Scopus subject area

Best Drug Discovery journals

161 Scopus-active journals are ranked in Drug Discovery. All are listed below, ranked by CiteScore percentile — 40 of them sit in quartile Q1. Every title links to a full profile with Scopus, Web of Science, ABDC, DOAJ and open-access details.

# Journal CiteScore Percentile Quartile WoS ABDC OA
1 Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 159.2 99th Q1 SCIE – No
2 Medicinal Research Reviews 29.1 99th Q1 SCIE – No
3 Protein and Cell 22.6 98th Q1 SCIE – Yes
4 Natural Product Reports 21.2 97th Q1 SCIE – No
5 Molecular Therapy 17.9 97th Q1 SCIE – No
6 Drug Discovery Today 16.8 96th Q1 SCIE – No
7 Emerging Microbes and Infections 14.1 95th Q1 SCIE – Yes
8 Archives of Pharmacal Research 13.6 95th Q1 SCIE – No
9 Cell Chemical Biology 13.6 94th Q1 SCIE – No
10 Phytomedicine 13.2 94th Q1 SCIE – No
11 MedComm 12.5 93rd Q1 ESCI – Yes
12 Pharmaceutical Biology 12.4 92nd Q1 SCIE – Yes
13 Current Opinion in Pharmacology 12.2 92nd Q1 SCIE – No
14 Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis 12 91st Q1 SCIE – Yes
15 Journal of Enzyme Inhibition and Medicinal Chemistry 11.9 90th Q1 SCIE – Yes
16 NEJM Evidence 11.7 90th Q1 ESCI – No
17 Marine Drugs 11.6 89th Q1 SCIE – Yes
18 Medicine in Drug Discovery 11.5 89th Q1 – – Yes
19 Nucleic Acid Therapeutics 11.4 88th Q1 SCIE – No
20 EPMA Journal 11.4 87th Q1 SCIE – No
21 Journal of Ethnopharmacology 11.2 87th Q1 SCIE – No
22 Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 11.1 86th Q1 SCIE – No
23 Molecular Therapy Nucleic Acids 10.8 86th Q1 SCIE – Yes
24 European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 10.8 85th Q1 SCIE – No
25 International Journal of Nanomedicine 10.6 84th Q1 SCIE – Yes
26 Molecules 10.3 84th Q1 SCIE – Yes
27 Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery 9.9 83rd Q1 SCIE – No
28 Expert Review of Vaccines 9.9 82nd Q1 SCIE – Yes
29 Pharmaceuticals 9 82nd Q1 SCIE – Yes
30 Biotechnology and Applied Biochemistry 8.9 81st Q1 SCIE – No
31 Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Targets 8.6 81st Q1 SCIE – No
32 Journal of Molecular Medicine 8.6 80th Q1 SCIE – No
33 EXCLI Journal 8.6 79th Q1 SCIE – Yes
34 Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Patents 8.3 79th Q1 SCIE – No
35 Molecular Diversity 7.9 78th Q1 SCIE – No
36 Current Molecular Pharmacology 7.8 77th Q1 SCIE – No
37 PPAR Research 7.8 77th Q1 SCIE – Yes
38 Chinese Journal of Natural Medicines 7.7 76th Q1 SCIE – No
39 Vaccines 7.7 76th Q1 SCIE – Yes
40 Molecular Pharmaceutics 7.6 75th Q1 SCIE – No
41 ACS Bio and Med Chem Au 7.5 74th Q2 ESCI – Yes
42 Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry 7.5 74th Q2 SCIE – No
43 Journal of Applied Research on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants 7.4 73rd Q2 SCIE – No
44 Open Medicinal Chemistry Journal 7.3 72nd Q2 – – No
45 Drug Development Research 7 72nd Q2 SCIE – No
46 Bioorganic Chemistry 6.9 71st Q2 SCIE – No
47 Drug Design, Development and Therapy 6.9 71st Q2 SCIE – Yes
48 Molecular Informatics 6.8 70th Q2 SCIE – No
49 Current Gene Therapy 6.7 69th Q2 SCIE – No
50 Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry 6.6 69th Q2 SCIE – No
51 Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy 6.5 68th Q2 SCIE – No
52 Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis 6.5 68th Q2 SCIE – No
53 Archiv der Pharmazie 6.5 67th Q2 SCIE – No
54 Current Medicinal Chemistry 6.5 66th Q2 SCIE – No
55 Biomolecules and Therapeutics 6.4 66th Q2 SCIE – No
56 Human Genomics 6.4 65th Q2 SCIE – Yes
57 Journal of Natural Products 6.3 64th Q2 SCIE – No
58 Chemical Biology and Drug Design 6.1 64th Q2 SCIE – No
59 Current Drug Targets 6 63rd Q2 SCIE – No
60 Therapeutic Advances in Vaccines and Immunotherapy 6 63rd Q2 – – Yes
61 Chirality 5.9 62nd Q2 SCIE – No
62 Current Pharmaceutical Design 5.8 61st Q2 SCIE – No
63 Journal of the Indian Chemical Society 5.8 61st Q2 SCIE – No
64 ChemMedChem 5.7 60th Q2 SCIE – No
65 RSC Medicinal Chemistry 5.7 59th Q2 SCIE – No
66 Recent Patents on Anti-Cancer Drug Discovery 5.6 59th Q2 SCIE – No
67 ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters 5.6 58th Q2 SCIE – No
68 Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry 5.6 58th Q2 SCIE – No
69 International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics 5.3 57th Q2 SCIE – No
70 Iranian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences 5.2 56th Q2 SCIE – Yes
71 Journal of Natural Medicines 5.2 56th Q2 SCIE – No
72 Phytochemical Analysis 5.2 55th Q2 SCIE – No
73 Frontiers in Antibiotics 5 54th Q2 ESCI – Yes
74 Frontiers in Drug Discovery 5 54th Q2 ESCI – Yes
75 Current Opinion in Systems Biology 5 53rd Q2 ESCI – No
76 Medicinal Chemistry 5 53rd Q2 SCIE – No
77 Antibodies 4.9 52nd Q2 ESCI – Yes
78 International Journal of Cosmetic Science 4.8 51st Q2 SCIE – No
79 Journal of Gene Medicine 4.8 51st Q2 SCIE – No
80 DARU, Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 4.8 50th Q2 SCIE – No
81 Journal of Basic and Clinical Physiology and Pharmacology 4.7 50th Q2 – – No
82 npj Systems Biology and Applications 4.7 49th Q3 SCIE – Yes
83 Planta Medica 4.7 48th Q3 SCIE – No
84 Journal of Antibiotics 4.6 48th Q3 SCIE – No
85 Current Pharmacology Reports 4.6 47th Q3 ESCI – No
86 Drug Research 4.6 46th Q3 ESCI – No
87 Journal of Computer-Aided Molecular Design 4.6 46th Q3 SCIE – No
88 Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters 4.5 45th Q3 SCIE – No
89 SAR and QSAR in Environmental Research 4.4 45th Q3 SCIE – No
90 Cancer Innovation 4.4 44th Q3 ESCI – Yes
91 Future Medicinal Chemistry 4.4 43rd Q3 SCIE – No
92 Avicenna Journal of Phytomedicine 4.3 43rd Q3 ESCI – Yes
93 Journal of Medicinal and Chemical Sciences 4.3 42nd Q3 – – No
94 Current Cancer Drug Targets 4.2 41st Q3 SCIE – No
95 Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine 4.2 41st Q3 ESCI – Yes
96 Medinformatics 4 40th Q3 – – No
97 Fitoterapia 3.9 40th Q3 SCIE – No
98 Studies in Natural Products Chemistry 3.9 39th Q3 – – No
99 Assay and Drug Development Technologies 3.8 38th Q3 SCIE – No
100 Journal of Peptide Science 3.8 38th Q3 SCIE – No
101 Tetrahedron 3.7 37th Q3 SCIE – No
102 Combinatorial Chemistry and High Throughput Screening 3.6 36th Q3 SCIE – No
103 Trends in Phytochemical Research 3.6 36th Q3 – – No
104 Chemotherapy 3.6 35th Q3 SCIE – No
105 Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy 3.6 35th Q3 SCIE – No
106 Journal of Pharmaceutical Innovation 3.5 34th Q3 SCIE – No
107 Biomedical Chromatography 3.3 33rd Q3 SCIE – No
108 International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms 3.3 33rd Q3 SCIE – No
109 Pharmaceutical Patent Analyst 3.2 32nd Q3 – – No
110 Biomarkers in Medicine 3.2 31st Q3 SCIE – No
111 Records of Natural Products 3.2 31st Q3 SCIE – No
112 Journal of HerbMed Pharmacology 3 30th Q3 – – Yes
113 Helvetica Chimica Acta 2.9 30th Q3 SCIE – No
114 Current Computer-Aided Drug Design 2.9 29th Q3 SCIE – No
115 Current Drug Discovery Technologies 2.9 28th Q3 – – No
116 Tetrahedron Letters 2.8 28th Q3 SCIE – No
117 Emerging Trends in Drugs, Addictions, and Health 2.8 27th Q3 – – Yes
118 Journal of Asian Natural Products Research 2.8 27th Q3 SCIE – No
119 Natural Product Communications 2.7 26th Q3 SCIE – Yes
120 Pharmacognosy Journal 2.5 25th Q3 – – No
121 Recent Advances in Anti-Infective Drug Discovery 2.5 25th Q3 – – No
122 Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacognosy Research 2.5 24th Q4 ESCI – Yes
123 Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin 2.4 23rd Q4 SCIE – No
124 Expert Review of Precision Medicine and Drug Development 2.3 23rd Q4 ESCI – No
125 Journal of Biologically Active Products from Nature 2.3 22nd Q4 ESCI – No
126 Natural Products Journal 2.3 22nd Q4 ESCI – No
127 Letters in Drug Design and Discovery 2.2 21st Q4 SCIE – No
128 Recent Advances in Inflammation and Allergy Drug Discovery 2 20th Q4 ESCI – No
129 Tropical Journal of Natural Product Research 1.9 20th Q4 – – No
130 Research Journal of Pharmacognosy 1.9 19th Q4 ESCI – Yes
131 Journal of Labelled Compounds and Radiopharmaceuticals 1.9 18th Q4 SCIE – No
132 Natural Product Sciences 1.8 18th Q4 – – No
133 Current Traditional Medicine 1.7 17th Q4 ESCI – No
134 International Journal of Drug Discovery and Pharmacology 1.7 17th Q4 – – Yes
135 Boletin Latinoamericano y del Caribe de Plantas Medicinales y Aromaticas 1.6 16th Q4 SCIE – No
136 Aging Pathobiology and Therapeutics 1.6 15th Q4 – – No
137 Pharmaceutical Chemistry Journal 1.6 15th Q4 SCIE – No
138 Chinese Traditional and Herbal Drugs 1.5 14th Q4 – – No
139 Current Enzyme Inhibition 1.5 13th Q4 – – No
140 Topics in Medicinal Chemistry 1.4 13th Q4 – – No
141 Drug Development and Registration 1.1 12th Q4 – – Yes
142 Current Trends in Biotechnology and Pharmacy 0.9 12th Q4 – – No
143 RSC Drug Discovery Series 0.9 11th Q4 – – No
144 Chinese Journal of Modern Applied Pharmacy 0.8 10th Q4 – – No
145 Medicinal Plants - International Journal of Phytomedicines and Related Industries 0.7 10th Q4 – – No
146 Ukrains'kij Zurnal Vijskovoi Medicini 0.7 9th Q4 – – Yes
147 Life Sciences, Medicine and Biomedicine 0.6 9th Q4 – – Yes
148 International Journal of Advanced Science and Engineering 0.6 8th Q4 – – No
149 China Pharmacy 0.6 7th Q4 – – Yes
150 International Journal of Computational Biology and Drug Design 0.6 7th Q4 – – No
151 Indian Drugs 0.6 6th Q4 – – No
152 Cancer Drug Discovery and Development 0.5 5th Q4 – – No
153 Journal of Natural Remedies 0.5 5th Q4 – – No
154 Medicinal Chemistry Reviews 0.5 4th Q4 – – No
155 Chinese Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics 0.4 4th Q4 – – No
156 VacciMonitor 0.4 3rd Q4 – – Yes
157 Drugs and Clinic 0.3 2nd Q4 – – No
158 Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy 0.3 2nd Q4 – – No
159 European Health and Pharmaceutical Law Review 0.2 1st Q4 – – No
160 Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical and Clinical Research 0.2 0th Q4 – – No
161 Revista Cubana de Plantas Medicinales 0.1 0th Q4 – – No

Rank and percentile are within the Drug Discovery Scopus subject table (CiteScore 2025, dataset 2026-10-04). A journal can rank differently in its other subject areas — open its profile for the full picture.

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