Skip to main content
Journal Guides7 min readUpdated Oct 21, 2026

Applied Surface Science Acceptance Rate

Applied Surface Science: 18% acceptance rate reported by Elsevier journal catalog. Check the source period and population before comparing journals.

By Manusights Editorial Team
Editorial processThe Manusights editorial team researches and maintains these guides using source review, field-specific analysis, and our documented editorial process.How we work

Acceptance odds

See if your manuscript is likely to clear Applied Surface Science's acceptance bar.

Run the Free Readiness Scan to get a desk-reject-risk and fit signal that goes beyond the percentage.

Check my Applied Surface Science oddsPrivate API processing. Your manuscript is not used to train models.See example reports
Selectivity context

What Applied Surface Science's acceptance rate means for your manuscript

Acceptance rates describe overall selection. They do not by themselves establish desk-rejection risk, manuscript-specific odds, or editorial speed.

Full journal profile
Acceptance rate18%Overall selectivityTime to decision9 days to first decisionFirst decision

What the number tells you

  • Elsevier journal catalog reports an acceptance rate of 18% for Applied Surface Science. Source checked 2026-10-21. Publisher-reported overall acceptance rate, not a manuscript-specific probability or a desk-rejection share. The catalog does not specify the reporting period, submission count or article-type coverage. The observation date is not a metric year.
  • An overall acceptance rate does not establish the desk-rejection share or the most common reason for rejection.
  • Compare rates only when the reporting periods and manuscript populations are comparable.

What the number does not tell you

  • Whether your specific paper type (review, letter, brief communication) faces the same rate as full articles.
  • How fast you will hear back, check time to first decision separately.
  • What open access publishing will cost if you choose that route.

Quick answer, acceptance-rate source check (October 21, 2026): Elsevier journal catalog reports 18% for Applied Surface Science's acceptance rate (source checked 2026-10-21). Publisher source. The catalog does not specify the reporting period or denominator, and the figure is not an individual manuscript probability.

Elsevier journal catalog reports 18% for Applied Surface Science's acceptance rate (source checked 2026-10-21). The catalog does not specify the reporting period or denominator, and the figure is not an individual manuscript probability. A stronger decision comes from surface-specific mechanism, matched characterization, realistic operating conditions, and an application claim that does not exceed the tested evidence.

Evidence basis: We rechecked the Applied Surface Science journal page, guide for authors, and Elsevier peer-review guidance on September 8, 2026. Elsevier defines the live route; Manusights adds the evidence-to-fit test.

Surface-science test
Submit signal
Hold signal
Surface mechanism
Chemistry, structure, morphology, and property change form one explanation
Characterization is an inventory
Causal evidence
Controls or perturbations separate surface effects from bulk or processing effects
Correlation carries mechanistic language
Operating boundary
Stability, cycling, environment, and scale match the application claim
Best-case conditions support a broad use claim
Comparator
A fair current baseline uses matched conditions and units
Performance looks strong only against a weak control

Use the Applied Surface Science submission guide for scope and files; keep acceptance-rate estimates separate from manuscript readiness.

Applied Surface Science acceptance-rate context at a glance

Metric
Current figure
Why it matters
2025 Journal Impact Factor
6.6
Publisher-listed annual citation metric
CiteScore
13.3
Strong Scopus-side support
Submission to first decision
9 days
Very fast initial triage
Submission to decision after review
32 days
Efficient review cycle
Submission to acceptance
69 days
Useful benchmark for planning
APC (optional OA)
$4,270
Cost decision is separate from fit

That table gives the real answer. Applied Surface Science is not just a broad, high-volume materials journal with a surface label.

Longer-term metrics context

Year
JIF
2017
4.4
2018
5.2
2019
6.0
2020
6.7
2021
7.3
2022
7.0
2023
6.7
2024
6.9

The 2024 JIF increased from 6.7 in 2023 to 6.9 in 2024. That is a useful reminder that the journal is still performing strongly in its niche even after the broader post-surge normalization phase.

How Applied Surface Science compares with nearby journals

Journal
IF (2025)
Secondary metrics signal
Best fit
Applied Surface Science
6.6
CiteScore 13.3, fast triage
Surface-led applied physics and chemistry
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
7.9
Higher prestige ceiling
Broader applied materials stories
Journal of Colloid and Interface Science
9.6
Stronger interface-science positioning
Colloid/interface-first work
Surface and Coatings Technology
6.9
More coatings-specific
Coatings and engineering applications
Langmuir
4.4
Surface chemistry core audience
Surface chemistry and soft interfaces

This is the real fit distinction: Applied Surface Science is strongest when the surface or interface itself is the scientific driver, not when it is only supporting evidence for a broader materials story.

What the acceptance-rate question really means here

For this journal, the acceptance-rate query is really standing in for a sharper question:

Is the paper genuinely surface science at the atomic or molecular level, or is it a broader materials paper with surface characterization attached?

That is the question authors should answer first.

What the 18% rate tells you:

  • the desk and review filters are real
  • simply having surface characterization is not enough
  • the journal is more selective than many authors assume

What it does not tell you:

  • whether the surface evidence actually explains the function
  • whether another materials or coatings journal is a better fit
  • whether the characterization depth matches the claim

What Applied Surface Science editors are actually screening for

The official author guidance is unusually explicit. The journal says the work must be a research study on the atomic and molecular level of material properties determined with specific surface approaches, and that papers outside that bar will not be sent for peer review.

That gives you a very practical screen:

  1. Is the paper operating at the surface or interface level rather than mainly in the bulk?
  1. Does the surface evidence explain the function?
  1. Is the mechanism specific enough to matter scientifically, not just descriptively?
  1. Would the paper be materially weaker if the surface data were removed?

If the answer to the last question is no, the fit is weak.

Readiness check

See how your manuscript scores against Applied Surface Science before you submit.

Run the scan with Applied Surface Science as your target journal. Get a fit signal that goes beyond the percentage.

Check my manuscript fitPrivate API processing. Your manuscript is not used to train models.Open Applied Surface Science guide

What we see in pre-submission review work

Across Manusights submission reviews, Applied Surface Science rejections usually cluster around three patterns.

The surface story is decorative, not causal. The paper may have strong SEM, XPS, or AFM, but the functional claim does not really depend on the surface findings. Reviewers catch this quickly.

The mechanism is too thin for the confidence of the claim. A paper shows a surface modification and an improved output, but the link between the two is asserted rather than demonstrated.

The manuscript is actually a different journal's paper. Some coating, catalysis, or general materials papers can be made to sound surface-adjacent. But if the core audience is somewhere else, Applied Surface Science is a difficult target.

That is why the journal's official acceptance rate is helpful but not sufficient. The decisive issue is usually whether the science is surface-led in a credible way.

The better submission question

For Applied Surface Science, the better decision question is:

Is the surface or interface the scientific engine of the result, and is the evidence specific enough at the atomic or molecular level to justify that claim?

If no, the number is not the main problem.

Submit if / Think twice if

Submit if:

  • the surface or interface is central to the mechanism
  • the paper genuinely works at the atomic or molecular level of the surface problem
  • the characterization package explains the function rather than just illustrating it
  • the audience is surface-science readers rather than a broader materials audience

Think twice if:

  • the surface data is supporting evidence for a bulk materials story
  • the mechanism is still mostly asserted rather than shown
  • a coatings, catalysis, or broader materials journal is the more honest fit
  • the paper would read almost the same without the surface section

Practical verdict

The useful answer is:

  • the journal is materially selective
  • the current metrics show a strong, fast-moving venue
  • the real editorial screen is whether the result is authentically surface-led

If you want a reviewer-style read on whether the paper actually behaves like an Applied Surface Science paper before upload, an Applied Surface Science submission readiness check is the best next step.

  1. Applied Surface Science JIF

Frequently asked questions

Elsevier journal catalog reports 18% for Applied Surface Science's acceptance rate (source checked 2026-10-21). The catalog does not specify the reporting period or denominator, and the figure is not an individual manuscript probability.

Assess whether the central contribution depends on surfaces or interfaces, whether the characterization supports the mechanism, and whether the application claim matches the conditions tested.

Applied Surface Science Journal Insights (ScienceDirect) reports 6.6 for Applied Surface Science's Journal Impact Factor (2025 Journal Citation Reports metric; Clarivate Analytics 2026 release; source checked 2026-10-21). Elsevier journal catalog reports 9 days for Applied Surface Science's submission to first decision (source checked 2026-10-21). Citation impact and editorial timing describe different things.

Applied Surface Science wants the surface or interface to be the scientific engine of the result, not just a characterization layer attached to a bulk materials paper.

A paper with strong materials or application content but a weak surface-science mechanism. If the paper would say almost the same thing without the surface data, the fit is usually weak.

References

Sources

  1. 1. Applied Surface Science insights page
  2. 2. Applied Surface Science guide for authors

Final step

Will your manuscript clear Applied Surface Science's acceptance bar?

Run the Free Readiness Scan to get a desk-reject-risk and fit signal that goes beyond the percentage.

Target journal Applied Surface Science

Check my Applied Surface Science odds

Private API processing. Your manuscript is not used to train models.

See example reports

Put the guidance to work

Build a journal decision from more than one signal.

Use comparison data as a starting point, then confirm the live source that governs the actual submission decision.

Compare journal signals Explore fit, timing, requirements, and editorial context together.Find the official source See where a journal, publisher, society, or author center controls a rule.
Internal navigation

Where to go next

Start here

Same journal, next question

Supporting reads

Conversion step

Back to all articles