Journal Guide
Publishing in Materials: Fit, Timeline & Submission Guide
Materials science: novel materials, properties, processing, and applications
Should you submit here?
Submit if present material with enhanced properties or novel function. Be careful if characterizing microstructure and measuring properties alone insufficient.
Best fit if
Present material with enhanced properties or novel function
Not ideal if
Characterizing microstructure and measuring properties alone insufficient
Also compare
3.2
Impact Factor (2024)
~50-60%
Acceptance Rate
~70-100 days median
Time to First Decision
Submission guide
Materials Submission Guide: What Editors Screen Before Review
This Materials submission guide helps authors decide whether the manuscript is truly a Materials paper and whether the package is complete enough for MDPI's fast workflow.
Desk rejection
How to Avoid Desk Rejection at Materials
How to avoid desk rejection at Materials by proving functional novelty, complete characterization, and realistic application validation.
Review timeline
Materials Review Time: What Authors Can Actually Expect
Materials is known for speed, but the useful question is not whether the platform moves quickly. It is whether the manuscript is complete enough for a broad materials journal to move it without repeated evidence requests.
What Materials Publishes
Materials published by MDPI is an open-access journal covering materials science and engineering across all material classes. With JIF 3.2 and broad Q2-Q3 coverage, Materials emphasizes research on novel materials, property enhancement, and processing methods. The journal publishes research on metals, ceramics, polymers, composites, and nanomaterials. Critically: Materials values work addressing practical material challenges or demonstrating functional advantages. Pure characterization without application relevance is less competitive. The journal seeks papers showing how materials advances enable applications.
- Metals and alloys: microstructure, mechanical properties, corrosion, alloy design
- Ceramics: sintering, microstructure, mechanical and thermal properties
- Polymers: polymerization, crystallinity, mechanical behavior, degradation
- Composites: fiber-matrix interaction, reinforcement, property enhancement
- Nanomaterials: nanoparticles, nanostructures, unique properties, synthesis
- Functional materials: biocompatibility, electrical properties, thermal properties
- Processing methods: additive manufacturing, casting, powder metallurgy, coating
- Sustainable materials: recycled content, biodegradable, low-environmental-impact
Editor Insight
“Materials publishes materials science advancing practical performance. We seek materials demonstrating property advantages, novel functionality, or addressing material challenges.”
What Materials Editors Look For
Novel material or processing method showing functional advantage or property improvement
Present material with enhanced properties or novel function. Stronger? Better thermal stability? Improved recyclability? Demonstrate clear advantage with quantified performance metrics.
Complete characterization including microstructure and property relationships
Thoroughly characterize material: microscopy for microstructure, spectroscopy for composition, mechanical and functional property testing. Show structure-property correlation.
Processing method reproducibly producing superior material
Show processing consistently yields material with desired properties. Address process control and optimization. Reproducibility essential for adoption.
Practical application demonstration or performance validation
Show material performs in actual application context. Strength testing under relevant loads, corrosion testing in relevant environment, or functional testing in device.
Comparison with existing materials and cost-benefit analysis
Show material outperforms or differs from conventional alternatives. Address cost relative to performance. Economic viability important for adoption.
Why Papers Get Rejected
These patterns appear repeatedly in manuscripts that don't make it past Materials's editorial review:
Material characterization without demonstrating property advantage or application relevance
Characterizing microstructure and measuring properties alone insufficient. Show functional benefit: property advantage, application relevance, or cost benefit.
Property testing under non-realistic conditions
Test under conditions relevant to intended application. Properties measured in ideal lab conditions often differ in real use.
Incomplete property characterization for intended application
If claiming structural material, provide mechanical properties. If claiming functional material, provide functional characterization. Complete testing essential.
No comparison with existing commercial materials
Show material compares favorably with commercial alternatives. What advantages justify adoption?
Ignoring manufacturability and scalability
Show material can be made at scale using practical methods. Lab-scale without scale-up pathway has limited utility.
Does your manuscript avoid these patterns?
The Free Readiness Scan reads your full manuscript against Materials's criteria and flags the specific issues most likely to cause rejection.
Insider Tips from Materials Authors
Sustainable and recycled materials increasingly competitive
Materials with environmental benefits (recycled content, biodegradable, low-impact) align with sustainability priorities.
Additive manufacturing and novel processing methods trending
New manufacturing approaches enabling novel material forms or properties increasingly valuable.
Lightweight and high-strength materials for aerospace/automotive valued
Materials enabling weight reduction with maintained or improved strength have engineering relevance.
Biocompatible and biodegradable polymers gaining prominence
Polymers with biomedical or environmental benefits increasingly competitive.
Machine learning for materials design emerging area
Using computational methods or ML for materials property prediction increasingly valued.
The Materials Submission Process
Manuscript preparation
Prep5,000-8,000 words with 5-7 figures. Include material synthesis/processing, characterization (microscopy, spectroscopy, properties), property-performance relationships, testing under realistic conditions, comparison with existing materials.
Submission via MDPI system
Day 0Submit at https://www.mdpi.com/journal/materials/. Required: manuscript emphasizing novelty and property/application advantage, figures showing characterization and properties, cover letter highlighting benefits.
Editorial assessment
1-2 weeksEditor assesses novelty and practical significance. Papers lacking clear advantage or application context face lower priority. Moderate desk rejection ~15-25%.
Peer review
70-100 days2-3 materials experts assess novelty, characterization rigor, property claims, and significance. First decision 70-100 days.
Revision and publication
Revision: 2-4 weeksRevisions often request additional property testing or comparison data. Publication 1-3 weeks after acceptance (fast MDPI OA).
Materials by the Numbers
| 2024 Impact Factor | 3.4 |
| 5-Year Impact Factor | 3.6 |
| Acceptance rate | ~50-60% |
| Desk rejection rate | ~15-25% |
| Median first decision | ~85 days |
| Open access APC | ~$1,800-2,200 |
| Publisher | MDPI |
| Founded | 2008 |
Before you submit
Materials accepts a small fraction of submissions. Make your attempt count.
Start with the Free Readiness Scan. Unlock the Full AI Diagnostic for $29. If you need deeper scientific feedback, choose Expert Review. The full report is calibrated to Materials.
Article Types
Research Article
5,000-8,000 wordsMaterials research with characterization and testing
Review
7,000-12,000 wordsMaterials topic review
Landmark Materials Papers
Papers that defined fields and changed science:
- High-strength lightweight alloys (various) - aerospace and automotive
- Advanced polymer synthesis (various) - novel functional polymers
- Composite material development (various) - enhanced mechanical properties
- Additive manufacturing materials (2010s+) - novel manufacturing possibilities
Preparing a Materials Submission?
Get pre-submission feedback from reviewers who've published in Materials and know exactly what editors look for.
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Primary Fields
Related Journal Guides
All journal guidesLatest Journal-Specific Guides
- Submission guideMaterials Submission Guide: What Editors Screen Before ReviewThis Materials submission guide helps authors decide whether the manuscript is truly a Materials paper and whether the package is complete enough for MDPI's fast workflow.
- Desk rejectionHow to Avoid Desk Rejection at MaterialsHow to avoid desk rejection at Materials by proving functional novelty, complete characterization, and realistic application validation.
- Review timelineMaterials Review Time: What Authors Can Actually ExpectMaterials is known for speed, but the useful question is not whether the platform moves quickly. It is whether the manuscript is complete enough for a broad materials journal to move it without repeated evidence requests.
- Acceptance rateMaterials Acceptance Rate: What Authors Can UseMaterials publishes over 10,000 articles per year with Q2 ranking. Here is what the acceptance rate data actually tells you.
More Guides for This Journal
- Impact factorMaterials Impact Factor 2026: 3.2, Q2, Rank 25/96Materials impact factor is 3.2 with a 5-year JIF of 3.5. See the rank, trend, and what that means before submission.
- Publishing costsMaterials (MDPI) APC and Open Access: Full Cost Breakdown and Smarter AlternativesMaterials (MDPI) charges CHF 2,600 (~$2,800) for open access. Gold OA only, no subscription track. Discounts, waivers, and comparison with competing journals.
- Manuscript prepPre-Submission Review for Materials Science Manuscripts: What Reviewers ExpectMaterials science manuscripts face specific scrutiny on characterization completeness, performance benchmarking, and data presentation. Here is what reviewers at top materials journals actually look for.
- Publishing guideMaterials Formatting Requirements: The Submission Package GuideMaterials formatting problems are usually package-discipline problems: the front matter, section structure, highlights, abstract, and data-availability layer all need to support one clear materials-science paper.
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Reference library
Compare Materials with the broader publishing context
This journal guide is the best starting point for Materials. 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