Journal Scope
The Journal reports original work in the broad field of process chemistry encompassing aspects of organic chemistry, catalysis, analytical chemistry, and chemical engineering, with special focus on the development and optimisation of chemical reactions and processes and their transfer to a larger scale, via large laboratory and pilot plant operations, for manufacture.

The Journal aims to cover R & D in the fine organic chemicals and speciality chemicals industries, including pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, dyestuff and photographic chemicals, flavours and fragrances, electronics, intermediates, food additives, and speciality polymers, and academic chemistry related to work in these industries. Some R & D in commodity chemicals, petrochemicals, and polymers may also be appropriate.

The Journal will concentrate on the batch/semibatch chemical process industries but welcomes reports on R & D aimed at continuous processes.

Papers may deal with the following areas.:

1. Organic Process Research: Authors are encouraged to discuss synthetic route strategy and design, giving reasons and rationale (particularly issues relating to Scale Up and manufacture) for choice of reagents, solvents, conditions, etc., and highlighting unexpected differences observed as processes are scaled up.
2. Organic Process Development: Authors may discuss the development and optimisation of research laboratory methods to make them more suitable for Scale Up and manufacture. Aspects which may be important include yield improvement, cost reduction, improvement in space-time yield, quality issues, structure and control of impurities, changes in yield/quality with reaction conditions, choice of solvent, workup and product isolation, safety, and environmental considerations. Authors may wish to include details of statistical methods of optimisation used (e.g., experimental or factorial designs, simplex methods, response surfaces).
   Other suggested topics include conversion of stoichiometric processes to catalytic methods and comparisons of methodologies for achieving a synthetic transformation, based on Scale Up considerations (including safety and environmental concerns).
3. Scale Up Issues: Included in this area are topics related to choice of equipment for Scale Up, chemical reaction engineering issues (heat transfer, kinetics, mass transfer, mixing and agitation, unit operations), process control and instrumentation, separations technology, and process modeling.
4. Safety Issues: This section will include papers discussing handling of toxic products and byproducts and thermal hazard testing of processes (including detailed studies on particular chemical reactions). Experiences of incidents and accidents, potential runaway reactions, and reactions where control is a problem (pressure buildup, excessive gas evolution, etc.) are particularly welcomed, especially where a detailed follow-up investigation has been carried out. The editors encourage scientists and engineers to publish this data to disseminate information as widely as possible, thus preventing further incidents and accidents elsewhere.
5. Environmental, Waste Minimisation, and "Benign" or "Green" Chemistry Related Topics: Authors are encouraged to report their solutions to potential environmental issues in the fine chemicals industry, both reduction-at-source strategies and "end-of-pipe" solutions.
6. Legislation, Regulatory, and Patent Issues: The Journal will try to highlight new legislation or changes which affect process R & D in the fine chemicals industry. However, authors are encouraged to report on their organisation’s approach to compliance with new or existing legislation on safety, environmental, and quality issues, GMP, validation of processes and equipment, etc., or on patent issues.
7. Miscellaneous: In addition to these topics, the Journal encourages papers dealing with other subjects which fall within the scope of the objectives of the Journal. Examples not listed earlier include the following: the translation of a batch or semibatch process to a continuous process, crystallisation and polymorphism of new products, enzymatic methods for production of fine chemicals, new technologies, multipurpose techniques, and pilot plant design.

Organic Process Research & Development experienced an increase in total citations to 2,555 in 2009, and achieved an ISI Impact Factor of 2.238 as reported in the 2009 Journal Citation Reports® by Thomson Reuters.