Journal Guide
Publishing in Microchemical Journal: Fit, Timeline & Submission Guide
Analytical chemistry methods, miniaturized measurement, sensing, separations, spectroscopy, and real-sample applications
Should you submit here?
Submit if the paper should improve detection, quantification, selectivity, sensitivity, robustness, matrix tolerance, miniaturization, automation, or interpretability in a way that matters beyond one sample set. Be careful if the journal discourages routine analytical applications where the method itself is not improved or analytically informative.
Best fit if
The paper should improve detection, quantification, selectivity, sensitivity, robustness, matrix tolerance, miniaturization, automation, or interpretability in a way that matters beyond one sample set
Not ideal if
The journal discourages routine analytical applications where the method itself is not improved or analytically informative
Also compare
5.1
Impact Factor
Not publicly disclosed
Acceptance Rate
3 days to first decision; 29 days after review
Time to First Decision
Readiness Scan
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What Microchem. J. Publishes
Microchemical Journal is an Elsevier analytical chemistry journal covering sampling, sample pre-treatment, measurement, data analysis, instrumentation, mass spectrometry, chromatography, electrophoresis, microscale and nanoscale systems, omics, sensors, chemometrics, machine learning, imaging, and real-sample applications. The editorial bar is not simply that a paper measures something; it must show a significant analytical-method improvement or a clearly novel measurement capability compared with established approaches.
- Analytical method development with clear novelty over established procedures
- Sampling and sample-preparation strategies that improve real-matrix measurement
- Mass spectrometry, chromatography, electrophoresis, spectroscopy, and electroanalytical methods
- Sensors, biosensors, microfluidic systems, microscale and nanoscale analytical platforms
- Chemometrics, machine learning, AI, hyperspectral imaging, and data-analysis methods for analytical chemistry
- Clinical, environmental, industrial, food, forensic, and heritage applications where the analytical method is central
Editor Insight
“Microchemical Journal is strongest for manuscripts where the analytical method itself advances what can be measured, detected, separated, interpreted, miniaturized, or validated in real samples.”
What Microchem. J. Editors Look For
A real analytical-chemistry advance
The paper should improve detection, quantification, selectivity, sensitivity, robustness, matrix tolerance, miniaturization, automation, or interpretability in a way that matters beyond one sample set.
Validation in the right matrix
Microchemical Journal favors real-sample analysis over purely spiked demonstrations when the claim depends on practical use.
Clear novelty against established methods
Incremental reagent substitutions or parameter optimizations are weak unless they create a meaningful new analytical capability.
Why Papers Get Rejected
These patterns appear repeatedly in manuscripts that don't make it past Microchem. J.'s editorial review:
Routine application of a familiar method
The journal discourages routine analytical applications where the method itself is not improved or analytically informative.
Materials, pharmaceutical, or pollutant studies with a thin analytical contribution
Using analytical tools is not enough; the manuscript must make analytical chemistry central.
Spiked samples only when real samples are needed
Real matrices are often necessary to prove selectivity, recovery, matrix effects, and practical usefulness.
Does your manuscript avoid these patterns?
The Free Readiness Scan reads your full manuscript against Microchem. J.'s criteria and flags the specific issues most likely to cause rejection.
Insider Tips from Microchem. J. Authors
Lead with the measurement problem, not the application label
Editors need to see why the analytical method is new before they care about the sample domain.
Use the figure limit as a narrative discipline
The current guide's 5-figure and 4-table limit rewards concise validation packages and penalizes unfocused evidence dumps.
Make real-sample evidence visible in the abstract and highlights
If the practical matrix is buried late in the manuscript, the submission can read like a standards-only validation exercise.
The Microchem. J. Submission Process
Manuscript preparation
PrepPrepare the manuscript around the analytical-method advance, validation evidence, title page, highlights, figure/table limits, declarations, funding statement, and data statement.
Submission through Editorial Manager
Day 0Submit through the Microchemical Journal Editorial Manager route linked from ScienceDirect. Use the live Guide for Authors for active file and policy requirements.
Editorial suitability check
First daysEditors assess whether the work fits analytical chemistry and shows significant novelty over established methods before external review.
Single-anonymized peer review
After triageSuitable submissions are normally sent to at least two reviewers for independent assessment.
Microchem. J. by the Numbers
| Impact Factor(ScienceDirect Journal Insights, accessed July 2026) | 5.1 |
| CiteScore | 7.2 |
| Open access APC | USD 3,800 excl. taxes |
| Subscription publication | No author publication fee |
| Submission to first decision | 3 days |
| Submission to acceptance | 77 days |
| Publisher | Elsevier |
Before you submit
Microchem. J. accepts a small fraction of submissions. Make your attempt count.
Start with the Free Readiness Scan. Unlock the Full Review from $39, with local pricing shown before checkout. If you need deeper submission planning, choose the Submission-Ready Dossier. The full report is calibrated to Microchem. J..
Article Types
Original research
Analytical chemistry method or application with significant novelty and validation
Review / Critical Review
Synthesis of an analytical chemistry area with a clear technical position
Short Communication
Compact analytical result with a narrow but clear advance
Tutorial / Technical Note
Instructional or technical contribution useful to the analytical chemistry community
Landmark Microchem. J. Papers
Papers that defined fields and changed science:
- Microextraction and sample-preparation methods across environmental and food analysis
- Miniaturized and nanoscale analytical systems
- Electroanalytical and optical sensor applications
- Chemometrics and machine-learning workflows for analytical data
Preparing a Microchem. J. Submission?
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Primary Fields
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