Why did we change the name of the journal?
The BMC series of subject-specific journals are a recognised collection of high-quality, internally edited, community journals from BMC, a recognised pioneer of open-access in scholarly publishing. As BMC continues to expand beyond biomedicine and into physical sciences as part of Springer Nature, the time is right for chemistry to be represented in the BMC series. We want the title to be clear and simple: BMC Chemistry demonstrates the journal's broad scope across all of chemistry, and its commitment to high-quality open access research as part of one of the first and most respected open-access portfolios.
Have the aims and scope changed?
The scope of the journal will continue to cover all areas of chemistry. We are making some changes to the individual sections of the journal to better reflect the volume and type of research we receive in specific areas of chemical science. As BMC Chemistry, the journal will not be making editorial decisions on the basis of perceived novelty or impact, instead focusing on ensuring the journal is a venue for valid, peer-reviewed open access chemistry, serving the research community.
Will papers be handled in the same way?
The basic peer-review workflow will remain the same, with Section Editors determining the scope of their sections, and Associate Editors providing support for peer-review and editorial decision making. There will be an expanded Advisory Board determining the direction of the journal overall, headed by Chemistry Central Journal’s Editor-in-Chief, Professor R Steven Berry. In addition, as with all BMC series journals, BMC Chemistry will have a dedicated professional Editor, employed by Springer Nature.
Will the journal under the old name be archived?
No. The journal is changing title, but will continue to maintain all papers published from its launch as Chemistry Central Journal in 2007 as volumes 1-12. The DOIs and citation details for those papers will not change.
In which abstracting and indexing services is the journal under the new name included?
BMC Chemistry will continue to be indexed in all the venues that Chemistry Central Journal is currently indexed in. In addition, all past and future papers will continue to be available through SpringerLink. The full list of indexing services are below:
- CABI
- CAS
- Citebase
- DOAJ
- Global Health
- Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition
- OAIster
- PubMed
- PubMed Central
- Science Citation Index
- Science Citation Index Expanded
- SCImago
- Scopus
- SOCOLAR
- Zetoc
Will the new journal name have a different Impact Factor (IF)?
In year one of the title change (2019) the Clarivate Analytics' Journal Citation Report (JCR) will list the impact factor under the old title (Chemistry Central Journal). In year 2 (2020), an entry for both Chemistry Central Journal and BMC Chemistry will appear. We will list both on the journal metrics section. In year 3 (2021), the impact factor will exist only for BMC Chemistry.
Will the Article Processing Charges (APCs) change?
Payment will be requested on acceptance of your paper. The APCs will not change under the new name of BMC Chemistry. Some universities and institutions have partnered with us with agreements to cover part of, or the full cost of the APC. Visit our memberships page to find out more.
Will my article still be findable on the new page?
Yes. All articles published under Chemistry Central Journal will be transferred to the new website of BMC Chemistry. Authors and readers will be able to search and find these articles as normal.
How will we inform authors and readers the name change?
We have published an update on the website of Chemistry Central Journal and a blog on the highly visible Research in Progress BMC blog network. All of our authors and reviewers will find a relevant notification on Editorial Manager, the journal’s submission system. All authors that currently have manuscripts undergoing peer-review have been informed via email.
Can I still login in with the same Editorial Manager login details as for the old journal name?
Yes. The Editorial Manager submission system for the journal under the new name will be the same. As such, all author, reviewer and editor login details will be the same.
Will my old article be put in the new layout of the journal?
No. We will not be reformatting old articles to the new pdf layout. Only articles accepted after 7th December 2019 will be under the new layout.
Under which journal name will my article be published?
All articles accepted before 7th December 2018 will publish under Chemistry Central Journal. All articles accepted after that cut-off date will publish under BMC Chemistry.
Who can I contact for any questions or clarifications?
If you would like to find out more, or you have any queries about your manuscript which is currently under consideration in the journal, please contact the Editor, Harriet Manning at harriet.manning@springernature.com.
