These Special Issues will showcase original, cutting-edge research from across the chemical sciences, highlighting the early-career researchers conducting work at the forefront of these fields. Submit your nomination by October 20, 2025.
To celebrate the early-career researchers breaking new ground in the chemical sciences, the ACS Au journals invite you to join the “2026 Rising Stars.”
These Special Issues in ACS Bio & Med Chem Au, ACS Environmental Au, ACS Materials Au, ACS Measurement Science Au, ACS Nanoscience Au, and ACS Organic & Inorganic Au will showcase original, cutting-edge, and impactful research from across the chemical sciences. The scope of these Special Issues is intentionally broad and aims to highlight the early-career researchers conducting work at the forefront of these fields.
Those who are selected as Rising Stars will be invited to submit to the respective journal. These Rising Star publications will appear in issues throughout 2026 and then be collected in Special Issues at the end of the year, which will be widely promoted. The work will be highlighted as a significant contribution from a researcher who is breaking new ground in their field. As the ACS Au journals are fully open access, your paper will be available to anyone, at anytime, anywhere in the world.
How to Nominate
We welcome nominations (including self-nominations) to be featured in these Special Issues until October 20, 2025.
Please submit your nomination to the topically appropriate journal, acknowledging the scope and community of the journal. If you have any questions regarding suitability, please get in touch.
We are looking for early-career investigators who are in the first eight years of their initial independent appointment (Assistant Professor or equivalent) and are conducting research at the forefront of their field. Allowances are made for those who took career breaks for any reason; please reach out if you have any questions regarding eligibility.
Nominations close on October 20, 2025.
Visit Each Journal's Call for Nominations:
Call For Nominations: 2026 Rising Stars in Biological, Medicinal, and Pharmaceutical Chemistry
Nominate an early-career researcher to be highlighted in our Special Issue celebrating the 2026 Rising Stars in Biological, Medicinal, and Pharmaceutical Chemistry. Submit your nomination to ACS Bio & Med Chem Au by October 20, 2025.
Call For Nominations: 2026 Rising Stars in Environmental Research
Nominate an early-career researcher to be highlighted in our Special Issue celebrating the 2026 Rising Stars in Environmental Research. Submit your nomination to ACS Environmental Au by October 20, 2025.
Call For Nominations: 2026 Rising Stars in Materials Science
Nominate an early-career researcher to be highlighted in our Special Issue celebrating the 2026 Rising Stars in Materials Science. Submit your nomination to ACS Materials Science Au by October 20, 2025.
Call For Nominations: 2026 Rising Stars in Measurement Science
Nominate an early-career researcher to be highlighted in our Special Issue celebrating the 2026 Rising Stars in Measurement Science. Submit your nomination to ACS Measurement Science Au by October 20, 2025.
Call For Nominations: 2026 Rising Stars in Nanoscience
Nominate an early-career researcher to be highlighted in our Special Issue celebrating the 2026 Rising Stars in Nanoscience. Submit your nomination to ACS Nanoscience Au by October 20, 2025.
Call For Nominations: 2026 Rising Stars in Organic and Inorganic Chemistry
Nominate an early-career researcher to be highlighted in our Special Issue celebrating the 2026 Rising Stars in Organic and Inorganic Chemistry. Submit your nomination to ACS Organic & Inorganic Au by October 20, 2025.
Organizing Editors
These Special Issues will be guided by the respective ACS Au Deputy and Associate Editors. Please visit each journal's Editorial Board webpage for more information:
Submitting to the Special Issues
Researchers who are selected to as contributors to the 2026 Rising Stars Special Issues will be notified by email.
We welcome submissions for this Special Issue through June 1, 2026. For more information on submission requirements, please visit the Author Guidelines page for your respective journal.
Papers accepted for the 2026 Rising Stars Special Issues will be available ASAP (as soon as publishable) online. After all submissions have been published, they will then be compiled online into a Special Issue in each journal. Manuscripts submitted for consideration will undergo the full rigorous peer review process expected from ACS journals.
How to Submit:
- Log in to the ACS Publishing Center.
- Select the “Journals” tab.
- Choose the relevant journal name.
- Click "Submit."
- Select your manuscript type, and, under "Special Issue Selection," choose “2026 Rising Stars."
If you have any general questions regarding submission to these Special Issues, please contact Au-eic@journals.acs.org.
Open Access
ACS Au community journals are fully open-access journals, which means your work will be immediately and freely available for anyone to read in perpetuity. We recognize that different authors have different levels of access to funding for Article Publication Charges (APCs). Therefore, evaluation of nominations will be entirely based on merit and not on financial resources.
We offer a range of options to support authors with open-access publishing, including through the ACS special country pricing policy, ACS institutional open access agreements, and a limited number of APC waivers, which can be offered at the discretion of the editor at the point of invitation.