Publication Guide
The Society of Toxicology (SOT) is the largest professional society for toxicologists in the world, founded in 1961 and headquartered in Reston, Virginia. It represents more than 8,000 scientists across academia, government, and industry. Unlike commercial publishing houses, SOT publishes a single flagship journal: Toxicological Sciences (ToxSci), issued monthly by Oxford University Press (OUP) on the society's behalf. ToxSci was established in 1981 as Fundamental and Applied Toxicology and took its current name in 1998; today it is one of the definitive venues for mechanistic, regulatory, and translational toxicology.
Because SOT partners with OUP, submitting to ToxSci works like submitting to any Oxford Academic journal - the same open-access options, Read & Publish agreements, and self-archiving policies apply. This guide covers what the journal publishes, what it costs (usually nothing, unless you opt for open access), the peer-review workflow, and how to submit.
Is Toxicological Sciences the right venue for your paper?
ToxSci has a broad toxicology scope but a clear editorial identity. Use the table below to decide whether it fits your manuscript.
| Your paper is... | Fit for Toxicological Sciences? |
|---|---|
| Mechanistic toxicology - molecular, cellular, or systems-level mechanisms of toxicity | Strong fit - the journal's core territory |
| Regulatory or risk-assessment science, including new approach methodologies (NAMs) | Strong fit - ToxSci is widely read by regulatory scientists at FDA, EPA, and internationally |
| Translational or clinical toxicology, safety pharmacology, toxicogenomics | Good fit - covered under the journal's translational scope |
| Environmental fate or exposure work with little biological endpoint data | Weaker fit - consider an environmental-science venue instead |
| A short case report or purely descriptive screening dataset | Weaker fit - the journal prioritizes hypothesis-driven research and mechanistic insight |
What the Society of Toxicology publishes
Toxicological Sciences is the society's official journal and its only peer-reviewed research title. It publishes original research articles, reviews, editorials, and commentary across all areas of toxicology - from carcinogenesis and developmental toxicology to computational toxicology, immunotoxicology, and emerging alternatives to animal testing. The journal is indexed in Scopus, Science Citation Index, PubMed/MEDLINE, and EMBASE, and SOT members receive free or discounted access. Beyond the journal, SOT publishes position papers and guidance on conflicts of interest in toxicology, and runs a major annual meeting each spring - but for authors, ToxSci is the publication route.
Open access and charges
Publishing in Toxicological Sciences is free by default: the journal charges no page fees and no submission fees. Open access is optional.
| Route | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Standard subscription publication | $0 | No page or submission fees |
| Hybrid OA (Oxford Open) | ~$3,000+ per article | Optional; makes your article immediately free to read. Check the current OUP charges page before submitting - prices are revised periodically |
| Read & Publish agreements | $0 to the author | If your institution has an OUP Read & Publish deal, the OA charge may be fully covered - check OUP's agreement list or ask your library |
| Green OA (self-archiving) | $0 | Accepted-manuscript self-archiving under OUP's standard policy |
As OUP is a not-for-profit publisher, open-access charges also help support SOT conferences, symposia, and society initiatives.
Peer review
Toxicological Sciences uses single-anonymized peer review: reviewers know the authors' identities, but not vice versa. The editorial board is drawn from the international toxicology community, with the editor-in-chief traditionally an academic toxicologist. The journal does not publish a formal average time to first decision, but advertises fast decisions and rapid online publication via Advance Articles.
How to submit
- Check scope and format. Read the ToxSci author guidelines on Oxford Academic; the journal uses its own author-year citation style.
- Prepare your manuscript. Use the Toxicological Sciences template on SciSpace to match the formatting requirements.
- Submit via ScholarOne Manuscripts. ToxSci runs on ScholarOne, which handles original and revised submissions.
- Choose your OA route at acceptance. If you want immediate open access, select Oxford Open and check whether a Read & Publish agreement covers your institution.
- Track your paper. ScholarOne provides status updates through review, revision, and acceptance.
Ethics and integrity
Toxicological Sciences follows COPE guidance through its publisher, Oxford University Press, a long-standing COPE member. SOT itself maintains published positions on conflicts of interest in toxicology - an area where industry, government, and academic interests routinely intersect - and expects full disclosure of funding sources and competing interests in every submission. Retractions and corrections follow OUP's standard editorial policies.
