This month we’re shining our Journal Spotlight onto Antioxidants (ISSN: 2076-3921), an international, peer reviewed, Open Access journal providing an advanced forum for studies related to the science and application of antioxidants.

Antioxidants boasts extremely strong statistics; with an impressive CiteScore and Impact Factor, it has become one of MDPI’s best performing journals by these measurements. Here, we will outline its history, contents, metrics, and its community.

Editor in Chief: Prof. Dr. Alessandra Napolitano

Current Impact Factor: 6.6

Current CiteScore: 12.4

Statistics as of August 2025.

A history of Antioxidants

The Inaugural issue of Antioxidants was released in 2012 with a quarterly publication schedule. The journal was created under the leadership of its first Editor-in-Chief (EiC), Professor Dr. Stanley Omaye, who would remain in this position until 2023. Professor at the University of Nevada, Prof. Dr. Omaye held positions such as Nutrition Department chair (1991–1996), followed by interim chair for the Department of Agriculture, Nutrition and Veterinary Science (2015–2018).

In the journal’s first editorial piece, Prof. Dr. Omaye discusses the growing interest in the field of antioxidants due to its relevance in treating numerous ailments. The editorial raised important questions relating to antioxidants, concluding that there was more important research to be done.

Antioxidants remained a quarterly journal for six years until it began to follow a monthly publishing schedule in 2018. In 2019, Antioxidants received its first ever Impact Factor of 4.52.

Antioxidants celebrated its 10^th anniversary in 2022 which was marked by an editorial piece highlighting its exceptional progress and success. In this, Professor Dr. Omaye expressed his pride in Antioxidants’ growth into a leading journal within its field and cited key accomplishments including the journal being indexed within Scopus, SCIE (Web of Science), PubMed, and many other databases.

Prof. Dr. Omaye sadly passed away in 2023. His obituary from the Antioxidants Editorial Office remembers him for his kindness, dedication, and the invaluable contributions he made to the journal and wider academic community.

Prof. Dr. Alessandra Napolitano became the journal’s new EiC in 2023. Professor in Organic Chemistry at the University of Naples “Fredrico II”, Prof. Dr. Napolitano has served as a member of Antioxidants’ Editorial Board since 2017 and aspires to drive Antioxidants towards another 10 years of prosperity. Her research activities focus on the field of Organic and Bioorganic Chemistry, specifically on the design, antioxidant properties, and reactivity of natural phenolic compounds.

Prof. Dr. Alessandra Napolitano

See MDPI’s interview with Professor Dr. Napolitano, where she discusses the journal and the Open Access publishing model.

Aims & scope

Antioxidants are molecules which have greatly beneficial properties for our bodies. Commonly found in foods such as fruits and vegetables, antioxidants’ primary purpose is to combat compounds called free radicals. Free radicals are highly reactive, unstable molecules; therefore, an excess of them in our bodies can be harmful. Antioxidants work to neutralize free radicals, making antioxidants influential to our overall health.

“The scope of this journal provides an advanced forum for studies related to the science and technology of antioxidants, focusing on new insights and ideas on active species and processes of biological relevance, natural products, mechanisms of action, applications and uses.” – Dr. Stanley Omaye, EiC (2012–2023)

The journal has a wide scope which includes, but is not limited to, research fields such as natural and synthetic antioxidants, biological redox catalysis, and dietary antioxidants. A full list of topics in the journal’s scope can be found here. Its wide breadth of research topics, in addition to the Open Access publishing model, further increases the impact potential of Antioxidants.

Journal metrics

The Antioxidants publication that holds the accolade of most cited and downloaded paper, as of August 2025, is a review article entitled: “Reactive Oxygen Species and Antioxidant Defense in Plants under Abiotic Stress: Revisiting the Crucial Role of a Universal Defense Regulator”. Published in 2020, this Editor’s Choice paper boasts 1960 citations as of August 2025. The paper explores plant antioxidant defense systems that are activated during harsh environmental conditions, to counteract the increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS).

Journal Impact Factor (JCR, Clarivate) measures the frequency with which the average article published in a journal has been cited in a yearly period. First receiving an Impact Factor of 4.5 in 2019. Antioxidants currently holds an Impact Factor rating of 6.6.

The journal is also placed in Q1 for the JCR (Journal Citation Report) categories “Chemistry, Medicinal”, “Biochemistry and Molecular Biology”, and “Food Science and Technology”. A testament to the quality of the journal, since receiving its first IF the journal has consistently ranked within Q1 of this measurement demonstrating the superb quality of its research and rigorous peer review process.

Also, CiteScore (Scopus) is a further tool for estimating a particular journal’s scholarly impact by calculating the average number of citations received over a certain period. In 2025, Antioxidants was awarded an incredible CiteScore of 12.4, becoming one of MDPI’s highest cited journals.

Antioxidants is impressively positioned in Q1 for six different CiteScore category rankings. These are: “Food Science”, “Physiology”, “Clinical Biochemistry”, “Biochemistry”, “Molecular Biology”, and “Cell Biology”.

These incredible statistics further position Antioxidants as a premier journal within its field, highlighting the exceptional quality and impact of its research.

Antioxidants has also been indexed within further databases and archives, notably including DOJA, FSTA, AGRICOLA , and PubMed. Access the complete list of associated indexing services here.

As of August 2025, Antioxidants has received 49 mentions in policy documents, 328 mentions in patents and a massive 6,799 mentions across various news outlets and blogs. This continues to highlight the real-world applications and relevance of the research published in this journal.

The Antioxidants community

Through various awards and affiliations, Antioxidants is committed to fostering positive relationships with the academic community which it serves.

Awards

To reward its academic community, Antioxidants participates in MDPI’s awards program and offers various awards to researchers in the field of antioxidants.

Currently open Antioxidants awards include the Young Investigator Award (nomination deadline: 31^st December 2025) and the Outstanding Reviewer Award (winner announcement 31^st March 2026). The journal also recently announced the winners for its Best Paper Award and Travel Award.

Learn more about Antioxidants awards here. Alternatively, you can read our blog article covering MDPI’s Award program.

Affiliations

In 2018, Antioxidants became an affiliated journal of the International Coenzyme Q10 Association (ICQ10A). The non-profit association aims to promote basic and applied research on the biomedical aspects of coenzyme Q10. Most recently, Antioxidants was represented amongst other MDPI journals at the 11^th Conference of the International Coenzyme Q10 Association in Copenhagen, Denmark, which took place between 16^th and 19^th June 2025.

Antioxidants later became affiliated with the Israel Society for Oxygen and Free Radical Research (ISOFRR) in 2020. The Society provides a forum for Israeli academics to discuss redox biology and medicine. Also, members of ISOFRR have access to MDPI discounts.

2023 marked the start of the journal’s most recent affiliation, becoming a sponsor to the European Academy for Molecular Hydrogen Research (EAMHR). The non-profit organization is concerned with a range of research, development, scientific and technical services relating to the molecular mechanisms of molecular hydrogen. See the benefits for EAMHR members when publishing with MDPI.

Conferences and events

For journals such as Antioxidants, conferences present a valuable opportunity to connect with their wider academic community.

Antioxidants held its First International E-Conference on Antioxidants in Health and Disease  in December 2020. Following the pandemic, the journal then held its First International Conference on Antioxidants: Sources, Methods, Health Benefits and Industrial Applications in 2023, in Barcelona.

See information regarding upcoming events on the Antioxidants webpage.

Testimonials

“We would like to thank the Antioxidants Editorial Office for their great support during the submission process of our original research article. The selection of reviewers was perfect since their comments were really helpful and improved the manuscript substantially during the revision. The knowledge of the topic and expertise of the reviewers was excellent for our work” – Dr. Andreas Daiber, Editorial Board Member

“I am extremely proud to have my first research paper published in Antioxidants. This was a dream come true, thanks to the support and professionalism I experienced throughout the process. I extend my deep gratitude to the Editorial Team, especially the Assistant Editor who accompanied me throughout the publication process. Her helpfulness and dedication made the experience truly enjoyable, even without meeting her in person” – Dr Sabrina Goudjil, Author

Submitting a manuscript

Manuscripts for Antioxidants should be submitted online at susy.mdpi.com. Prior to submitting, we recommend that authors explore the useful resources on our author guidelines webpage.

The submitting author, who is generally the corresponding author, is responsible for the manuscript during the submission and peer review process.

To submit your manuscript, register and login to the submission website. Once you have registered, click here to go to the submission form. All co-authors can see the manuscript details in the submission system if they register and login using the e-mail address provided during manuscript submission.

If you’d like to find out more about Antioxidants and its publication process, please visit the journal website.

Stay up to date with Antioxidants on social media: