Surface and Coatings Technology Submission Guide

Source: Surface and Coatings Technology on Elsevier, Clarivate JCR 2024, accessed April 2026.

Three operational signals govern editorial assessment:

1. Surface-engineering substance. The journal requires substantive surface-engineering or coatings contribution.

2. Methodological rigor. Synthesis, deposition, characterization, and properties must be top-tier.

3. Application centrality. The coatings or surface application must be central, not afterthought.

Recent issues span:

• High-entropy alloy and ceramic coatings

• PVD/CVD hard coatings (TiN, CrN, DLC)

• Plasma-electrolytic oxidation (PEO) coatings

• Thermal-barrier coatings (TBCs)

• Anti-corrosion and anti-fouling coatings

• Biomedical and antibacterial coatings

• Optical and decorative coatings

• Additive-manufacturing surface treatments

For specific recent papers and DOIs, see Surface and Coatings Technology on Elsevier. Representative recent papers:

• 10.1016/j.surfcoat.2023.130456

• 10.1016/j.surfcoat.2024.130789

• 10.1016/j.surfcoat.2024.130923

• Initial decision: typically 4-8 weeks

• First decision after review: typically 8-14 weeks

• Revision rounds: typically 1-2 major revisions to acceptance

• Time to publication after acceptance: weeks to a few months (online first available)

Read the public instructions for mechanics, then pressure-test the package the way an editor will see it. The review tells you whether your paper clears the Surface and Coatings Technology fit check before upload, especially around surface-engineering framing thin, wrong surface / materials venue chosen, and methodological execution doesn't clear top-tier bar. Paid Manusights reviews include a 60-day money-back guarantee, and we do not train models on submitted manuscripts.

Three patterns generate the most consistent rejections.

Surface-engineering framing thin

Pure-materials work without coating application fits other venues. The fix is to articulate the surface contribution.

Check surface engineering framing thin before submitting to Surface and Coatings Technology →

Wrong surface / materials venue chosen

The journal competes with Thin Solid Films, Applied Surface Science, Surface and Interface Analysis, and Tribology International. The fix is informed routing.

Check wrong surface / materials venue chosen before submitting to Surface and Coatings Technology →

Methodological execution doesn't clear top-tier bar

The fix is rigorous execution. A Surface and Coatings Technology manuscript readiness check can identify whether surface-engineering framing, methodological rigor, and venue alignment align before submission.

Check methodological execution doesn't clear top tier bar before submitting to Surface and Coatings Technology →

Surface and Coatings Technology requires these at first submission:

• editable manuscript source file (.docx or .tex, not PDF) with numbered section structure per Elsevier convention

• mandatory cover letter explicitly explaining the novelty, originality, and scientific contribution beyond previously published papers (this is a published acceptance criterion, not optional)

• complete process-parameter information for experimental papers (coating-deposition technique, substrate preparation, deposition rates, temperature, atmosphere, post-treatment)

• appropriate microstructural characterization on the synthesis-characterization-properties-performance relationships

• complete test-equipment and test-parameter information for any performance data (tribology, corrosion, mechanical, optical, thermal)

• balanced and up-to-date reference list (the journal explicitly checks for reference balance against the surface-engineering literature)

• highlights file (3-5 bullet points, 85 characters each)

• graphical abstract showing the coating microstructure or process

• CRediT author contribution statement

• declaration of competing interests

• ethics statement (where applicable, including biosafety for any biomedical-coating work)

• suggested reviewers (MANDATORY at submission per the published guide) with reference to their most recent published article related to the submission AND the homepage URL of each suggested reviewer in the comment box; potential referees must be independent international experts unconnected to the authors

• preprint deposition opt-in declaration if posting to SSRN

• $3,810 USD APC for the Elsevier gold open-access option (2026; subscription publication has no APC; many institutional Elsevier transformative agreements cover the fee)

• declaration of generative AI use in the writing process per Elsevier policy

• for revised submissions, point-by-point reviewer response and marked-up manuscript

For Surface and Coatings Technology submissions, the most common artifact-related issue is suggested-reviewer lists submitted without the journal's required reference-to-most-recent-paper and homepage-URL elements. The journal explicitly states that this information is mandatory and submissions without it face technical-screen returns before the manuscript reaches the editor's desk. Adding the reference and URL for each suggested reviewer takes 5-10 minutes and avoids a 1-2 week delay.

Run a Surface and Coatings Technology pre-submission readiness check before clicking submit to verify the package meets the journal's novelty-cover-letter-with-reviewer-references bar.

Surface and Coatings Technology manuscripts move through a four-stage editorial timeline. The editorial triage pattern at Elsevier surface-engineering journals favors submissions where the cover letter names a failure pattern in current surface-and-coatings practice that the manuscript addresses. Editors routinely reject technical-recipe-format submissions without substantive new understanding and consistently screen for cover letters that demonstrate awareness of the journal's recent editorial culture around synthesis-characterization-properties-performance integration.

Day 0 to 5: Editorial Manager intake and technical check

The platform performs automated checks (source-file format, numbered-section structure, highlights, declarations, AI-use disclosure, suggested-reviewer-information completeness). Submissions without complete suggested-reviewer references and URLs are returned at this stage.

Day 5 to 21: Editor-in-Chief or Subject Editor desk-screen

A Subject Editor (matched to PVD and CVD coatings, thermal spray, sol-gel coatings, electrochemical surface treatments, surface modification, tribological coatings, biomedical coatings, or anti-corrosion coatings) reviews the cover-letter novelty claim and scope fit. Submissions whose cover letter does not explicitly explain novelty are returned without peer review.

Week 4 to 8: External peer review

Manuscripts that pass desk-screen go to 2-3 reviewers selected from the suggested-reviewer list (where the editor accepts them) or from the editor's reviewer pool.

Week 8 to 16: Decision and revision rounds

First decisions arrive at the 4-8 week median, typically as major or minor revision. Revision cycles add 4-10 weeks. Authors may file a formal appeal per Elsevier's Appeal Policy (one appeal per submission, decision final).

• Is Surface and Coatings Technology a good journal?

• Applied Surface Science Submission Guide

Before the reviewer-invitation stage, read the Surface and Coatings Technology package against the same risks this guide flags in the Manusights section. The practical question is whether the abstract, cover letter, figures or tables, methods, reporting statements, supplementary files, and references all make the journal choice obvious.

• If the abstract still points toward surface-engineering framing thin, revise the central claim before upload.

• If the evidence package leaves wrong surface / materials venue chosen, strengthen the methods, controls, figures, or supplementary material rather than expecting reviewers to infer it.

• If the cover letter cannot resolve methodological execution doesn't clear top-tier bar, compare the target journal against the adjacent venues named above before submitting.

Last verified: April 2026 against Surface and Coatings Technology editorial pages.