Journal Guide
Publishing in ACS Catalysis: Fit, Timeline & Submission Guide
Catalysis: efficient reactions, selective transformation, and green chemistry
Should you submit here?
Submit if present catalyst enabling efficient, selective reaction. Be careful if characterizing catalyst structure alone insufficient.
Best fit if
Present catalyst enabling efficient, selective reaction
Not ideal if
Characterizing catalyst structure alone insufficient
Also compare
13.1
Impact Factor (2024)
~20-30%
Acceptance Rate
~100-130 days median
Time to First Decision
Submission guide
ACS Catalysis Submission Guide: Scope, Format & Tips (2026)
Practical ACS Catalysis submission guide: what the journal expects, what catalytic papers need to show, and how to avoid the most common editorial.
Journal assessment
Is ACS Catalysis a Good Journal? What Catalysis Researchers Need to Know
ACS Catalysis JIF 13.1 is the top dedicated catalysis journal from ACS. Here's when your paper fits, what the editors reject for, and when JACS, Nature Catalysis, or Journal of Catalysis is the better target.
Desk rejection
How to Avoid Desk Rejection at ACS Catalysis
What ACS Catalysis editors screen for before peer review, and the missing pieces that make a catalysis paper look premature.
What ACS Catal. Publishes
ACS Catalysis published by the American Chemical Society is a premier journal for catalysis research and catalytic chemistry. With JIF 13.1 and Q1 ranking in Catalysis, ACSC emphasizes research on novel catalysts, catalytic mechanisms, and catalytic applications. The journal publishes research on heterogeneous catalysis, homogeneous catalysis, biocatalysis, and photocatalysis. Critically: ACSC values catalysts with demonstrated performance advantages. Catalyst characterization without activity or mechanistic data is less competitive. The journal seeks papers showing how catalysts enable efficient, selective reactions.
- Heterogeneous catalysis: solid catalysts, surface chemistry, reaction mechanism
- Homogeneous catalysis: organometallic catalysts, molecular mechanisms, selectivity
- Biocatalysis: enzymes, enzyme engineering, biocatalytic reactions
- Photocatalysis: light-driven reactions, photocatalytic materials, solar chemistry
- Electrocatalysis: electrodes, electrocatalytic conversion, electrochemical processes
- Environmental catalysis: pollutant removal, emission control, water treatment
- Selective oxidation: selective transformations, atom economy, green catalysis
- C-H activation and functionalization: direct transformations, catalytic selectivity
Editor Insight
“ACS Catalysis publishes catalysis advancing chemical transformation. We seek catalysts demonstrating superior performance with rigorous mechanistic understanding and broad substrate scope.”
What ACS Catal. Editors Look For
Novel catalyst or catalytic system showing superior activity or selectivity
Present catalyst enabling efficient, selective reaction. Higher turnover? Better selectivity? Novel feedstock conversion? Demonstrate exceptional catalytic performance with quantified metrics.
Complete catalyst characterization and structure-activity relationship
Thoroughly characterize catalyst: microscopy, spectroscopy, surface area, porosity. Show how structure relates to catalytic activity and selectivity.
Mechanistic understanding of catalytic process and reaction pathway
Explain catalytic mechanism. What surfaces or sites drive reaction? What rate-limiting steps control activity? Mechanistic insight crucial for catalysis papers.
Catalyst performance testing with multiple substrates demonstrating generality
Test catalyst scope with different substrates showing broad applicability. Demonstrating reactivity across substrate class proves useful catalyst, not isolated example.
Practical feasibility and scalability assessment
Address catalyst cost, synthesis scalability, and practical implementation. Show catalytic system feasible for real chemical processes.
Why Papers Get Rejected
These patterns appear repeatedly in manuscripts that don't make it past ACS Catal.'s editorial review:
Catalyst characterization without demonstrating catalytic activity or mechanism
Characterizing catalyst structure alone insufficient. Show catalytic performance: turnover, selectivity, mechanism. What reaction does this catalyst enable?
Testing single substrate without demonstrating catalyst scope or generality
Isolated example less compelling than demonstrating broad reactivity. Test multiple substrates proving catalyst utility.
Claims of high catalytic activity without proper mechanistic support
Activity claims require mechanistic explanation. Why is catalyst active? Understanding mechanism strengthens catalyst importance.
No comparison with existing catalysts or industry standards
Show catalyst outperforms existing approaches. How much more active? More selective? Why is catalytic advance important?
Ignoring catalyst deactivation and lifetime
Practical catalysts must survive extended use. Address catalyst stability, fouling, and lifetime under realistic conditions.
Does your manuscript avoid these patterns?
The Free Readiness Scan reads your full manuscript against ACS Catal.'s criteria and flags the specific issues most likely to cause rejection.
Insider Tips from ACS Catal. Authors
Selective oxidation and green catalysis highly competitive
Catalysts enabling selective transformations with high atom economy align with green chemistry priorities.
C-H activation and direct functionalization increasingly valued
Catalysts enabling direct C-H transformations bypassing traditional synthetic steps receive strong interest.
Electrocatalysis for CO2 reduction and water splitting trending
Electrocatalysts enabling sustainable chemical transformations increasingly important for decarbonization.
Single-atom and highly dispersed catalysts gaining prominence
Catalysts with isolated active sites or high dispersion showing exceptional performance increasingly competitive.
Machine learning for catalyst design emerging field
Using computational methods or ML to design or predict catalyst performance increasingly valued.
The ACS Catal. Submission Process
Manuscript preparation
Prep6,000-9,000 words with 6-8 figures. Include catalyst synthesis and characterization, catalytic testing with multiple substrates, mechanistic studies, structure-activity relationships, comparison with existing catalysts, stability/lifetime data.
Submission via ACS system
Day 0Submit at https://pubs.acs.org/. Required: manuscript emphasizing catalyst novelty and activity, figures showing characterization and catalytic performance, cover letter highlighting advantages.
Editorial assessment
1-2 weeksEditor assesses catalyst novelty and catalytic significance. Papers lacking activity data or mechanistic insight face rejection. Selective desk rejection ~40-50%.
Peer review
100-130 days2-3 catalysis experts assess catalyst novelty, characterization rigor, catalytic performance, mechanistic understanding, and scope. First decision 100-130 days.
Revision and publication
Revision: 4-8 weeksRevisions often request additional mechanistic studies, substrate scope, or stability data. Publication 2-4 weeks after acceptance.
ACS Catal. by the Numbers
| 2024 Impact Factor | 12.3 |
| 5-Year Impact Factor | 12.8 |
| Acceptance rate | ~20-30% |
| Desk rejection rate | ~40-50% |
| Median first decision | ~115 days |
| Open access option | $3,500 USD |
| Publisher | American Chemical Society |
| Founded | 2011 |
Before you submit
ACS Catal. accepts a small fraction of submissions. Make your attempt count.
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Article Types
Research Article
6,000-9,000 wordsNovel catalyst with full characterization and mechanistic studies
Perspective
4,000-5,000 wordsCatalysis topic perspective (usually invited)
Landmark ACS Catal. Papers
Papers that defined fields and changed science:
- Palladium catalysis and C-C coupling (1990s-2000s) - revolutionized organic synthesis
- Selective oxidation catalysis (various) - efficient transformations
- Electrocatalysis for CO2 reduction (2010s+) - sustainable chemistry
- Single-atom catalyst design (2010s+) - atomic-level catalyst engineering
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Primary Fields
Related Journal Guides
All journal guidesLatest Journal-Specific Guides
- Submission guideACS Catalysis Submission Guide: Scope, Format & Tips (2026)Practical ACS Catalysis submission guide: what the journal expects, what catalytic papers need to show, and how to avoid the most common editorial.
- Journal assessmentIs ACS Catalysis a Good Journal? What Catalysis Researchers Need to KnowACS Catalysis JIF 13.1 is the top dedicated catalysis journal from ACS. Here's when your paper fits, what the editors reject for, and when JACS, Nature Catalysis, or Journal of Catalysis is the better target.
- Desk rejectionHow to Avoid Desk Rejection at ACS CatalysisWhat ACS Catalysis editors screen for before peer review, and the missing pieces that make a catalysis paper look premature.
- Review timelineACS Catalysis Review Time: What Authors Can Actually ExpectACS Catalysis publishes official review-speed metrics, but the useful question is still whether the catalyst story is complete enough to survive them.
More Guides for This Journal
- Acceptance rateACS Catalysis Acceptance Rate: What Authors Can UseACS Catalysis does not publish a strong official acceptance rate. The better submission question is whether the paper teaches something mechanistically important to catalysis, not just posts a good performance table.
- Impact factorACS Catalysis Impact Factor 2026: 13.1, Q1, Rank 21/185ACS Catalysis impact factor is 13.1 with a 5-year JIF of 13.3. Q1, rank 21/185. Comparisons, trend, and submission guidance.
- Publishing costsACS Catalysis APC and Open Access: ACS Pricing, Institutional Deals, and Catalysis Journal AlternativesACS Catalysis charges ~$5,000 for open access. ACS hybrid model, Read & Publish deals, member discounts, and comparison with top catalysis journal alternatives.
- Submission processACS Catalysis Submission Process: What Happens After You UploadA practical ACS Catalysis submission process guide: what the portal does, what editors decide first, and what usually weakens a catalysis submission before review.
- Manuscript prepACS Catalysis Cover Letter: What Editors Actually Need to SeeACS Catalysis editors are screening for mechanistic insight, not just strong catalytic performance data. A strong cover letter makes that depth obvious fast.
- Publishing guideACS Catalysis Formatting Requirements: Complete Author GuideACS Catalysis has no strict word limit for Research Articles (5,000-9,000 words typical), while Letters cap at ~3,000 words. A TOC graphic is required, references use ACS superscript numbered style, and both Word and LaTeX are accepted.
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Reference library
Compare ACS Catal. with the broader publishing context
This journal guide is the best starting point for ACS Catal.. The reference library covers the surrounding questions authors usually ask next: whether the package is ready, what drives desk rejection, how neighboring journals compare, and what the submission constraints look like across the field.
Checklist system / operational asset
Elite Submission Checklist
A flagship pre-submission checklist that turns journal-fit, desk-reject, and package-quality lessons into one operational final-pass audit.
Flagship report / decision support
Desk Rejection Report
A canonical desk-rejection report that organizes the most common editorial failure modes, what they look like, and how to prevent them.
Dataset / reference hub
Journal Intelligence Dataset
A canonical journal dataset that combines selectivity posture, review timing, submission requirements, and Manusights fit signals in one citeable reference asset.
Dataset / reference guide
Peer Review Timelines by Journal
Reference-grade journal timeline data that authors, labs, and writing centers can cite when discussing realistic review timing.
Need field-expert depth? See Expert Review Options