals Scimago files only under other fields, drawn from a 17,782-venue index. Predatory venues are excluded; the FAQ below gives the exact ranking rule. These are field-wide rankings — for a shortlist matched to your specific paper, paste your title and abstract into the Journal Finder (a free account starts with 25 welcome credits).

Match journals to your paper →

All Best open-access journals

1
Chemical Reviews
49.4 cites/paper · Q1 · American Chemical Society
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
2
Chemical Society Reviews
38.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Royal Society of Chemistry
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
3
Progress in Polymer Science
22.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
4
Nature Reviews Chemistry
20.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
5
Advances in Colloid and Interface Science
18.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
6
Coordination Chemistry Reviews
18.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
7
Accounts of Chemical Research
18.0 cites/paper · Q1 · American Chemical Society
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
8
Nature Chemistry
17.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
9
Journal of the American Chemical Society
15.3 cites/paper · Q1 · American Chemical Society
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
10
CHINESE JOURNAL OF CATALYSIS (CHINESE VERSION)
14.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of Science
11
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
14.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
12
ACS Catalysis
13.2 cites/paper · Q1 · American Chemical Society
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
13
Nature Synthesis
12.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
14
TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry
12.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
15
Chem
11.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
16
Acta Physico-Chimica Sinica
11.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Peking University Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
17
Aggregate
9.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
18
Current Opinion in Chemical Biology
7.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
19
ACS Central Science
7.9 cites/paper · Q1 · American Chemical Society
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
20
Chemical Science
7.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Royal Society of Chemistry
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
21
Current Opinion in Colloid & Interface Science
7.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
22
Chemical Physics Impact
7.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
23
Science China Chemistry
6.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Science+Business Media
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
24
JACS Au
6.9 cites/paper · Q1 · American Chemical Society
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
25
Russian Chemical Reviews
6.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Institute of Physics
ScopusWeb of Science
26
Applied Spectroscopy Reviews
6.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Taylor & Francis
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
27
Archives of Pharmacal Research
6.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Nature
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
28
CCS Chemistry
6.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Chinese Chemical Society
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
29
The Chemical Record
6.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
30
Analytical Chemistry
6.3 cites/paper · Q1 · American Chemical Society
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
31
Talanta
6.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
32
European Polymer Journal
6.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
33
Journal of Molecular Liquids
5.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusPubMed
34
Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis
5.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
35
Inorganic Chemistry Communications
5.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
36
European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry
5.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
37
Molecules
5.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
38
Communications Chemistry
5.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
39
Macromolecules
5.3 cites/paper · Q1 · American Chemical Society
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
40
Journal of Catalysis
5.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed

“Cites/paper” is the OpenAlex 2-year citation rate — a transparent signal, not a licensed Impact Factor. Many regional and open-access journals are strong but aren’t covered by Scimago, so they show “no Scimago quartile”; that’s a coverage gap, not a quality judgement.