Rejected from Angewandte Chemie? The 7 Best Journals to Submit Next

Angewandte's editorial process is built for speed. Editors make quick decisions, and the standards reflect the journal's identity as a home for surprising chemistry.

The "wow factor" test

Angewandte's editors explicitly evaluate whether a paper will surprise the chemistry community. This isn't about complexity or completeness. A simple result that nobody expected can beat a technically impressive paper that confirms what everyone already suspected. If your paper was rejected and the editorial letter mentioned "insufficient novelty" or "limited general interest," the editors didn't see the surprise.

Communication format constraints

Most Angewandte papers are communications, limited to roughly 4 pages of text and 4 figures. If your story requires extensive supporting information to make its case, the communication format may not work. Some papers are rejected because the core result can't stand alone in 4 pages, even though the full story (with all supporting data) is compelling.

Reviewer disagreement

Angewandte typically sends papers to 2-3 reviewers, and the editors make the final call. If one reviewer was enthusiastic but another was critical, the editor may reject rather than mediate. This is particularly common for interdisciplinary papers where reviewers from different fields apply different standards.

Too specialized for a general audience

Angewandte publishes for all chemists, not just specialists in your subfield. If your paper is important within computational chemistry or polymer science but wouldn't interest an organic chemist, Angewandte's editors may redirect you to a specialty journal. This is a scope judgment, not a quality judgment.

1. JACS

JACS is the first journal most chemists consider after an Angewandte rejection, and for good reason. The two journals overlap in scope and prestige. The main difference is format: JACS publishes more full articles, giving you space to tell the complete story that Angewandte's communication format couldn't accommodate. If Angewandte rejected your paper because the story was too complex for 4 pages, JACS's longer format may solve the problem. Many research groups routinely try one and then the other.

Best for: Papers that need more space than a communication. Thorough studies with extensive characterization data.

2. Chemical Science

Chemical Science is the Royal Society of Chemistry's flagship, and it's free to publish. No APC. That alone makes it attractive, but the journal also has a strong editorial team and a growing reputation. Chemical Science publishes across all chemistry with an impact factor around 8. For Angewandte rejects where the chemistry is solid but the "wow factor" was borderline, Chemical Science is an excellent home. The editors value rigorous, well-executed chemistry even when it isn't headline-grabbing.

Best for: All chemistry subdisciplines. Rigorous work that didn't meet Angewandte's surprise threshold.

3. Chemistry, A European Journal

Also published by Wiley for European chemical societies, Chemistry, A European Journal sits one tier below Angewandte in the same publishing ecosystem. The editors understand what Angewandte wants and can recognize when a paper is strong but not quite surprising enough. The acceptance rate (~30%) is more accessible, and the journal publishes full papers, communications, and minireviews. If Angewandte rejected your paper for "insufficient general interest," Chemistry, A European Journal may see it differently.

Best for: European chemistry community. Full papers and communications across all subdisciplines.

4. ACS Nano

If your Angewandte paper involved nanoscience, nanostructures, or nanomaterials, ACS Nano (IF ~15) is a strong alternative with equivalent prestige in the nanoscience community. The journal publishes across nanoscience, nanotechnology, and related fields, and its reviewers are specialists in nano-scale chemistry and physics. Papers that Angewandte considered too materials-focused or too applied may fit ACS Nano's scope perfectly.

Best for: Nanoscience, nanoparticle synthesis, nanostructured materials, and nanotechnology applications.

5. Journal of Organic Chemistry

For organic chemistry papers, JOC is the workhorse journal of the field. It publishes full articles on organic synthesis, reaction methodology, natural products, and physical organic chemistry. The impact factor (~4) is lower than Angewandte's, but JOC carries strong credibility within the organic chemistry community. If Angewandte rejected your synthesis paper for being "too specialized," JOC's reviewers will appreciate the technical depth that Angewandte's general audience couldn't.

Best for: Detailed organic synthesis methodology, total synthesis, reaction mechanism studies.

6. Advanced Science

Advanced Science (IF ~15) covers interdisciplinary research at the interface of chemistry, physics, materials science, and biology. If your Angewandte paper bridged chemistry and another field, Advanced Science's explicitly interdisciplinary scope may be a better fit. The journal is published by Wiley-VCH (the same publisher as Angewandte), and its editorial team includes people who understand the Angewandte rejection pipeline.

Best for: Interdisciplinary work connecting chemistry to materials, biology, or energy applications.

7. Chemical Communications (ChemComm)

ChemComm is RSC's short communication journal, the closest analog to Angewandte's communication format but with a lower bar. If your paper works as a short communication and you've already formatted it that way, ChemComm is the fastest path to publication. Turnaround is typically 4-6 weeks, and the acceptance rate (~30%) means well-executed chemistry usually finds a home. ChemComm is particularly good for establishing priority on a result before publishing a full paper elsewhere.

Best for: Quick priority establishment. Concise results across all chemistry subdisciplines.

Desk rejected from Angewandte within a week? Submit to JACS immediately. The two journals reject different papers, and a desk rejection from Angewandte often means the editor personally didn't find the topic exciting, not that the chemistry is weak.

Rejected for "too specialized"? Go directly to the top journal in your subdiscipline. ACS Catalysis, ACS Nano, Journal of Organic Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry. These journals value depth over breadth.

Rejected after peer review with split opinions? Chemical Science or JACS may see the paper differently. If one Angewandte reviewer was enthusiastic, include that information (without naming the reviewer) in your cover letter to the next journal.

Rejected for "the communication format doesn't work"? Expand into a full article for JACS or Chemistry, A European Journal. Add the supporting data to the main text and tell the complete story.

Sharpen your opening. Angewandte values a compelling first paragraph, and so does every other chemistry journal. If your introduction buries the interesting result under three paragraphs of background, rewrite it to lead with the surprise.

Add missing experiments. If reviewers asked for additional characterization, computational support, or control experiments, do them. These requests will recur at the next journal.

Reconsider the format. A paper rejected as a communication might succeed as a full article, and vice versa. Think about whether the story is better told in 4 pages or 10.

Update your TOC graphic. Angewandte requires a table-of-contents graphic, and many other journals use them too. A clear, attractive graphic that communicates the main finding at a glance helps editors and reviewers engage with your paper immediately.

Chemistry is competitive, and sitting on a rejected manuscript burns time your competitors won't waste. Before you submit to the next journal, run your manuscript through a free Manusights scan to identify formatting issues, missing data, and scope alignment problems. Getting it right on the next attempt matters more than submitting quickly.