Materials Today Bio: Scope, APC, and Author Guide

Materials Today Bio (ISSN: 2590-0064) is a peer-reviewed, Gold open-access journal published by Elsevier. Established in 2019 within the Materials Today publishing family, the journal provides an international forum for multidisciplinary research at the interface of materials science, biology, and medicine. Core coverage spans tissue engineering, targeted therapeutics, biomimetics, and biological-material interfaces.

Operating as a fully open-access outlet, all articles published in the journal are immediately available to read and reuse under Creative Commons licensing and deposited in PubMed Central. Whether prospective authors search for material today bio or evaluate submission routes, this guide details editorial governance, indexed scope, the materials today bio impact factor, article processing charges (APCs), submission protocols, and comparative alternatives.

What it is

Materials Today Bio is a rapid-publication scholarly journal indexed in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), Scopus, PubMed Central, and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Published in London by Elsevier Ltd., the title launched with Volume 1 in January 2019 (NLM Unique ID: 101757228) and carries the official NLM/MEDLINE title abbreviation Mater Today Bio.

The journal operates under a sound-science and multidisciplinary discovery mandate. It prioritizes research where engineered materials interact directly with biological systems. Articles are hosted on ScienceDirect under digital object identifier (DOI) prefix 10.1016/j.mtbio, connecting physical materials research with translational clinical applications across materials science.

Who runs it and what it covers

Materials Today Bio is published by Elsevier BV and led by Editor-in-Chief João Mano (University of Aveiro) alongside an international academic editorial board.

Journal Scope

The journal accepts original research articles, short communications, and reviews in core biomaterial subfields:

Nanoparticle Drug Delivery: Synthetic and lipid nanoparticle platforms, stimuli-responsive release carriers, and theranostics.
Hydrogels and Soft Materials: Injectable hydrogel networks, conductive polymer matrices, and bioadhesives for tissue repair.
Tissue Engineering: 3D bioprinting constructs, decellularized scaffolds, synthetic bone grafts, and stem cell microenvironments.
Bioinspired Surfaces: Topographical surface patterning, antifouling coatings, bactericidal interfaces, and biomimetic adhesion.
Biosensors and Bioelectronics: Implantable flexible electrodes, microfluidic diagnostic chips, and wearable health monitors.
Biological-Material Interfaces: Protein adsorption mechanisms, foreign-body responses, and cellular mechanotransduction.

Materials Today Bio Impact Factor and Metrics

Clarivate Journal Citation Reports (JCR) and bibliographic tracking confirm strong citation performance across materials and biomedical categories:

Journal Impact Factor (JIF): 11.0 (Clarivate JCR Q1 in Engineering, Biomedical and Q1 in Materials Science, Biomaterials).
Scopus CiteScore: 11.7–12.0, placing in the top quartile (Q1) across Biomaterials and Bioengineering.
OpenAlex Citation Footprint: 2-year mean citedness of 7.34, h-index of 96, and over 58,000 recorded citations.
Database Indexing: Clarivate SCIE, Scopus, DOAJ, Europe PMC, and PubMed/MEDLINE. To evaluate how citation measures compare across disciplines, review our guide to SJR, CiteScore, and Altmetrics.

Publication Volume and Metadata Health

According to official Crossref registry data, Materials Today Bio has deposited more than 3,650 peer-reviewed articles:

2021: 103 articles
2022: 329 articles
2023: 393 articles
2024: 492 articles
2025: 1,296 articles

Crossref audits indicate 100% license recording, active Crossmark updates, deposited funding metadata, and 100% open reference lists.

Publishing Model and APC Structure

Unlike sister journal Materials Today Communications, which offers a zero-cost subscription option alongside open access, Materials Today Bio is exclusively Gold Open Access. All published articles require an Article Publishing Charge (APC):

United States Dollars (USD): $3,400 (DOAJ baseline lists $3,290)
Euros (EUR): €3,180
British Pounds (GBP): £2,720
Japanese Yen (JPY): ¥421,700

Fees exclude local sales taxes. Corresponding authors from lower-income nations qualify for Research4Life waivers, while authors affiliated with institutions holding Elsevier transformative agreements receive central APC funding.

How to search or use it

Interacting with Materials Today Bio involves literature retrieval through academic repositories or manuscript submission via Editorial Manager.

Discovering and Accessing Articles

Because the journal is fully open access, all 3,690+ articles are free to read. Researchers can query ScienceDirect, DOAJ, or PubMed Central using topical terms (such as "nanoparticle delivery" or "bioprinting") combined with ISSN 2590-0064.

Manuscript Submission Workflow (Editorial Manager)

Authors submitting an original study to Materials Today Bio complete the following steps in Elsevier’s Editorial Manager:

Access Submission Portal: Navigate to the journal page on ScienceDirect, click “Submit Your Paper,” and log in using an Elsevier profile linked to an authenticated ORCID ID.
Select Article Type: Choose Full Length Article, Short Communication, or Review Article from the classification menu.
Upload Initial Draft: Under Elsevier’s “Your Paper Your Way” policy, upload the initial manuscript as a single PDF or Word document with embedded figures and tables.
Input Metadata and CRediT Roles: Enter title, abstract, and keywords. Designate contributor responsibilities using the standardized CRediT author statement format. For taxonomy comparisons, see our guide on CRediT vs ICMJE authorship.
Submit Mandatory Disclosures: Complete statements for Competing Interests, institutional ethics approvals for animal or human studies, and Data Availability with repository DOIs.
Opt In to Preprint Hosting: Select whether to deposit the unreviewed manuscript directly to SSRN under the Materials Today First Look series.
Inspect Proof and Finalize: Review the auto-generated PDF proof for completeness and approve submission to initiate editorial evaluation and peer review.

Reference Format and Citation Style

Revised submissions must follow Elsevier’s numbered citation format. In-text citations use Arabic numbers in square brackets (e.g., [1] or [2–4]). Reference lists are ordered sequentially with full article titles:

Journal Article: [1] J.K. Smith, A.B. Author, Nanostructured hydrogels for bone regeneration, Mater. Today Bio 18 (2023) 100520.
Book: [2] M.A. Lewis, Biomaterials in Regenerative Medicine, Academic Press, London, 2021.

Strengths and limits

Strengths

High Citation Profile: An Impact Factor of 11.0 places the title in the top quartile (Q1) of biomaterials and biomedical engineering journals.
Immediate Dissemination: Gold open access provides immediate barrier-free reading and automatic PubMed Central archiving.
Flexible Initial Submission: “Your Paper Your Way” eliminates extensive pre-submission reformatting.
Interdisciplinary Visibility: Bridges fundamental materials engineering with translational medical research.
Rapid Turnaround: Electronic article-based publishing on ScienceDirect ensures rapid post-acceptance indexing.

Limits

Mandatory APC: Unfunded authors without institutional agreement coverage must fund the $3,400 APC.
Defined Scope Boundaries: Studies lacking materials innovation or lacking clear biological relevance fall outside the editorial scope.
Selective Acceptance: High submission volume requires clear demonstration of both technical novelty and biological efficacy.

Alternatives

Researchers comparing publishing options evaluate access model, publication fees, turnaround, and audience reach. The table below summarizes leading alternatives to Materials Today Bio:

Journal Name	Publisher	Publishing Model	Standard APC	Core Scope and Focus
Materials Today Bio	Elsevier	Pure Gold OA	$3,400 USD	Interface of materials science, biology, and nanomedicine
Biomaterials	Elsevier	Hybrid (Subscription or OA)	$4,990 USD	Clinical and preclinical biomaterials science flagship
Acta Biomaterialia	Elsevier	Hybrid (Subscription or OA)	$4,120 USD	Structure-property-function relationships in biomaterials
Advanced Healthcare Materials	Wiley	Hybrid (Subscription or OA)	$4,840 USD	Materials for healthcare therapeutics, imaging, and devices
ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering	ACS Publications	Hybrid (Subscription or OA)	$3,000–$4,500 USD	Molecular design of synthetic and biological materials
Materials Today Communications	Elsevier	Hybrid (Subscription or OA)	$0 or $2,830 USD	Broad sound-science materials research across all subfields

FAQ

What is Materials Today Bio?

Materials Today Bio is a peer-reviewed Gold open-access journal published by Elsevier that covers research at the intersection of materials science, biology, and medicine.

What is the Materials Today Bio impact factor?

The Journal Impact Factor for Materials Today Bio is 11.0 according to Clarivate’s Journal Citation Reports, ranking in Q1 in both Biomedical Engineering and Biomaterials.

What is the Article Publishing Charge (APC) for Materials Today Bio?

The standard Article Publishing Charge is $3,400 USD (or €3,180 EUR, £2,720 GBP, ¥421,700 JPY), excluding local taxes. Waivers apply for Research4Life eligible authors and institutional transformative agreements.

Is Materials Today Bio indexed in PubMed and DOAJ?

Yes. Materials Today Bio is fully indexed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), PubMed Central (PMC), MEDLINE/NLM Catalog, Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), and Scopus.

Can authors publish in Materials Today Bio for free?

Materials Today Bio does not offer a free subscription publishing option. However, publication charges are waived for authors in qualifying Research4Life countries or covered under institutional transformative agreements with Elsevier.

What reference format does Materials Today Bio require?

The journal requires Elsevier’s numbered citation style, using bracketed numbers [1] matching a sequentially numbered reference list with full article titles.

Sources

U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM Catalog): Serial record for Materials today. Bio. (NLM Unique ID: 101757228; Electronic ISSN: 2590-0064), Elsevier Ltd. URL: https://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/esummary.fcgi?db=nlmcatalog&id=101757228 (accessed 2026-11-09).
Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ): Journal metadata, open access licensing, and APC baseline record for Materials Today Bio. URL: https://doaj.org/api/v3/search/journals/issn:2590-0064 (accessed 2026-11-09).
Crossref Metadata Service: DOI registry deposit records, license tracking, and funding metadata for ISSN 2590-0064 (Materials Today Bio), Elsevier BV. URL: https://api.crossref.org/journals/2590-0064 (accessed 2026-11-09).
OpenAlex Scholarly Knowledge Graph: Entity record for Materials Today Bio (Source ID: S4210219546), APC pricing schedule, citation statistics, and thematic domain mapping. URL: https://api.openalex.org/sources/https://openalex.org/S4210219546 (accessed 2026-11-09).
Europe PMC / PubMed Central: Open-access repository indexing and archive status for Materials Today Bio (3,690+ full-text open access articles). URL: https://www.ebi.ac.uk/europepmc/webservices/rest/search?query=JOURNAL:%22Materials%20Today%20Bio%22&format=json&pageSize=5 (accessed 2026-11-09).