Key Engineering Materials

About Key Engineering Materials

About Key Engineering Materials

Key Engineering Materials (often abbreviated Key Eng. Mater. or KEM) is a long-running peer-reviewed periodical published by Trans Tech Publications Ltd in Switzerland and distributed through the publisher's Scientific.Net platform. Readers encountering it in library catalogues should understand its unusual and important format from the outset: although it is catalogued with journal-style volume numbers, an ISSN and regular citation metrics, SCImago and Scopus classify it as a book series rather than as a conventional single-topic journal. Each volume is typically a self-contained thematic collection — often an edited volume arising from a conference, workshop or an invited programme of work on a defined materials problem — rather than an ordinary issue assembled from unrelated submissions arriving over a submission window. That single fact explains most of how Key Engineering Materials works, how it should be cited, how it should be evaluated, and why authors should approach it differently from a standard monthly or quarterly journal.

The series has a very long publication history. SCImago coverage records show intermittent early coverage in 1982 and in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with continuous coverage from the mid-1990s onward. Over that period hundreds of numbered volumes have appeared, reaching into the 900s by the early 2020s, and the series remains active. Its longevity is itself informative: generations of materials researchers have used its volumes to publish full-length, peer-reviewed papers on experimental and modelling work that needed a permanent, citable, indexed home, especially work presented first at specialist meetings that did not publish their own proceedings with a major indexing service. For a researcher tracing the development of a sub-field — fracture and damage mechanics, powder technology, biomaterials, nanomaterials processing, or advanced ceramics, to name only a few recurring themes — the back catalogue functions as a stratified record of what the community was working on, decade by decade.

Trans Tech Publications, founded on Swiss academic publishing traditions dating back to the 1960s, built a family of related periodicals around materials science and engineering, including titles devoted to solid state phenomena, materials science forums, applied mechanics and materials, and nano research. Key Engineering Materials sits at the broad, general end of that family. Where a sister title may confine itself to a narrow technique or material class, KEM deliberately spans the full engineering materials landscape. Understanding that breadth matters for authors: a manuscript is not judged against a narrow editorial identity, but against the fit between the manuscript, the theme of a particular planned volume, and the standards of the guest editors and reviewers assembled for that volume.

Aims and Scope

The publisher describes the series, in summary, as covering the entire range of basic and applied aspects of the synthesis, research, modelling, processing and application of advanced engineering materials. That compact statement repays careful unpacking, because each verb marks a legitimate route into the series. Synthesis work reports new ways of making a material — a new alloy route, a sol–gel process, a deposition method, a sintering schedule. Research in this context means characterisation and property measurement: microstructure, phase composition, mechanical behaviour, corrosion, wear, fatigue, thermal and electrical behaviour, and the relationships among them. Modelling covers computational and analytical work, from finite-element simulation of forming and fracture to atomistic and thermodynamic modelling of phases and defects. Processing addresses manufacturing science — casting, powder metallurgy, machining, joining, additive manufacturing, surface engineering and heat treatment. Application closes the loop with studies of materials in service: components, structures, devices, biomedical implants, energy systems and transport applications where performance in a real environment is the point of the study.

Within that remit, recurring material classes include metals and alloys, ceramics and glasses, polymers and polymer-matrix composites, metal- and ceramic-matrix composites, nanomaterials and nanostructured materials, biomaterials, and smart and functional materials, including piezoelectric, magnetic and optoelectronic materials. Recurring problem areas include fracture and damage mechanics, fatigue and creep, tribology, corrosion and coatings, materials for energy conversion and storage, construction materials, and materials for microelectronics and optoelectronics. This is not an exhaustive list, and it should not be read as one: because volumes are thematic, the operative scope for any given submission is the call or editorial plan for the specific volume under consideration, which may be far narrower than the series scope as a whole.

Work that tends to fit well shares certain qualities regardless of topic. It presents a complete, self-contained study with a clear materials question, a reproducible method, results reported with enough detail for another group to repeat the work, and a discussion that relates the findings to prior literature rather than merely reporting numbers. Short, purely descriptive notes without analysis, routine testing reports with no wider inference, and manuscripts whose contribution is primarily commercial promotion of a product do not fit the scholarly purpose of the series. Review-type contributions appear in some volumes, usually by invitation or by agreement with the volume editors, and they are expected to synthesise a field rather than summarise the authors' own papers.

Publication Details

• Title: Key Engineering Materials
• Abbreviation: Key Eng. Mater.
• Publisher: Trans Tech Publications Ltd, Switzerland
• Platform: Scientific.Net
• Print ISSN: 1013-9826
• Electronic ISSN: 1662-9795
• Publication type: Peer-reviewed periodical classified by Scopus/SCImago as a book series; thematic volumes
• Language: English
• Frequency: Irregular in journal terms — multiple thematic volumes per year, numbered sequentially
• DOI pattern: Papers carry DOIs under the publisher's 10.4028 prefix, in the Scientific.Net KEM series
• Open access status: Primarily subscription / purchase access through Scientific.Net, with individual volumes and papers sold by the publisher; open-access availability varies by paper and volume and should be checked on the article page — the series as a whole is not a fully open-access journal
• Article processing charge (APC): Not publicly disclosed as a single standard journal APC on the publisher's public pages consulted for this profile. Because publication is organised volume by volume, any page, colour, open-access or conference-linked charges are set in the arrangements for that volume. Authors should obtain the applicable charges in writing from the volume editors or the publisher before submission and should not assume a figure quoted for a different Trans Tech title or a different volume applies to theirs.

The distinction between print and electronic ISSNs matters for librarians and for authors completing institutional reporting forms: 1013-9826 identifies the print edition and 1662-9795 the electronic edition, and citation databases may list them in either order or without hyphens. The volume-plus-page citation style is also distinctive. A typical reference gives the series title, the volume number (sometimes a combined volume range for large conference volumes, such as 417–418), and the page range, together with the DOI. Authors citing work from the series in their own manuscripts should reproduce the volume and DOI exactly as shown on Scientific.Net, rather than converting the citation into a journal volume/issue format that the series does not use.

Because each volume is a book-like object as well as a periodical instalment, many volumes also carry their own ISBN for the print edition and are sold as standalone books through booksellers, in addition to being available electronically by subscription. A volume title — for example a title reflecting the conference or theme from which the papers were drawn — is part of the bibliographic record, and interlibrary-loan requests are often more successful when they include both the series title and volume number and the individual volume title.

Editorial Structure and Peer Review

Key Engineering Materials does not operate with the simple editorial model of a single editor-in-chief handling all submissions in a field. The publisher maintains overall editorial oversight of the series from Switzerland, while the scientific content of individual volumes is shaped by volume editors and guest editors — frequently the organisers of the conference or the specialists who proposed the thematic programme — working with reviewers drawn from the relevant research community. SciRev reviewer reports for the title, based on authors' self-reported experiences, describe a conventional multi-round process for manuscripts handled through journal-style routes, with an average of about two review reports and about two rounds in the small sample reported; those figures are anecdotal community reports, not publisher guarantees, and handling times vary considerably by volume and by how closely a submission is tied to a conference timetable.

For authors, the practical consequence is that the first editorial question is not simply “is this good materials science?” but “is this the right volume, with the right editors, for this work?” A strong paper sent to the wrong thematic volume may be declined for fit even if its science is sound, while the same paper welcomed into a matching volume will be reviewed by specialists in exactly its problem area. Prospective authors should therefore begin from the publisher's current and forthcoming volume listings, from calls for papers for conferences that publish through the series, and from direct enquiry to a volume editor, rather than from a generic submission assumption. Where a submission route is offered through Scientific.Net for a specific volume, follow the length, template and deadline instructions for that volume precisely; edited volumes are assembled to a production schedule, and late or off-template papers create disproportionate difficulty for editors and for other contributors.

Peer review in this model serves the same purposes as elsewhere — testing originality, methodological soundness, adequacy of evidence, clarity of presentation and proper acknowledgement of prior work — but authors should also expect editorial attention to the coherence of the volume as a whole. Papers may be asked to clarify terminology, to situate themselves against other contributions, or to shorten background material that duplicates an editors' introduction. None of that diminishes the independence of the review judgement; it reflects the book-series character of the publication.

Indexing and Abstracting

The series is indexed in Scopus, which is the source of the SCImago ranking discussed below, and the publisher promotes its periodicals as indexed in major services including Scopus and Web of Science; authors should verify the current coverage of a specific volume in the Scopus source list or the Web of Science master list at the time they need it, because database coverage of book-series and conference-derived volumes can vary by year and by database policy. Papers are also discoverable through Google Scholar, through Crossref DOI metadata, and through engineering bibliography services that harvest Trans Tech content. The DOI for every paper resolves through Scientific.Net, where the abstract page is publicly visible even when the full text sits behind subscription or purchase access.

Indexing should never be treated as a promise made by a profile page like this one. Institutions evaluate publications by the database record at the time of assessment, and conference-linked volumes in particular can be indexed at different speeds. A prudent author keeps their own record — acceptance letter, volume details, DOI, and the Scopus or Web of Science record once it appears — rather than relying on a general statement that the series is indexed.

Metrics — What They Do and Do Not Show

The existing structured record for this title on Journals World lists an h-index of 67, an SJR of 0.170 and a Q4 quartile, and those figures are consistent in order of magnitude with recent SCImago-derived listings: other recent snapshots have reported SJR values around 0.165–0.171 and h-index values in the high 50s to high 60s depending on the year and database snapshot consulted. Such variation is normal — SJR is recalculated annually and h-index grows cumulatively — and is precisely why a single number should never be quoted without its year and source. In SCImago's subject classification the series sits in Materials Science (miscellaneous), Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics of Materials, in the fourth quartile in those categories in recent snapshots. Scopus-derived CiteScore figures reported by third-party journal services have been around 0.9 in recent years, again varying by snapshot.

Three cautions are essential. First, Key Engineering Materials is classified as a book series, so comparing its SJR or CiteScore directly with those of selective monthly journals in materials science is a category error; the proper comparison set is other large, broad, volume-based series and proceedings-style periodicals. Second, the series does not have the kind of headline Journal Impact Factor story that authors sometimes look for in a conventional Clarivate journal, and no Journal Impact Factor is claimed in this profile; anyone who needs a JCR figure for a formal evaluation should consult Journal Citation Reports directly rather than a secondary “impact score” — a Scopus-based average-citation figure that third-party sites compute and label in ways that are easily confused with the official metric. Third, within a series of this size, citation performance varies enormously by volume and by paper: a well-placed paper in a strong thematic volume on a live topic can be cited extensively, while a narrow paper in a quiet volume may be read mainly by specialists. The series-level average tells an author almost nothing about the fate of an individual manuscript; the quality of the work, the fit of the volume and the visibility of the topic matter far more.

Used sensibly, the metrics do tell a coherent story: a very large, decades-old, internationally authored series with a substantial cumulative citation footprint — tens of thousands of papers and citations in aggregate scite-style analyses — whose per-paper citation rates are modest, as expected for a broad archival venue that publishes a high volume of specialist conference-derived work. That is a legitimate and useful place in the scholarly ecosystem. It is not a high-selectivity flagship journal, and it should not be presented, by authors or by institutions, as though it were one.

Who Publishes Here, and Why

The author base is global, with particularly strong representation over the years from research groups in Asia and Europe working in applied materials engineering, reflecting the conference communities that publish through the series. Typical contributors include university research groups reporting experimental programmes, institutes working on processing and characterisation, and industry-linked teams reporting application studies. Doctoral researchers frequently appear as first authors, because thematic conference volumes are a natural first archival home for a complete piece of doctoral experimental work that has already survived conference review and presentation discussion.

The reasons authors choose the series are practical rather than prestige-driven: a permanent, DOI-bearing, indexed full paper instead of a conference abstract that disappears; a volume edited by specialists who understand the topic; production in a series that libraries worldwide already hold or can access; and a timetable tied to a known volume rather than an open-ended queue. Set against those advantages, authors should weigh the access model — most full texts are not freely open to all readers — and the need to be proactive about sharing their own work through repositories and scholarly networks, within the publisher's sharing policy, if wide readership matters to them.

Submission Guidance

Start by identifying the volume, not just the series. Monitor Scientific.Net for forthcoming volumes in your area, follow calls from conferences in your field that publish selected or full papers through Trans Tech, and read recent volumes in your topic to judge fit, article length and style. Prepare the manuscript as a complete journal-style paper — structured abstract, keywords, introduction that positions the work, materials and methods in reproducible detail, results, discussion, conclusions, acknowledgements and a properly formatted reference list citing the relevant prior work in the series and beyond. Follow the publisher's template exactly when one is supplied for the volume; edited volumes are typeset to a common specification and reformatting costs fall on authors who ignore it.

Observe the ordinary ethics of scholarly publishing with particular care in a conference-linked context: the paper must be original and not under consideration elsewhere, conference presentation does not license duplicate publication of an identical text elsewhere, all authors must have approved the submission, conflicts and funding should be declared, and any reuse of figures or text from earlier publications requires permission and citation. If the work was presented earlier in preliminary form, say so and make clear what the archival paper adds. Enquire about charges, copyright or licence terms, and open-access options for the specific volume before you commit, and keep the answers in writing. Finally, check proofs carefully — in a large edited volume, the proof stage is the last realistic chance to correct volume, author-name and affiliation errors before the DOI record propagates to the indexing services.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Key Engineering Materials a journal or a book series?

It behaves like both, which is why catalogues differ. It is a numbered, ISSN-bearing, peer-reviewed periodical published in thematic volumes, and Scopus/SCImago classify its publication type as a book series. For evaluation purposes, describe it accurately in those terms rather than forcing it into a single category.

What are its ISSNs?

The print ISSN is 1013-9826 and the electronic ISSN is 1662-9795. Both numbers refer to the same series in different media.

Does it have an Impact Factor?

No Journal Impact Factor is claimed in this profile. Third-party sites publish Scopus-based “impact score” figures for the title, but those are not the Clarivate Journal Impact Factor. Consult Journal Citation Reports directly if a formal evaluation requires that metric, and quote SJR and CiteScore figures with their year and source.

Is it open access?

Not as a whole. Access is principally by subscription, volume purchase or individual paper purchase through Scientific.Net, with open availability varying by paper. Check the individual article page for its access status.

Is there an APC?

A single standard APC is not publicly disclosed on the publisher pages consulted. Charges, where they apply, are arranged at volume level, so obtain the terms for your specific volume from the editors or publisher before submitting.

How do I submit?

By identifying a suitable forthcoming thematic volume or a conference that publishes through the series, and following that volume's call, template and deadline, or by enquiring with the publisher or volume editors about a proposed contribution. There is no assumption that a generic manuscript submitted at any time will be placed into a volume.

Why is its quartile Q4 if it has a large h-index?

Because the two measures answer different questions. The h-index is cumulative over a very large, decades-long output, so it is naturally substantial. Quartile reflects per-paper citation performance relative to category peers in a recent window. A big archival series can honestly have both a large cumulative footprint and a modest recent per-paper ranking.

Profile prepared from publisher, SCImago/Scopus-derived and bibliographic sources consulted for this review. Verify ISSN, indexing and charges for a specific volume before submitting or making an evaluation claim.