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Scripta Materialia is an Elsevier-published letters journal in materials science (ISSN 1359-6462). It is the short-communications companion to Acta Materialia and covers the same scope: structure-property relations in inorganic materials. This page explains what the journal publishes, which article types it accepts, where authors submit, and how to read the metrics quoted for it. Facts below were read on 2026-11-08 from the journal’s Elsevier page and from the Acta Materialia family site.
What Scripta Materialia is
Elsevier’s journal page describes Scripta Materialia as “a letters journal of Acta Materialia” and “a forum for the rapid publication of short communications” on the relationship between structure and properties in inorganic materials. Its scope and aims are the same as those of Acta Materialia; the difference is format and length, not subject area.
Who runs it and what it covers
The journal is published by Elsevier and hosted on ScienceDirect (ISSN 1359-6462). Its editorial pages sit on the Acta Materialia family site, which credits Acta Materialia, Inc. in its footer. As listed on 2026-11-08, the Coordinating Editor is Prof. Gregory S. Rohrer (Carnegie Mellon University), with Associate Editors Oliver Gutfleisch (TU Darmstadt) and Kazunori Takada (NIMS, Japan) and further editors; editor lists change, so check the live page.
The family site says the journal prioritizes papers that significantly advance the field and make mechanistic connections between processing, structure and properties. Experimental, computational, theoretical, data-science and machine-learning approaches are all welcome.
Article types
- Original contributions: short research communications.
- Comments: on papers published in Acta Materialia or Scripta Materialia.
- Viewpoints: short articles that are invited.
How the journal relates to Acta Materialia
The Acta Materialia family site states that short communications and comments belong in Scripta Materialia, while full-length original papers, commissioned overviews and feature articles belong in Acta Materialia. Work outside the scope of both is directed to Materialia, which the site describes as part of the same family. For an author, the first decision is therefore length and format: a concise result suits Scripta Materialia; a full-length treatment suits Acta Materialia.
How to find the submission route
- Open the journal’s page on the Acta Materialia family site (actamaterialia.org/journals/scripta-materialia).
- Read the scope statement and the list of article types to confirm your manuscript is a short communication, a comment or an invited viewpoint.
- Follow the submission link to the Elsevier portal for the journal (journals.elsevier.com/scripta-materialia).
- Read the journal’s guide for authors there before preparing the manuscript. Article processing charges, open access options and formatting requirements are set in that guide and can change, so take them from it directly.
How to read the journal’s metrics
Elsevier’s page showed a 5-year impact factor of 6.3 and an impact factor of 5.9 when read on 2026-11-08; the page did not state the reference year, so treat these as the figures shown on that page rather than the current Journal Citation Reports value. Third-party aggregator sites quote different numbers for the same journal (for example, differing CiteScore values), because they draw on different years and databases. When a figure matters, take it from the indexer itself (Journal Citation Reports for the impact factor, Scopus for CiteScore) and note the year. Metrics describe a journal’s citation pattern, not the quality of an individual article. For publishing-model terms see open access.
Strengths and limits
- Strength: a short-communication format with the same scope as its parent journal, covering experiment, theory, computation and data-driven work.
- Strength: a defined route for comments on published work.
- Limit: the letters format is not the route for full-length papers or commissioned overviews; the family site assigns those to Acta Materialia.
- Limit: the stated scope is inorganic materials.
Alternatives
| Journal | Format and scope, as stated on the Acta Materialia family site |
|---|---|
| Scripta Materialia | Short communications, comments and invited viewpoints on structure-property relations in inorganic materials |
| Acta Materialia | Full-length original papers, commissioned overviews and feature articles; same scope |
| Materialia | Part of the Acta Materialia family; for work outside the scope of the other two journals |
FAQ
What is Scripta Materialia?
A letters journal of Acta Materialia, published by Elsevier, for rapid publication of short communications on structure-property relations in inorganic materials.
Is the Scripta Materialia journal the same as Acta Materialia?
No. They share scope and aims, but Scripta Materialia takes short communications, comments and viewpoints, while Acta Materialia takes full-length papers.
What article types does Scripta Materialia publish?
Original short research communications, comments on papers in either journal, and invited viewpoints.
Where do I submit?
Through the Elsevier portal linked from the journal’s page; the guide for authors there governs formatting, fees and open access options.
Sources
- Elsevier, Scripta Materialia journal page, shop.elsevier.com/journals/scripta-materialia/1359-6462 (read 2026-11-08)
- Acta Materialia family site, Scripta Materialia page, actamaterialia.org/journals/scripta-materialia (read 2026-11-08)
- Acta Materialia family site, Acta Materialia page, actamaterialia.org/journals/acta-materialia (read 2026-11-08)
Related reading: scholarly publishing guides.
