ACS Chemical Biology


ACS Chemical Biology is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published since 2006 by the American Chemical Society. The journal covers research at the interface between chemistry and biology spanning all aspects of chemical biology. The journal is available in both printed and online versions and is indexed in major databases including Chemical Abstracts Service, the ISI's Web of Knowledge, and MEDLINE.

Types of content

ACS Chemical Biology publishes research letters, articles, and reviews that are all peer-reviewed. In addition, specially commissioned articles that describe journal content are solicited. Letters describe findings of broad interest are generally five printed pages or shorter in length, while articles are comprehensive reports of research of "immediate, broad, and lasting impact". Usually articles are twelve printed pages or shorter in length. Finally, reviews cover key concepts of interest to a broad readership.
Web-only content includes podcasts, a wiki, and articles published online ahead of print. ACS Chemical Biology has published the first three-dimensional interactive chemical structures replicating printed journal figures. These structures can be viewed in a web browser by means of Jmol - an open-source structure viewer.

Interactive features

In addition to traditional features present in scientific journals, ACS Chemical Biology offers interactive features. These include the ACS Chemical Biology community website which includes an "Ask the Expert" section in which readers submit questions that are then forwarded to experts in the field. Other interactive features include podcasts, term of the month, discussion boards, a blog, and the chemical biology wiki, which is an experimental endeavor in scientific publishing. Recently, the journal instituted the ChemBio WIKIspot, an online journal club in the form of a wiki. The stated goal of this journal club is to allow any user to write a spotlight of a scientific paper or website that is perceived to be of broad interest to the chemical biology community. Once a month a spotlight is chosen for publication in the journal. In addition, the journal allows events of interest to chemists and biologist to be submitted to the website.

Awards