Angewandte Chemie 'Under Review': What Each Status Means

Before the paper reaches referees, an Angewandte Chemie handling editor evaluates whether the chemistry-significance and novelty warrant Angewandte's selective editorial slots. Roughly 50 to 60 percent of submissions are desk-rejected at this stage within 5 to 10 days. Contributions that are not considered suitable for the journal are returned to the author(s) without external review.

A desk rejection most often means the editor concluded that the work lacks novelty over the existing literature, has insufficient chemistry-significance, or would fit better at a sister Wiley chemistry journal (Chemistry - A European Journal, ChemPhysChem, ChemistrySelect).

The Angewandte Chemie editorial office confirms files are complete: manuscript with figures embedded, Wiley-VCH template (roughly 10 percent of submissions are uploaded in a generic format rather than the Wiley-VCH template and require re-formatting before progress), Supporting Information with characterization data (NMR, mass spec, IR, crystallographic data with CIF files where applicable), cover letter directed to the editor naming genuine novelty, conflict-of-interest declarations, ethics-statement documentation, and data-availability statement.

The handling editor reads the paper and evaluates chemistry-significance, novelty over the existing literature (with particular attention to cover-letter novelty framing), and Angewandte family routing. The final decision to accept or reject a manuscript rests with the editor.

In parallel with the handling editor's primary read, ambiguous-fit papers are discussed across the Angewandte editorial team where peer handling editors and senior editors weigh in on whether the paper would fit better at Angewandte or at sister Wiley chemistry journals. This editorial-team discussion runs alongside the desk-screen and adds 2 to 5 days to the timeline that is invisible to the author in the portal.

Angewandte Chemie handling editors typically invite 2 to 3 external referees, with referee recruitment typically taking 7 to 14 days. The recruitment window can take longer because referees with topic-matched chemistry subspecialty expertise are scarce, and the strict single-anonymous peer-review process means referees know author identities while authors do not see referee identities.

Once referees agree to review, the typical Angewandte Chemie peer-review cycle lasts 2 to 6 weeks per referee. Referees are asked to evaluate chemistry-significance, novelty, characterization data adequacy, and reproducibility. Communications that are "very important" in the opinion of at least 2 referees are denoted as being a VIP (very important paper) upon publication.

After reports return, the handling editor synthesizes them and checks for VIP designation (requires "very important" rating from at least 2 referees). The final decision to accept or reject a manuscript rests with the editor.

• Rejection within 1 to 5 days: Administrative issue, Wiley-VCH template format problem, or immediate scope mismatch.

• Rejection within 5 to 14 days: Handling editor desk rejection per the 50 to 60 percent figure.

• Still Under Review after 3 weeks: Strong signal. Paper passed the Angewandte editor filter.

• Still Under Review after 10 weeks: Referee-recruitment or referee-report delay. A polite inquiry via the ScholarOne portal is appropriate.

• Status changes to "Decision Pending": Reports are in; expect a decision within 1 week.

This is the most common anxiety we hear from Angewandte Chemie authors during the active editorial window. The honest answer: no, 5 weeks at Under Review puts you in the normal middle of Angewandte's 4 to 8 week full peer-review distribution.

Reports may already be in editorial synthesis with the handling editor preparing the recommendation, possibly with a VIP designation check if at least 2 referees rated the paper "very important." Most referee-driven delays come from referee-recruitment timing rather than slow reviews because Angewandte recruits topic-matched chemistry subspecialty referees who are scarce.

If the portal still says Under Review at the 8-week mark, the most likely explanation is that one of the assigned referees asked for an extension and the handling editor granted it. This is normal practice at Angewandte Chemie.

What you should NOT do during the 5-to-8-week window is email the editorial office. Angewandte handling editors are managing 80+ active papers per year; an inquiry at 5 weeks adds friction without accelerating the timeline.

For chemistry manuscripts with biomedical or clinical-adjacent claims, do not treat reporting guidance as decorative. CONSORT, STROBE, ARRIVE, and PRISMA are not Angewandte-specific checklists, but they matter when the manuscript includes trials, observational datasets, animal models, or systematic evidence synthesis. The status page matters because a paper can be legitimately Under Review while referees are checking whether those study-design disclosures are complete enough to trust the chemistry claim.

If your Angewandte Chemie paper is rejected after review, the natural cascade depends on what the referees and editor cited:

Chemistry - A European Journal is the natural Wiley cascade for full Research Article chemistry papers where the Communication priority bar of Angewandte is not met but the rigor is high. Wiley supports manuscript-transfer with referee reports preserved.

ChemPhysChem is the Wiley cascade for physical chemistry papers.

ChemistrySelect is the Wiley open-access cascade for chemistry papers where the priority bar of Angewandte or Chemistry - A European Journal is not met.

JACS is the external ACS chemistry flagship cascade. JACS uses ACS Paragon Plus at ACS journal page; editorial contact jacs@acs.org.

Nature Chemistry is the external Springer Nature top-tier chemistry cascade. The Nature Chemistry Manuscript Tracking System at mts-nchem.nature.com handles submission; nchem@nature.com handles publisher-level inquiries.

Angewandte Chemie handling editors retain discretion to reject after partial review if referee reports surface chemistry-significance or novelty concerns the desk screen did not catch. The 25 to 30 percent overall acceptance rate means many post-desk-screen papers still receive a reject or substantial-revision decision.

For a pre-upload diagnostic of chemistry-significance framing and cover-letter novelty, run an Angewandte Chemie pre-submission diagnostic before referee reports surface those concerns.

Last verified: Angewandte Chemie notice to authors at Wiley journal page and Wiley-VCH editorial documentation.

Wiley-VCH asks referees at Angewandte Chemie to evaluate four things specifically. The table below maps each to actionable preparation.

In the recent pre-submission review work for chemistry, materials chemistry, catalysis, and chemical biology venues, the Angewandte Chemie-targeted papers that created the most avoidable status anxiety had a shared feature: the authors could not tell whether Under Review meant "good news" or "prepare for a hard revision."

The useful status signal is not simply that the portal says Under Review. The useful signal is which part of the Angewandte package is now exposed to a chemistry referee instead of only to the Wiley-VCH handling editor. That changes what the author should prepare while waiting. We use four recurring patterns to separate normal waiting from revision-risk preparation.

Angewandte novelty not visible outside the cover letter. A manuscript can pass desk review because the cover letter explains the chemical advance, then run into referee resistance because the abstract, first figure, and conclusion do not make that advance independently visible.

For Angewandte Chemie, the safe package has the novelty claim repeated in the abstract, anchored to the main reaction scheme or material system, and supported by references that show why the prior art did not already solve the same problem. If the cover letter is the only place where the advance is sharp, use the waiting period to prepare a revision paragraph that makes the novelty readable in the manuscript itself.

Angewandte characterization strength uneven across the evidence package. Referees rarely object to one missing spectrum in isolation. They object when the characterization logic is uneven: strong NMR for one compound family, weaker mass spectrometry for the key intermediate, thin control experiments for the catalytic claim, or supporting information that does not let another chemistry lab reconstruct the central result.

If the paper is Under Review, build a map from each main-text claim to the exact supporting-information page, figure, table, spectrum, CIF file, control experiment, or yield calculation that supports it. That map becomes the fastest possible response if a referee asks whether the evidence is complete.

Angewandte format and VIP framing pulling in different directions. Some papers are formatted like ordinary full articles but argued like high-priority Communications. That mismatch creates slow reviews because referees have to decide whether the manuscript is trying to be a compact chemistry advance, a deeper mechanistic paper, or a broader methods contribution.

The strongest Angewandte Chemie packages make the figure order, supplementary information, experimental section, and conclusion all support the same identity. If the status has been Under Review for several weeks, do not rewrite the paper preemptively, but do prepare a response structure that can defend why the current format is the right one for the claim.

Clinical or biological chemistry claims without the right reporting frame. Angewandte is a chemistry journal, but reviewers still notice when a manuscript leans on cell, animal, clinical, or systematic-literature evidence without the relevant reporting frame. CONSORT, STROBE, ARRIVE, or PRISMA language should appear only when the study design calls for it; forcing those names into pure synthetic chemistry would be misleading.

When the evidence does call for one of those frameworks, the waiting period is the right time to verify that ethics approvals, sample-size logic, controls, statistical analysis, and supplementary reporting are easy to point to in a revision response.

Source limitation: Wiley-VCH and Angewandte Chemie are the authorities for live portal labels, editor assignment, and active manuscript status. Manusights adds manuscript-risk interpretation from pre-submission review work, not inside access to a specific Angewandte Chemie editorial file.

This page was created from Wiley-VCH's public Angewandte Chemie notice to authors at Wiley journal page, Angewandte Chemie reviewer guidelines documentation (strict single-anonymous peer review, VIP designation requires 2+ referees rating "very important," cover-letter novelty critical to desk-screen pass, Wiley-VCH template requirement, 5 to 14 day desk-screen target, 4 to 8 week full peer-review window), SciRev community-reported transit data on Angewandte Chemie, and Manusights pre-submission review experience with Angewandte-targeted manuscripts.

For the Wiley chemistry landscape beyond Angewandte Chemie, see Chemistry - A European Journal (Wiley Research Articles cascade), ChemPhysChem (physical chemistry specialty), ChemistrySelect (Wiley open-access cascade), and external chemistry alternatives (JACS, Nature Chemistry, Nature Chemical Biology). The choice across these titles depends on whether the central contribution is top-tier chemistry Communications (Angewandte), Wiley Research Articles (Chemistry - A European Journal), physical chemistry (ChemPhysChem), Wiley open-access (ChemistrySelect), top-tier ACS chemistry (JACS), or top-tier Nature Portfolio chemistry (Nature Chemistry, Nature Chemical Biology).

Referees at Angewandte Chemie typically draw from 2 to 3 chemistry subspecialty experts under a strict single-anonymous model. Editors screen and triage manuscripts before any referee sees them, and preparing a response template that addresses both chemistry-significance and characterization-data perspectives accelerates revision rounds substantially.

For a pre-upload check of your manuscript against the Angewandte chemistry-Communications-plus-novelty bar before submission, our Angewandte Chemie pre-submission diagnostic flags the cover-letter framing and characterization weaknesses most likely to surface in referee reports.