Author Guidelines
The core mission of Future Molecular Science is to capture pioneering discoveries that transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries through a multi-scale lens. We focus on how atomic and molecular building blocks can be precisely engineered into complex architectures, how these structures undergo transformations across different spatial and temporal scales, and how they drive the dynamics of next-generation functional systems. By mapping the continuum from the chemical bond to the device interface, the journal aims to define the future of molecular-driven technologies in energy, sustainability, human health, and quantum information.
What Future Molecular Science is looking for?
Future Molecular Science welcomes high-quality original research, forward-looking reviews, and incisive perspectives. Submissions must demonstrate significant conceptual novelty, mechanistic depth, or paradigm-shifting application potential. We particularly encourage interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research, as well as cross-field dialogue that bridges fundamental chemistry, analytical measurement, materials physics, and chemical biology.
The six primary thematic key areas of interest are listed below. However, Future Molecular Science is not limited to the specific topics listed within these pillars. The journal actively welcomes all innovative, high-impact research across the full breadth of the chemical and molecular sciences, provided it offers significant conceptual or technological advancement.
Synthetic Chemistry & Precision Molecular Design
Mechanisms, AI-Driven Discovery & Analytical Chemistry
Energy, Environmental Chemistry & Sustainability
Hierarchical Assemblies, Frameworks & Soft Matter
Molecular Photophysics, Electronics & Quantum Architectures
Chemical Biology, Biomolecules & Precision Therapeutics
Free Format Submission
Future Molecular Science embraces complete flexibility regarding manuscript length and format. Designed to prioritize scientific clarity over rigid formatting constraints, the journal does not enforce arbitrary word, figure, or reference limits across any publication type. Authors are empowered to convey their findings with the exact level of depth, context, and detail required to fully communicate their scientific impact—whether as concise communications or comprehensive studies.
Authors are advised to review the journal requirements prior to submission. For further details, please refer to our Aims & Scope, Article Types, Open Access, Article Processing Charges and Editorial Policies. Please direct all enquiries to the Editorial Office.
Manuscript Preparation Recommendations
Manuscripts should be written in clear, concise, and grammatically correct English. Authors are encouraged to ensure that their manuscript meets these standards and may consider language editing support where helpful.
Structure of a Research Article
Research Articles generally follow the order outlined below. Reviews and Highlights may adopt a more flexible structure, while retaining an Abstract, Introduction, and appropriate section headings.
Title: Concise and informative, reflecting the core advance of the work.
Author list: Full first and last names of all authors, with superscript numerals indicating affiliations. The corresponding author should be clearly marked with an asterisk and provide a complete email address.
Abstract: A single paragraph of 150–250 words that succinctly states the background, research problem, key methods, principal findings, and broader implications. The Abstract should be self‑contained and factual, without citation to references.
Keywords: Provide 4-7 keywords or phrases for indexing purposes, placed immediately after the Abstract.
Introduction: Clearly define the research context, the specific problem addressed, the objectives of the study, and its significance. The Introduction should place the work in the broader field and explain why the contribution is timely and important.
Results and Discussion: Present the findings logically, using figures and tables to support the narrative, and interpret the results in light of existing literature. Subsections with descriptive headings are encouraged. Data should be reported with appropriate statistical measures and error analysis.
Conclusion: Summarize the main findings, discuss the implications, and address any limitations.
Methods: Provide sufficient experimental, computational, or analytical methods to enable independent reproduction of the work. This section should include materials, instrumentation, sample preparation, measurement conditions, data processing, and any statistical or computational methods. For established techniques, citation to standard protocols is acceptable, but any modifications must be clearly described. Method details may be provided in the Supporting Information.
Acknowledgements: Recognize funding sources (including grant numbers) and individuals who contributed intellectually or technically but do not meet authorship criteria.
Competing Interests: All authors must disclose any financial or non‑financial competing interests. If none exist, a statement to that effect is still required.
Author Contributions: Specify the specific contributions of each author using the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) framework where possible.
Data Availability Statement: A mandatory statement that describes where and how the data supporting the findings can be accessed.
References: Numbered consecutively in the order they appear in the text, using the Vancouver style.
Supporting Information: If additional data, detailed methods, or supplementary figures are required, they should be provided as a separate file and cited in the main text as "Supplementary Figure S1" etc.
Data Reporting Policy
The structure and composition of all key compounds and materials (commercial, proprietary, pure substances and mixtures) must be presented in the main text or Supporting Information.
Key instrumental parameters and sample-specific information (e.g., sample mass, dimensions) should be reported in the Experimental Section, and ensure data comparability, documenting any normalization or other processing methods.
For Compounds
New organic, organometallic and inorganic compounds/materials require full characterization via suitable analytical techniques to confirm composition, structure and purity (e.g., elemental analysis, 1H/13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, high-resolution mass spectrometry, Infrared spectroscopy, optical rotation, melting point, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction).
For known compounds, 1H/13C NMR and mass spectrometry with purity verification are required, plus a citation to prior full characterization.
For Micro/nanostructured Solids
Micro/nanostructured materials require compositional and morphological data (e.g., adsorption–desorption isotherms, surface area, porosity). Single-crystal X-ray diffraction is encouraged for crystalline solids, yet it alone is insufficient for characterization because it may not reflect bulk properties. Powder XRD can serve as bulk purity evidence, preferably compared against calculated patterns.
Crystallographic data must be deposited via the joint CCDC–FIZ Karlsruhe service. Data deposition must be completed prior to manuscript submission to enable referee access to the repository. Authors should validate crystal structure quality using the IUCr free CheckCIF online tool: http://journals.iucr.org/services/cif/checkcif.html. All Level A alerts must be resolved before submission, or addressed in the CIF via the Validation Reply Form (VRF).
Crystallographic data (e.g. crystallographic data as .cif files and CheckCIF PDF reports) must be uploaded as Supporting Information.
Data Availability and Deposition Policy
Future Molecular Science is committed to promoting transparency, reproducibility, and the long-term accessibility of scientific research. Authors are required to make all data underlying the findings of their study openly available, unless restricted by compelling ethical, legal, or confidentiality considerations.
All manuscripts must include a Data Availability Statement specifying where and how the supporting data can be accessed. Data should be made available at the time of publication and must be sufficiently detailed to enable verification and reproduction of the reported results.
Authors are strongly encouraged to deposit data in recognized, publicly accessible repositories appropriate to their discipline. For crystallographic and materials research, the journal recommends deposition in established community databases, including the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC) for small-molecule crystal structures and the Inorganic Crystal Structure Database (ICSD) for inorganic materials. Where applicable, other domain-specific repositories for materials data, spectroscopy, or computational results should be used. Accession numbers or deposition identifiers must be provided in the manuscript prior to publication.
Deposited datasets should be assigned persistent identifiers, such as DOIs, and must include sufficient metadata to ensure usability and reproducibility. Data should be complete, well-organized, and clearly linked to the results presented in the manuscript.
For studies involving computational modeling, simulations, or data analysis workflows, authors are expected to make relevant code, scripts, and input parameters available through public repositories or upon reasonable request, with adequate documentation to enable independent replication.
All data must be accurate, original, and presented without inappropriate manipulation. The journal reserves the right to request raw data or additional supporting materials during peer review or after publication.
In cases where data sharing is restricted, authors must clearly justify the limitations and provide information on how access may be granted to qualified researchers where possible.