Soft Matter publishes: Communications Full papers Reviews Perspectives Tutorial reviews Comments Read the author guidelines for more information on article types and how to prepare your article for submission.

Soft Matter

Q: Article processing charge (APC)

There are no fees to submit to or publish in this journal. As a hybrid journal, authors can choose to publish their article either through the journal's subscription model or as gold open access. Authors who choose the option to publish open access will be charged an APC of £3,100. If you choose open access you may be able to publish in this journal, with no APC to pay, if your institution has an open access agreement with us. You can use our Journal Finder to find out if your institution has an agreement and which journals are included. Check for agreements Read more about payments and funding for information on APCs, discounts, waivers, and open access agreements.

Soft Matter provides a unique forum for the communication of significant advances in interdisciplinary soft matter research. There is a particular focus on the interface between chemistry, physics, materials science, biology and chemical engineering.

Scope

Research may report new soft materials or phenomena, encompass their design, synthesis, and use in new applications; or provide fundamental insight and observations on their behaviour. Experimental, theoretical and computational soft matter approaches are encouraged.

The scope of Soft Matter covers the following.

Soft matter assemblies, including colloids, granular matter, liquid crystals, gels & networks, polymers, hybrid materials, active matter and further examples
Soft nanotechnology, soft robotics and devices
Synthesis, self-assembly and directed assembly
Biological aspects of soft matter including proteins, biopolymers, cells and tissues
Surfaces, interfaces and interactions
Phase behaviour, coacervation and rheological behaviour
Sustainable soft materials including recycling, circular economy and end of life
Mechanistic insights and modelling

Readership

Soft Matter has a global circulation and interdisciplinary audience.

Physicists
Biophysicists
Bioengineers
Biological scientists
Biochemists
Chemical engineers
Materials scientists
Surface scientists
Physical, organic and theoretical chemists

Journal Impact Factor

2.9 (2025)

First decision time (all)

30 days

First decision time (peer reviewed)

35 days

See more metrics

Indexing

eISSN: 1744-6848

Indexed in: MEDLINE

Publish in this journal

We encourage authors to review the information below and read our author guidelines before submitting their manuscript.

Ready to go? Submit now

Article processing charge (APC)

There are no fees to submit to or publish in this journal.

As a hybrid journal, authors can choose to publish their article either through the journal's subscription model or as gold open access. Authors who choose the option to publish open access will be charged an APC of £3,100.

If you choose open access you may be able to publish in this journal, with no APC to pay, if your institution has an open access agreement with us. You can use our Journal Finder to find out if your institution has an agreement and which journals are included.

Check for agreements

Read more about payments and funding for information on APCs, discounts, waivers, and open access agreements.

Check your manuscript

Get your manuscript submission ready with our new submission checker tool. You can instantly check if your manuscript meets your chosen journal's guidelines and requirements, check formatting and receive helpful hints to get you ready to submit.

Check your manuscript now

Article types

Soft Matter publishes:

Communications
Full papers
Reviews
Perspectives
Tutorial reviews
Comments

Read the author guidelines for more information on article types and how to prepare your article for submission.

Our process and policies

Find guidance on our publishing process, editorial policies and the responsibilities of authors and reviewers throughout the publication process.

Our publishing process and editorial policies, including our initial assessment of submissions, our journal transfer service and the publication of accepted manuscripts.
Our guidance for authors on their responsibilities and the code of conduct they should follow when submitting to our journals.
Our guidance for reviewers on the procedure and requirements to assess manuscripts submitted to our journals.

Author guidelines

Our author guidelines explain how to prepare and submit your article and provide useful information on the review and publication process including transfers, revisions and any article processing charges (APCs) that may apply.

Read the guidelines for this journal

Meet the team

Meet the people supporting this journal, including its leadership, editors, advisors, and the editorial office.

View boards and teams

A group of colleagues discussing project ideas or research

Contact the editorial office

We're here to help. Contact the editorial office if you have any questions about publishing your paper with us.

Sign up for journal email alerts

Get table of contents alerts and notifications about calls for papers, themed issues and more.

Sign up now

Calls for papers

Any open calls for papers for this journal are shown below. All submissions to our open calls will undergo an initial assessment by the journal editors and subsequent peer review as per the usual policies of RSC journals.

View all calls for papers across all our journals.