In 2016, MDPI Magazine launched “Featured Journal of the Month” to introduce readers to journals published by MDPI. Though we don’t publish MDPI Magazine anymore, we are thrilled announce that we’re bringing back these articles. Each month we’ll be bringing you an article on one of our almost 400 journals. We’ll talk about the journal’s aims and goals and some of its successes over the years. We’ll also occasionally bring you interviews with people working on the journals and talk about exciting projects we’re working on. In honour of our past, we are pleased to present the “Spotlight” series. We hope that you find it of interest! As we are returning to our roots with these articles, we’ll be talking about Molecules. Its worth revisiting the first journal MDPI Magazine covered back in 2016 in their first “Featured Journal of the Month”.

With the 25th anniversary of Molecules in the rear-view mirror, it’s a good time to look at some of the journal’s accomplishments.

Molecules: a brief history

Launched in 1996 in collaboration with Springer Verlag, MDPI’s Molecules was one of the first electronic journals on the topic of chemistry. The following year, MDPI took over the publishing of Molecules. By the time that the journal celebrated its 10th anniversary, it was publishing papers in open access and in non-open access. In 2013, Molecules received its first impact factor of 2.428 (with a 5-year IF of 2.679). And in 2017, the 1st Molecules Medicinal Chemistry Symposium, organized by Molecules, was held in Barcelona, Spain. Now, with an impact factor of 4.412 and a CiteScore of 5.9, Molecules is one of MDPI’s largest flagship journals (as well as the company’s oldest one).

Molecules is proud to be affiliated with the International Society of Nucleosides, Nucleotides & Nucleic Acids (IS3NA), the Spanish Society of Medicinal Chemistry (SEQT) and the International Society of Heterocyclic Chemistry (ISHC) and their members receive discounts on any article processing charges.

Boasting an impressive 26 sections, ranging from analytical to ultrasound chemistry, MDPI provides a home for rigorous scientific work in the field of chemistry. We also aim to be present at chemistry conferences around the world, from the 26th International Electronic Conference on Synthetic Organic Chemistry (online), in November 2022, to the 2022 Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition (CCCE), held in Calgary, Canada, in June 2022. And we look forward to participating in many more conferences.

Some words on Molecules

“Since it was started in 1996, when there were less that 40 e-journals of any kind in the world, Molecules has consistently been the leading Open Access publication of its kind in the field of Organic Chemistry, and I am honored to have been associated with its genesis and spectacular growth over the years, first as its managing editor and until the end of 2020, as its Editor in Chief. It currently publishes original peer-reviewed papers in all subdisciplines of the field and has witnessed a consistent improvement in its impact factor, a reflection of its quality.”

Dr. Derek McPhee, Former Editor-in-Chief of Molecules

Want to learn more?

In brief, our aim is to provide rigorous peer review and enable rapid publication of cutting-edge research to educate and inspire the scientific community worldwide. We encourage scientists to publish their experimental and theoretical results in as much detail as possible. And there is no restriction on the length of the papers. Full experimental details must be provided so that the results can be reproduced. If you want to learn more about MDPI’s open access policies, please visit our site for more details.

Thinking of submitting your manuscript to Molecules?

Manuscripts for Molecules should be submitted online at susy.mdpi.com. 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 log in to the submission website. Once you have registered, click here to go to the submission form for Molecules. All co-authors can see the manuscript details in the submission system, if they register and log in using the e-mail address provided during manuscript submission.

What’s next?

This series aims to provide you with key information about MDPI’s journals. We started with one of MDPI’s flagship journals, Molecules. With almost 400 in total, there is a lot to talk about. We’ll do our best to give you details on the journals and upcoming events. Not only this, but we’ll answer question you may have about the journals! You’ll also learn more about the submission process for each one. Also, be sure to keep an eye out for our next Spotlight, coming next month! We’re excited to revisit Viruses next month and talk about some of its great achievements over the years.

Originally written by MDPI and released 4 February, 2016.