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Impact factor: n/a

Time to first decision (all decisions): 15.5 days**

Time to first decision (peer reviewed only): 33.0 days***

Editors-in-Chief: Sabine Szunerits, Xueji Zhang

Indexed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Scopus and Web of Science: Emerging Sources Citation Index

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The home for innovative research on sensors, sensing devices and systems

Sensors & Diagnostics is the first journal to publish innovative research in the field of sensors as well as diagnostics, molecular imaging and molecular therapeutics. We made the journal gold open access to ensure that key results from the lab can effectively reach and benefit multiple research communities. And we are proud to contribute towards the UN’s third sustainable development goal – to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at every age.

Our gold open access policy means that readers and authors can freely use this journal for greater impact. We are covering all article processing charges until mid-2024, so you can publish for free.

Sensors & Diagnostics complements our existing journal Lab on a Chip, allowing it to retain its strong focus on microfluidics and miniaturised devices. Article processing charges will be waived until mid-2024.

Announcing our Editors-in-chief

I want the journal to educate, engage and encourage by publishing innovative research that will bridge the gap between sensing in the lab and field-based applications.
I became Editor-in-Chief of Sensors & Diagnostics because whilst there are journals that publish research on either sensors or diagnostics, this new journal is the first to cover both fields.

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The gold standard

Sensors & Diagnostics is gold open access, allowing crucial developments to be seen and utilised by anyone in the community. We have also waived APCs until mid-2024.
 

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Everyone welcome 

We handpick sensors research from across the natural sciences – think chemistry, but also physics, biology, engineering, medical research and more.
 

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Big picture thinking

We expect great things of our researchers and do everything we can to help them succeed in taking on global challenges, including the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Scope

Sensors & Diagnostics is a gold open access journal focused on high-impact, innovative sensing work.

The journal welcomes high-quality studies reporting innovative materials, novel detection principles, and/or significant development of known devices. All work must be of significant interest to the community, and, where relevant, must show in situ or real-life sample testing.

Sensors & Diagnostics welcomes contributions from across the breadth of related fields, including biomedical research, drug discovery, environment, food, medicine, and security and defence.

Topics include but are not limited to:

  • Sensors
    • Biosensors
      • intracellular sensors
      • whole-cell sensors
      • cell chips
    • Chemical sensors
      • electronic
      • electromagnetic
      • optical
      • mechanical
      • thermal
      • gas sensors
      • single molecule sensors
      • arrays & multiplexing
    • Physical and physiological sensors
    • Integrated, wearable and/or implantable sensors
      • measuring nerve and/or heartbeat activity
      • wireless detection
      • anti-fouling surface chemistry
      • communication boards
  • Microfluidic devices
    • Analytical microsystems (includes lab-on-a-chip, micro total analysis systems (µTAS))
    • Sensor and sensor-array chemometrics
  • Molecular diagnostics
    • polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
    • enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)
    • lateral flow assay (LFA)
    • loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP)
  • Scanning based diagnostics
    • mammography/mastography
    • positron emission tomography (PET)
    • magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
    • single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)
  • Digital health and data management

Sensors & Diagnostics Outstanding Paper Award

This Award recognises some of the outstanding work published in this journal, as well as the authors behind those articles. We are delighted to announce the first Sensors and Diagnostics Outstanding Paper 2022 Award. This prize recognises the contributions of all authors and celebrates these exceptional publications.

Find out more about our award and see the winners

See who's on the team

Meet the board members for our Sensors & Diagnostics journal.

Open access

There are no submission charges for Sensors & Diagnostics, and no article processing charges until mid-2024. As part of the submission process, authors will be asked to agree to the Sensors & Diagnostics open access terms & conditions.

We offer Sensors & Diagnostics authors a choice of two Creative Commons licences: CC BY or CC BY NC. Publication under these licences means that authors retain copyright of their article, but users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. Read our open access statement for further information.

All published articles are deposited with LOCKSS, CLOCKSS, Portico and the British Library for archiving.

Dive into the benefits of open access publishing

Find out more about open access publishing routes

Explore Royal Society of Chemistry open access journals

Read our Researchers’ voice report in response to Plan S

Article types

Sensors & Diagnostics publishes:

  • Communications
  • Full papers
  • Critical reviews
  • Tutorial reviews
  • Perspectives
  • Comments
See more information about these article types 

Article types

Communications

Communications must report preliminary research findings that are highly original, of immediate interest, and are likely to have a high impact on the journal readership. Authors should supply with their submission a justification of why the work merits urgent publication as a Communication; reviewers will be asked to judge the work on these grounds.

Communications are prioritised for rapid publication and are highly visible as they are published at the front of an issue. Although there is no page limit for a Communication, they will not normally exceed the length of four printed journal pages. Authors are encouraged to provide a succinct and relevant introduction to the research and to consider the use of the electronic supplementary information for additional material.

Full papers

Full papers must represent a significant development in the particular field, and are judged according to originality, quality of scientific content and contribution to existing knowledge. Authors are encouraged to emphasise the importance and potential impact of the research presented. Although there is no page limit for Full papers, appropriateness of length to content will be taken into consideration.

Reviews & Perspectives

Reviews and Perspectives must be high quality, authoritative, state-of-the-art accounts of the selected research field. They should be timely and add to the existing literature, rather than duplicate existing articles, and should be of general interest to the journal's wide readership.

All Reviews and Perspectives undergo rigorous peer review, in the same way as regular research papers.

Critical reviews report a detailed, balanced and authoritative current account of the existing state of knowledge on a particular facet of within the sensors and diagnostics field. Simple literature surveys will not be accepted for publication. Critical reviews should not contain unpublished original research. 

Tutorial reviews should provide an introduction and overview of an important topic of relevance to the journal readership. The topic should be of relevance to both researchers who are new to the field as well as experts and provide a good introduction to the development of a subject, its current state, and indications of future directions the field is expected to take. Tutorial reviews should not contain unpublished original research. 

Perspectives present an authoritative state-of-the-art account of a research field. A Perspective may take the form of a personal account of research or a critical analysis of a topic of current interest. In either form, some new unpublished research may be included.

Comments

Comments and Replies are a medium for the discussion and exchange of scientific opinions between authors and readers concerning material published in Sensors & Diagnostics.

For publication, a Comment should present an alternative analysis of and/or new insight into the previously published material. Any Reply should further the discussion presented in the original article and the Comment. Comments and Replies that contain any form of personal attack are not suitable for publication.

Comments that are acceptable for publication will be forwarded to the authors of the work being discussed, and these authors will be given the opportunity to submit a Reply. The Comment and Reply will both be subject to rigorous peer review in consultation with the journal’s Editorial Board where appropriate. The Comment and Reply will be published together.

Author guidelines 

For general guidance on preparing an article please visit our Prepare your article page, the content of which is relevant to all our journals. 

To learn more about the Royal Society of Chemistry's policies and processes, including licensing, peer review and formatting, please refer to our Resources for authors page.

Significance Statement

All submitted manuscripts must include a Significance Statement (120 words maximum) that should categorically state how the work is significant. This statement should be different from the abstract and set the work in a broader context regarding sensing science. It should aim to answer the following questions.

  1. What is the innovative material or detection principle and/or significant development presented in this manuscript?
  2. What important advance does this present over previous work in the field?

This statement will be seen by the reviewers and will help ascertain the relevance of the article for a broad but technical audience. Manuscripts cannot be reviewed without this statement.

Peer review and editorial process

Sensors & Diagnostics follows a single-anonymised peer review process, with manuscripts handled by a team of internationally recognised associate editors, all practising scientists in the field. It consists of the following stages:

  • Phase 1: Your manuscript is initially assessed by an associate editor.
  • Phase 2: The associate editor solicits the expertise of at least two reviewers to assess your article and submit a report.
  • Phase 3: The associate editor handling your manuscript makes a decision based on the reviewer reports received. In the event that no clear decision can be made, another reviewer will be consulted.

Please refer to our processes and policies for full details including our appeals procedure.

Ethical Requirements

Sensors & Diagnostics authors, editors, reviewers and published works are required to uphold the Royal Society of Chemistry’s ethical standards. The Royal Society of Chemistry is a member of Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and our ethical standards follow COPE’s core practices and best practice guidelines. In cases where these guidelines are breached or appear to be so, the Royal Society of Chemistry will consult with COPE.

When a study involves the use of live animals or human subjects, authors must include in the 'methods/experimental' section of the manuscript a statement that all experiments were performed in compliance with the author’s institute’s policy on animal use and ethics; where possible, details of compliance with national or international laws or guidelines should be included. The statement must name the institutional/local ethics committee which has approved the study; where possible, the approval or case number should be provided. A statement that informed consent was obtained for any experimentation with human subjects is required. Reviewers may be asked to comment specifically on any cases in which concerns arise.

For further guidance on author responsibilities and code of conduct, which apply to Sensors & Diagnostics and to all manuscripts submitted to Royal Society of Chemistry journals, please visit our author hub.

Themed Collections

Sensors & Diagnostics publishes a number of themed collections every year on timely and important topics, guest edited by members of the community. All submissions to our themed collections undergo an initial assessment by the journal's associate editors and subsequent peer review as per the usual standards of RSC journals.

Subscription information

Sensors & Diagnostics is fully gold open access – articles can be downloaded free from the website with no barriers to access.

Online only: ISSN 2635-0998

Copyright

Copyright is retained by authors when an open access licence is accepted, as with our standard licence to publish agreement. Full and accurate attribution to the original author is required for any re-use of the work. Find out more about copyright, licences and re-use permission.

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**The median time from submission to first decision including manuscripts rejected without peer review from the previous calendar year

***The median time from submission to first decision for peer-reviewed manuscripts from the previous calendar year

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Sensors & Diagnostics

For pre-submission queries, please contact Anna Rulka
Email:
The Executive Editor

For post-submission queries, please contact Viktoria Titmus
Email:
The Editorial Production Manager

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