Chinese Herbal Medicines

Chinese Herbal Medicines is a quarterly, fully open access journal launched in 2009 as the first English-language journal devoted to Chinese herbal medicine, jointly sponsored by the Institute of Medicinal Plant Development of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and the Tianjin Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and published by Elsevier, with a 2024 Journal Impact Factor of 8.9 and a Q1 ranking in medicinal chemistry（Chinese Herbal Medicines）于 2009 年创刊，是中药领域第一份英文专业期刊，按季出版、完全开放获取，由中国医学科学院药用植物研究所与天津药物研究院联合主办、（Elsevier）出版，2024 年影响因子为 8.9，在药物化学领域居 Q1 区。

Scope

• It provides a forum for research on Chinese herbal medicine, traditional medicines and natural products其为中草药、传统药物与天然产物研究提供论坛。
• It covers medicinal plant resources and the active ingredients of herbs, including their biosynthesis and tissue culture其涵盖药用植物资源与草药活性成分，包括生物合成与组织培养。
• It addresses classical formulas and compound prescriptions together with formulation and process technology其涉及经典方剂与复方制剂及制剂学和工艺技术。
• It reports on the quality evaluation and safety assessment of herbal medicines其报道中药的质量评价与安全性评估。
• It includes the identification of herbs by molecular and morphological methods其包含以分子与形态学方法对药材进行鉴定。
• Through experimental and clinical studies it examines the phytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology, pharmacokinetics and therapeutic functions of herbal medicines其通过实验与临床研究考察中草药的植物化学、药理学、毒理学、药代动力学与治疗功效。

History

• It was founded in 2009 as the first professional English-language journal devoted to Chinese herbal medicine该刊于 2009 年创刊，是中国中药领域第一份英文专业期刊。
• Its inaugural issue appeared in October 2009 and it has appeared quarterly ever since其创刊号于 2009 年 10 月问世，此后一直按季出版。
• It was admitted to the Emerging Sources Citation Index in 2017 and later indexed in PubMed Central and Scopus该刊于 2017 年被（ESCI）收录，随后又被（PubMed Central）与（Scopus）收录。
• It was selected into the China Science and Technology Journal Excellence Action Plan in 2019该刊于 2019 年入选中国科技期刊卓越行动计划。
• It is now published in fully open access form by Elsevier on the ScienceDirect platform该刊现由（Elsevier）在（ScienceDirect）平台以完全开放获取形式出版。
• Its Journal Impact Factor rose from 8.9 for 2024 to 11.2 for 2025其影响因子由 2024 年的 8.9 升至 2025 年的 11.2。

Editors

• Its editor-in-chief is Chen Shilin, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering who works on medicinal plant genomics and pharmacognosy其主编为陈士林，中国工程院院士，从事药用植物基因组学与生药学研究。
• He was formally appointed to lead the journal in December 2025他于 2025 年 12 月正式受聘主持该刊。
• The journal is jointly sponsored by the Tianjin Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and the Institute of Medicinal Plant Development of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences该刊由天津药物研究院与中国医学科学院药用植物研究所共同主办。
• It maintains editorial offices in both Tianjin and Beijing其在天津与北京分设编辑部。
• Manuscripts are submitted through the Editorial Manager system and undergo peer review稿件经（Editorial Manager）系统提交，并实行同行评审。
• As a gold open access title it charges authors an article publishing fee while remaining free to read作为金色开放获取期刊，其对作者收取文章处理费，而读者可免费阅读。