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Impact factor: n/a
Time to first decision (all decisions): 46 days**
Time to first decision (peer-reviewed only): 55 days***
Editor-in-Chief: Alán Aspuru-Guzik
A new forum for data-driven approaches to scientific discoveries
The quickly developing trend towards automation and machine learning suggests that these are key to accelerating all areas of science.
Digital Discovery is an open access journal that publishes both theoretical and experimental research at the intersection of chemistry, materials science and biotechnology. We focus on the development and application of machine learning, AI and automation tools to unravel scientific problems, and we put data first to ensure reproducibility and faster progress for everyone.
Chemists, biologists, engineers, physicists – if your work is driving digital transformation, you are home.
Hear from our Editor-in-Chief
I am excited to be Editor-in-Chief of Digital Discovery. In its pages, we aim to capture the top research at the intersection of chemistry, materials science and biotechnology with topics related to machine learning and high-throughput computational and experimental screening in order to accelerate the process of scientific discovery. The "digital transformation" of the chemical industry is a huge driver for the twenty-first century and we want this journal to be the premier venue for papers related to this topic.

Access all areas
Digital Discovery is gold open access with APCs waived until mid-2024, giving maximum exposure to research that benefits multiple disciplines and accelerates understanding

Data comes first
We welcome all datasets, and support a FAIR approach to build a comprehensive, holistic view of experimentation that allows digital tools to thrive and communities to collaborate

Actively seeking innovation
We like to err on the side of creativity, pushing boundaries not only in what we publish but how we publish it – think transparent peer review and tools for fast submission

Dynamic and global
Our editorial board are experts in handling papers that exist at the edge of current thought, welcoming computational and experimental research and emphasising reproducibility
Scope
Digital Discovery welcomes both experimental and computational work on all topics related to the acceleration of discovery such as screening, robotics, databases and advanced data analytics, broadly defined, but anchored in chemistry.
Specific topics for this journal
Artificial intelligence and data science methodologies for chemical, materials science, biochemical, biomedical or biophysical sciences
- Computer-assisted retrosynthesis
- Generative models for scientific design
- Machine learning classification and regression models
- Modern molecular, materials, and biological representations
- Molecular, Materials and Chemo- and Bio-informatics
- Methods for Bayesian optimization and design of experiments
- Advances and applications of interpretable models
- Image recognition
- Natural language processing
- Literature mining tools
Advanced data workflows for materials, chemical, biological, and biomedical sciences
- Databases
- Data provenance tools
- Computational workflow engines
- Experimental control software
- Ontologies for science
- Advances in robotics for science
Novel experimental automation for chemistry, biochemical, biomedical, and materials science
- New robotic setups
- New automated sensors and analytical workflows
- Novel synthetic methodologies and workflows that enable higher throughput
- High-throughput computational science
- Studies where large families of electronic structure or molecular simulations are analyzed for use in experimental and automated applications
Papers at the interface of chemistry and other sciences that involve the following topics
- Directed or accelerated evolution
- DNA Encoded Library Technology or novel chemical library technologies
- Cryptochemistry
- Blockchain-enabled science
Papers that will not be considered are in the areas of low-throughput structural or mechanistic studies using computational chemistry, QM/MM studies of biochemical mechanisms at low throughput, traditional analysis of molecular dynamics trajectory simulations to understand biological conformations, reports or comparisons of electronic structure methods that do not involve machine learning, interpretations of chemical bonding models, and quantum dynamics and spectroscopy simulations at low throughput.
See who's on the team
Meet Digital Discovery's Editor-in-Chief and board members.
Editor-in-Chief University of Toronto, Canada
Associate Editor University of British Columbia, Canada
Associate Editor Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Associate Editor Toyota Research Institute, USA
Associate Editor Fordham University, USA
Associate Editor
University of Pennsylvania
Editorial board member
Seoul National University, South Korea
Editorial board member
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
Editorial board member
University of Washington, USA
Editorial board member
ITMO University, Russia
Editorial board member
University of Glasgow
Abigail Doyle, University of California Los Angeles, USA
Pablo Carbonell, Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), Spain
Ian Foster, University of Chicago, USA
Cecilia Clementi, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
Heather Kulik, MIT, USA
Shuye Ping Ong, University of California San Diego, USA
Silvana Botti, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany
Ola Engkvist, AstraZeneca and Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
Marwin Segler, Microsoft, Germany
Jan Jensen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Berend Smit, EPFL, Switzerland
Conor Coley, MIT, USA
Koji Tsuda, The University of Tokyo, Japan
Alexandre Tkatchenko, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Isao Tanaka, Kyoto University, Japan
Juan Alegre, CSIC, Spain
Anna Rulka, Executive Editor ORCID 0000-0002-3236-9801
Audra Taylor, Deputy Editor
Viktoria Titmus, Editorial Production Manager
Shwetha Krishna, Assistant Editor
Michael Whitelaw, Assistant Editor
Alexander Whiteside, Assistant Editor ORCID 0000-0002-1743-1531
Samantha Campos, Editorial Assistant
Brittany Hanlon, Publishing Assistant
Neil Hammond, Publisher ORCID: 0000-0001-6390-8874
Transparent peer review policy
To support increased transparency, we offer authors the option to publish the peer review history alongside their article. Reviewers are anonymous unless they choose to sign their report.
Find out more about our transparent peer review policy.
Open access
There are no submission charges for Digital Discovery, and no article processing charges until mid-2024. As part of the submission process, authors will be asked to agree to the Digital Discovery open access terms & conditions.
We offer Digital Discovery authors a choice of two Creative Commons licences: CC BY or CC BY NC. Publication under these licences means that authors retain copyright of their article, but users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. Read our open access statement for further information.
All published articles are deposited with LOCKSS, CLOCKSS, Portico and the British Library for archiving.
Submit your manuscript now
Dive into the benefits of open access publishing
Find out more about open access publishing routes
Peer Review and Editorial Process
One of our editorial missions is to maintain high standards of reliability and reproducibility of the findings that we publish, and this includes computational models. The code and/or data central to the main findings of the study once deposited or shared confidentially with reviewers are being reviewed to ensure their reproducibility and reusability. On Digital Discovery we invite a data reviewer (in addition to the regular two reviewers) who verifies that the code is functional and reproduces the reported findings. They also check if the data and/or code are appropriately presented and documented.
Digital Discovery follows a single-anonymised peer review process, with manuscripts handled by a team of internationally recognised associate editors, all practising scientists in the field. It consists of the following stages:
- Phase 1: Your manuscript is initially assessed by an associate editor.
- Phase 2: The associate editor solicits the expertise of at least two reviewers to assess your article and submit a report. A third data reviewer may also be consulted to assess and comment on the code and/or data provided.
- Phase 3: The associate editor handling your manuscript makes a decision based on the reviewer reports received. In the event that no clear decision can be made, another reviewer will be consulted.
Please refer to our processes and policies for full details including our appeals procedure.
Ethical Requirements
Digital Discovery authors, editors, reviewers and published works are required to uphold the Royal Society of Chemistry’s ethical standards. The Royal Society of Chemistry is a member of Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and our ethical standards follow COPE’s core practices and best practice guidelines. In cases where these guidelines are breached or appear to be so, the Royal Society of Chemistry will consult with COPE.
When a study involves the use of live animals or human subjects, authors must include in the 'methods/experimental' section of the manuscript a statement that all experiments were performed in compliance with the author’s institute’s policy on animal use and ethics; where possible, details of compliance with national or international laws or guidelines should be included. The statement must name the institutional/local ethics committee which has approved the study; where possible, the approval or case number should be provided. A statement that informed consent was obtained for any experimentation with human subjects is required. Reviewers may be asked to comment specifically on any cases in which concerns arise.
For further guidance on author responsibilities and code of conduct, which apply to Digital Discovery and to all manuscripts submitted to Royal Society of Chemistry journals, please visit our author hub.
Themed Collections
Digital Discovery occasionally publishes themed collections, guest edited by members of the community. All submissions to our themed collection undergo an initial assessment by the journal's associate editors and subsequent peer review as per the usual standards of RSC journals.
Subscription information
Digital Discovery is fully gold open access – articles can be downloaded free from the website with no barriers to access.
Online only: ISSN 2635-098X
Copyright
Copyright is retained by authors when an open access licence is accepted, as with our standard licence to publish agreement. Full and accurate attribution to the original author is required for any re-use of the work. Find out more about copyright, licences and re-use permission.
Get email alerts about Digital Discovery Journal
For the latest editorial board news, scope details and announcements, sign up for news and issue alerts by using the form below. For any other queries, please get in touch using the Editorial Office contact details on this page.
**The median time from submission to first decision including manuscripts rejected without peer review from the previous calendar year
***The median time from submission to first decision for peer-reviewed manuscripts rejected from the previous calendar year
Contact us
- Email:
- The Executive Editor