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Editors-in-Chief: James Batteas, Tomislav Friščić
Impact factor: n/a
Gold open access, APCs currently waived
Time to first decision (peer-reviewed only): 39.0***
Time to first decision (all decisions): 34.0 days**
Indexed in Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
The first journal dedicated to the study of mechanochemistry
RSC Mechanochemistry offers you an inclusive and dedicated home for the ideas, scientific language and approaches that cut across the many disciplines mechanochemistry touches. Here we are seeking to build knowledge, as well as foster innovation and discovery at this forefront of chemistry. Whether you are seeking to understand the fundamentals of mechanochemistry, or you are excited by its applications and potential, this journal is for you.
We welcome contributions from a broad and diverse community – capturing research across all areas of theoretical and experimental chemistry (organic, inorganic, polymer, supramolecular and biological) as well as related fields where mechanochemical processes are at work. We also seek to highlight mechanochemistry as an enabling technology for sustainability.
What makes this journal unique? It is the first to focus entirely on the study of mechanical forces in chemistry and the central role of mechanochemistry in many other disciplines. As part of the Royal Society of Chemistry portfolio, RSC Mechanochemistry provides a focused and rigorous assessment process by peer reviewers who are experts in this field. This is your opportunity to crush the boundaries and advance thinking in mechanochemistry.
All of the content in this journal is gold open access, which means that you can read every article for free, and we are covering all publication costs until mid-2026.
Announcing our Editors-in-Chief
As part of a leading scientific society, publishing with RSC Mechanochemistry offers authors a global reach, as well as opportunities to engage with a myriad of interest groups to help foster connections and spread the word on their research. Our outstanding Associate Editors and Editorial Board provide an exceptional breath to the journal, so authors can be assured that their manuscripts are in the hands of leading experts who are dedicated to publishing their impactful science.
This journal will be a game-changer for mechanochemistry experts and novices alike - for the first time, authors in mechanochemistry will have the opportunity to publish their original and innovative mechanochemistry research in a dedicated journal, affiliated with a leading international chemistry publishing society.
Journal scope
RSC Mechanochemistry focuses on the publication of innovative research that advances the fundamental understanding and application of mechanical force for driving and controlling chemical reactions and materials transformations in the gas, liquid, and solid states.
Mechanochemistry is where chemistry and mechanics meet, and involves the interaction of mechanical energy with matter at the molecular, supramolecular, and bulk materials levels. It encompasses areas such as sustainable chemical synthesis and materials processing, tribochemistry, mechanical alloying, chemo/mechanical transduction (e.g. polymer mechanochemistry, photo-mechanochemistry), as well as mechanoresponsive biological molecules and materials.
As such, the journal aims to provide a central interdisciplinary forum for bringing these diverse communities together, leading to steadfast advances in this burgeoning field. Submissions on all aspects related to mechanochemistry and its role in enhancing and broadening sustainable chemistry are welcome.
The journal publishes original and significant cutting-edge research that is likely to be of wide general appeal. To be published, work must present a significant advance in mechanochemistry, and/or its applications. Particularly desirable are papers that contain a comparison with existing methods/approaches and demonstrate advantages/extensions over those methods.
Coverage includes, but is not limited to, the following:
- Methodologies (e.g. milling, extrusion, mechanical activation, high-pressure synthesis, sonication, force spectroscopy, molecular sensors), including reagents and new chemical strategies (e.g. organic, supramolecular, polymer, biochemical, coordination, inorganic, materials, catalysis)
- Synthetic approaches (e.g. solvent-free, liquid-assisted grinding, vapor-assisted reactions (and general effects of atmosphere/environment on transformations), mechanical alloying, cocrystallisation, amorphisation, efficiency, catalysis, reaction control)
- Multiscale mechanisms (e.g. reaction kinetics, thermodynamics, intermediates, interfacial reactions, mechanophores, mechanocatalysis, force-induced release, biological mechanosensing, fracture processes, etc.)
- Theory and modelling (e.g. quantum mechanical, DFT, atomistic/molecular-level, molecular dynamics, coarse grained, machine learning, AI, discrete element modeling, process modeling)
- Process and scale-up (e.g. process design, reactor design, intensification, additive manufacturing, efficiency, safety)
- Cutting edge innovations (e.g. in synthetic scope, hybrid methods, i.e. mechanical force conjunction with light, heat, electrical charge, novel methods for synthesis)
- Applications (e.g. electronics, dyes, consumer products, coatings, adhesives, pharmaceuticals, biomaterials, sensors, soft robotics, preservatives, building materials, chemicals for industry/agriculture/mining, and processes of relevance in geology and planter sciences)
- Wide/broad impact studies (e.g. reaction discovery, accessing new materials, economic metrics, sustainability, democratization of synthesis)
- Education and training in mechanochemistry (e.g. tutorials, curriculum development, lab demos, or lab course modules and simulations)
See who's on the team
Meet RSC Mechanochemistry's Editors-in-Chief and board members.
Co-Editor-in-Chief
Texas A&M University, USA
Co-Editor-in-Chief
University of Birmingham, UK
Associate Editor
University of Montpellier, Institute Charles Gerhardt, France
Associate Editor
Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Germany
Associate Editor
Hokkaido University, Japan
Editorial Board member
Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria
Editorial Board member
Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany
Editorial Board member
University of Cincinnati, USA
Editorial Board member
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA
Editorial Board member
Johnson Matthey Technology Centre, UK
Editorial Board member
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA
Editorial Board member
University of Science and Technology of China, China
Laura Fisher, Executive Editor, ORCID: 0000-0002-8761-0383
Sarah Rainford, Deputy Editor
Anna Moore, Editorial Production Manager
Namita Datta, Assistant Editor
Jie Gao, Assistant Editor
Patrick de Jongh, Assistant Editor, ORCID: 0000-0003-4201-0824
Anoushka Handa, Assistant Editor
Kate Jones, Assistant Editor
Claire Mitchell, Assistant Editor, ORCID: 0000-0003-3127-2730
Karina Webster, Editorial Assistant
Natalie Ford, Publishing Assistant
Neil Hammond, Publisher, ORCID: 0000-0001-6390-8874
Daria Boffito, Polytechnique Montreal, Canada
Elena Boldyreva, Boreskov Institute of Catalysis, Russian Federation
Dario Braga, University of Bologna, Italy
Adam Braunschweig, City University of New York, USA
Carsten Bolm, RWTH Aachen University, Germany
Duncan Browne, University College London, UK
Robert Carpick, University of Pennsylvania, USA
Stephen Craig, Duke University, USA
Deborah Crawford, University of Birmingham, UK
Aurora Cruz-Cabeza, Durham University, UK
Graeme Day, University of Southampton, UK
Guillaume De Bo, University of Manchester, UK
Mario Del Pópolo, CONICET & National University of Cuyo, Argentina
Felipe García, Monash University, Australia
Ivan Halasz, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Croatia
Timothy Hanusa, Vanderbilt University, USA
Dritan Hasa, University of Trieste, Italy
José Hernández, Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia
Stuart James, Queen’s University Belfast, UK
Jeung Gon Kim, Jeonbuk National University, Republic of Korea
Seong Kim, The Pennsylvania State University, USA
Frédéric Lamaty, Institute of Biomolecules Max Mousseron, France
Danielle Laurencin, CNRS Montpellier, France
Erli Lu, University of Birmingham, UK
Tianbao Ma, Tsinghua University, China
Lucia Maini, University of Bologna, Italy
Adam Michalchuk, University of Birmingham, UK
Audrey Moores, McGill University, Canada
Karthik Nagapudi, Genentech Inc., USA
Maxwell Robb, California Institute of Technology, USA
Ferdi Schüth, Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, Germany
Vladimir Šepelák, Karlsruhe Institute for Technology, Germany
Weike Su, Zhejiang University of Technology, China
John Warner, Technology Greenhouse, LLC, USA
Claudia Weidenthaler, Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, Germany
Author guidelines
Submissions to RSC Mechanochemistry should be accompanied by a cover letter to the editor, outlining the importance and significance of the manuscript to the readership. Authors are also encouraged to recommend three peer reviewers within the submission system.
For general Royal Society of Chemistry guidance on preparing an article please visit our Prepare your article page, the content of which is relevant to all our journals. Please note that RSC Mechanochemistry does not require authors to submit using a specific template, but there are templates available if you wish to use them.
To learn more about the Royal Society of Chemistry's policies and processes, including licensing, peer review and formatting, please refer to our Resources for authors page.
Peer review and editorial process
All articles published in RSC Mechanochemistry are subject to external peer review by anonymised experts in the field and all manuscripts submitted are handled by a team of internationally recognised Associate Editors, who are all practicing scientists in the field.
The peer review for all articles submitted to the journal consists of the following stages:
Phase 1: Your manuscript is initially assessed by an associate editor to determine its suitability for peer review.
Phase 2: If the manuscript passes the initial assessment process, the associate editor solicits recommendations from at least two anonymous reviewers who are experts in the field. They will provide a report along with their recommendation.
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.
RSC Mechanochemistry is committed to a rigorous peer review process and expert editorial oversight for all published content. Please refer to our processes and policies for full details including our appeals procedure.
Transparent peer review
To support increased transparency, we offer authors the option of transparent peer review, where the editor’s decision letter, reviewers’ comments and authors’ response for all versions of the manuscript will be published alongside the article under an Open Access Creative Commons licence (CC-BY). Reviewers are anonymous unless they choose to sign their report.
Find out more about our transparent peer review policy.
Publication frequency
Articles accepted for publication in RSC Mechanochemistry are published online with citeable DOIs as Advance Articles after they are edited and typeset. Articles are then assigned page numbers and published in an issue. Issues of RSC Mechanochemistry are published every other month.
Ethical requirements
RSC Mechanochemistry 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 the 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 guidelines and act accordingly.
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 RSC Mechanochemistry and to all manuscripts submitted to Royal Society of Chemistry journals, please visit our author hub.
Open Access
As a gold open access journal, RSC Mechanochemistry can maximise the potential and visibility of your publications. Our articles are free to read, access and cite by anyone around the world. We are also covering all article processing charges until mid-2026, so you can publish with us for free.
We offer RSC Mechanochemistry authors a choice of two Creative Commons licences: CC BY or CC BY NC. Publication under these licences means that authors retain the 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.
Dive into the benefits of open access publishing:
Find out more about open access publishing routes
Subscription information
RSC Mechanochemistry is fully gold open access – articles can be downloaded free from the website with no barriers to access.
Online only: ISSN 2976-8683
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.
**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 from the previous calendar year
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