Chemistry advances through its journals. Two titles that come up again and again in searches are Accounts of Chemical Research and Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, both published by the American Chemical Society (ACS). They serve very different readers. This guide explains what each publishes, how to access them, and how to use the chemistry literature efficiently.
Accounts of Chemical Research
Accounts of Chemical Research was launched by the ACS in 1968. Its articles, called “Accounts”, are concise, readable reviews in which leading researchers summarise the work of their own groups over several years: what question they set out to answer, what they found, and where the field is going.
That makes it different from a typical review journal. An Account is not a comprehensive survey of everything published on a topic; it is a guided tour of one research programme, written for chemists outside that speciality. It covers the whole of chemistry, from synthesis and catalysis to materials, biological chemistry and theory.
Best for: getting up to speed on a research area, finding the key groups and papers in a field, and preparing for a new project, literature review or PhD.
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, often shortened to I&EC Research or Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., was formed by the ACS in 1987 by merging three earlier I&EC journals covering fundamentals, process design and development, and product research. It publishes original research at the interface of chemistry and chemical engineering.
Typical topics include reaction kinetics and reactor engineering, separations, thermodynamics and transport, process systems engineering, materials and interfaces, and energy and sustainability. Readers are chemical engineers and applied chemists in universities and industry, which is why searches for “industrial and chemical engineering research” often lead here.
Best for: process development, scale-up, separations and the engineering side of chemical manufacturing.
How to access chemistry journals
- Institutional subscriptions: most universities and many companies subscribe to ACS journals. Log in through your library for full-text access.
- Open access articles: a growing share of papers are open access and free to read.
- Author manuscripts: authors often post accepted versions in university repositories; databases and browser tools can find these legally.
- Library services: interlibrary loan and document supply can obtain individual articles.
- Pay per article: publishers sell single-article access, useful for occasional needs.
Other journals worth knowing
| Journal | Publisher | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS) | ACS | Broad, high-profile chemistry research |
| Chemical Reviews | ACS | Comprehensive reviews |
| Angewandte Chemie | Wiley / GDCh | Broad chemistry, strong in Europe |
| Chemical Science | Royal Society of Chemistry | Broad, open access |
| Chemical Society Reviews | Royal Society of Chemistry | Reviews |
| Organic Process Research & Development | ACS | Scale-up of organic synthesis |
Tips for using the chemistry literature
- Start with reviews. An Account or review gives you the map before you read individual papers.
- Search properly. Use chemistry databases (SciFinder, Reaxys) and general ones (Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar), and search by structure or CAS number where possible.
- Follow citations both ways. Check what a key paper cites and what has cited it since.
- Read the supporting information. Experimental details, spectra and data live there.
- Set alerts for key authors, topics and journals.
- Manage references with a reference manager from day one.
From literature to lab
Reproducing a published procedure depends on matching reagent grades, solvents and equipment. Our guides to reagent chemical grades and chemical research laboratories cover the practical side.
Frequently asked questions
Is Accounts of Chemical Research peer reviewed?
Yes. Accounts are usually invited but still go through peer review.
What is the abbreviation for Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research?
The standard abbreviation is Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.
Can I read ACS journals for free?
Open access articles are free to all. Other articles need a subscription, institutional access or a single-article purchase. Benzodiazepines kopen
