American Chemical Society

What American Chemical Society does

The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a federally chartered, non-profit scientific society founded in 1876 and headquartered in Washington, DC, with its CAS division headquartered in Columbus, OH. It operates one of the world's largest scientific publishing portfolios through ACS Publications (90 peer-reviewed journals) and runs the CAS division, which curates the world's largest chemical substance dataset and offers the SciFinder research platform and CAS Newton AI-powered discovery tools. The organization serves the global chemistry community through news media (Chemical & Engineering News / C&EN), educator support (AACT), professional training (ACS Institute), and major events (ACS Fall and Spring national meetings averaging 13,000+ attendees), serving chemistry professionals, students, educators, and institutional customers.

ACS generates revenue through a diversified mix of individual and institutional journal subscriptions, tiered membership dues (Standard at $80/year and Premium at $160/year for regular members, with lower-priced tiers for students and retirees), conference and meeting registration fees, open access article processing charges, and educational/training program fees. The organization markets and distributes directly to consumers and institutions via acs.org, pubs.acs.org, cas.org, cen.acs.org, the ACS on Campus program, and an integrated channel stack including webinars, podcasts, and email newsletters. ACS operates through wholly-owned subsidiaries (CAS, ACS Publications, C&EN, AACT) and the 2023-acquired ChronosHub open access management platform, with no parent company and no public listing.

Name

American Chemical Society

Legal name

American Chemical Society

Website

https://acs.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1876

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

The American Chemical Society is a federally chartered, non-profit scientific society founded in 1876 that serves the global chemistry community through 90 peer-reviewed journals, the CAS chemical data and AI platform (SciFinder, CAS Newton), C&EN news media, professional meetings, and tiered membership and education programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Scientific Publishing and Chemistry Information Services

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132), Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) (541715), Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services (5416)

SIC

Miscellaneous Publishing (2741), Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Scientific & Laboratory Reference (Chemistry, Biology, Physics; Methods & Protocols) (EDAGAGAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Life Sciences (Biology, Ecology, Agriculture) Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAC), Children’s Nonfiction Educational (Science, History, Nature) (EDAGAIAC), Science, Technology & Gaming Magazines (MPAJAEAL)

Keywords

• Scientific publishing services
• Peer-reviewed chemistry journals
• Chemical substance databases
• Scientific society membership
• Chemistry professional development

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual subscription-based membership with tiered pricing (Standard $80/yr, Premium $160/yr) providing access to publications, career services, networking, and meetings.
2. Journal Subscriptions and Publications: Revenue from ACS Publications division managing 90 peer-reviewed journals covering various chemistry disciplines.
3. Meeting and Event Registration: Revenue from ACS Fall and Spring meetings, regional meetings, and the Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference. Average attendance of 13,000 at major meetings.
4. Educational Programs and Training: ACS Institute provides professional training courses, workshops, and educational resources for chemists and educators.
5. ACS Publications Open Access Fees: Discounts on ACS Open Access publishing fees for Premium members, generating revenue from article processing charges.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

The American Chemical Society operates a portfolio of scientific publishing, data, education, and professional development offerings for the global chemistry community. Its core offerings include 90 peer-reviewed journals (ACS Publications), the CAS SciFinder chemical substance and research database, the CAS Newton AI discovery platform, the C&EN news outlet, tiered individual membership, the ACS Institute training program, and national/regional meetings such as ACS Fall and ACS Spring.

Product overview

The American Chemical Society operates a multi-platform scientific ecosystem consisting of core publishing products (ACS Publications with peer-reviewed journals), data services (CAS division including SciFinder chemical database and CAS Newton AI discovery platform), news (C&EN), and educational resources (AACT for K-12 teachers, ChemMatters magazine, and digital learning tools). ACS also organizes major conferences (ACS Fall/Spring Meetings), provides professional development through ACS Institute, offers membership programs, and acquired ChronosHub for open access management. The organization serves the global chemistry community through these integrated products and services spanning research publishing, chemical data, education, professional development, and community engagement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ACS Publications: Peer-reviewed journals delivering trusted chemistry research worldwide.
• CAS
• C&EN
• AACT
• ACS Fall
• ACS Spring
• ACS Green Chemistry Institute
• Project SEED
• ACS Bridge Program

Products and services

• ACS Publications Portfolio of 90 peer-reviewed journals delivering trusted chemistry research worldwide to academic, corporate, and government researchers via institutional and individual subscriptions.
• CAS SciFinder Chemical substance and research database platform providing curated chemical data and search capabilities for scientific discovery, available through institutional and individual subscriptions.
• CAS Newton AI-powered scientific discovery platform that unlocks smarter discovery through advanced AI capabilities for researchers and R&D organizations.
• C&EN (Chemical & Engineering News) Independent news organization providing trusted news and insights covering the global chemistry community, including a weekly magazine and digital content.
• ACS Meetings & Expositions Large-scale national and regional chemistry meetings including ACS Fall and ACS Spring conferences, plus the Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference, drawing 13,000+ average attendees for research presentation and networking.
• ACS Institute Professional development offering courses, workshops, and training programs for chemists at all career stages, covering leadership development and technical skill building.
• ACS Membership Tiered membership program (Standard $80/yr and Premium $160/yr for regular members; student and retired tiers) providing journal access, meeting discounts, career services, networking, and C&EN digital access to individual chemistry professionals.
• AACT (American Association of Chemistry Teachers) Resources, training, and community membership organization for K-12 chemistry educators, offering teaching materials and professional development.
• ACS Donations & Support Programs Donation-supported programs funding Project SEED, College Scholarships, the ACS Bridge Program, and the U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad.
• ChronosHub Open access management platform operating as an independent subsidiary of ACS, enhancing scientific publishing workflows and supporting open science for publishers and institutions.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• ChronosHubcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 September 2023ACS acquired ChronosHub, an open access management platform, turning it into an independent subsidiary. The acquisition aims to enhance scientific publishing workflows and promote open science.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• Clarivate: Clarivate provides Web of Science, research analytics, and scholarly publishing services. Comparable as an adjacent information services provider in the scientific research ecosystem, competing indirectly with CAS in research intelligence and analytics.

Direct peers

• Wiley: Wiley publishes chemistry journals (e.g., Angewandte Chemie editions in partnership with GDCh) and operates scientific, technical, and medical book programs. Directly comparable in scholarly chemistry publishing and institutional licensing.
• American Physical Society (APS): APS is a U.S. scientific society with a peer-reviewed journal portfolio (Physical Review), membership programs, meetings, and education outreach. Comparable as a discipline-specific learned society operating publishing, membership, and conference businesses in parallel to ACS.
• Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC): RSC is the UK-based chemistry society operating a comparable model to ACS: peer-reviewed journals, ChemSpider database, conferences, membership, and education programs. The closest single-discipline peer with a similar society-based publishing structure.
• Elsevier (RELX Group): Elsevier is the world's largest scientific publisher, offering extensive chemistry journals, the Reaxys chemical database (a direct competitor to CAS SciFinder), and open access platforms. Directly comparable in scholarly publishing, chemical data services, and institutional licensing model.
• Springer Nature: Springer Nature publishes Nature, a portfolio of chemistry and life sciences journals, and operates Springer Materials. Directly comparable as a multi-disciplinary scientific publisher with strong chemistry presence and open access infrastructure via BioMed Central.
• American Institute of Physics (AIP): AIP is a federation of physical science societies publishing scholarly journals, hosting conferences, and delivering education programs. Directly comparable non-profit scientific society operating adjacent physics-focused publishing and community services.
• Thieme Chemistry: Thieme publishes chemistry and medical journals (e.g., Synlett, Synthesis) and reference works. Comparable as a chemistry-specialist publisher with journal portfolio and reference/database offerings similar to ACS Publications.

Broad incumbents

• IEEE: IEEE is one of the world's largest technical professional organizations, operating a major peer-reviewed publishing portfolio, conferences, standards, and education. Comparable as a large scientific society with integrated publishing, membership, and conference businesses, though focused on engineering/computing rather than chemistry.
• Taylor & Francis (Informa): Taylor & Francis is a large multi-disciplinary academic publisher with a chemistry journal portfolio and open access programs. Comparable as a commercial publisher with chemistry presence, broader scope, and institutional licensing reach.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/AmerChemSociety
• Facebookfacebook.com/AmericanChemicalSociety
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/american-chemical-society

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments3 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about American Chemical Society