Comptes Rendus Chimie have been enjoying increasing attractivity, in particular since January 1, 2020 when this journal became “Diamond Open Access”, and thus free of charge for authors and readers worldwide (no access fees, no downloading charges, no page charges). This decision triggered a very positive feed-back from our authors, referees, and readership. Another important milestone was the signature on 3 December 2025 of an agreement between the Académie des sciences and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) to mark their decision to strengthen their collaboration and co-publish the Comptes Rendus of the Académie des sciences. This initiative represents a very strong signal towards the scientific community and is part of the international open science movement, which encourages the unhindered dissemination of scientific research results, methods and products (https://www.cnrs.fr/sites/default/files/press_info/2025-12/CP%20LAcadémie%20des%20sciences%20et%20le%20CNRS%20sunissent_0.pdf).

The commitment of the CNRS, the largest French public scientific research organisation, active in all fields of knowledge, which according to the Scimago Institutions Rankings occupies the third place worldwide as a research centre and the first place at the European level, represents a major encouragement for us to continue doing our best to meet the demands of the international scientific community. To enhance the transparency of the editorial process and improve the interactions between authors and referees, we will continue to publish the anonymised exchanges between authors and referees, of course only if both parties agree, an initiative taken by C. R. Chim. in 2024 (https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/chimie/articles/10.5802/crchim.288/). Suggestions for improvements from our authors, referees, and readers are always welcome.

This journal covers all aspects of chemistry and its interfaces with life sciences, physics, and material sciences, whether of fundamental or applied nature. We publish original research articles and accounts (short reviews focused on the authors’ recent scientific contributions), preliminary communications that typically describe novel and important results, as well as historical chronicles. As always, quality will remain the only criterion on which the referees and the editors base their recommendations and decisions, respectively. More details are provided in the Instructions to authors. In addition to spontaneous submissions, thematic issues coordinated by one or many Guest Editor(s) (upon invitation or spontaneous suggestions) are particularly welcome as they meet increasing needs from our community. Providing a concise and efficient assessment of the state of the art in rapidly expanding fields of research is most welcome in view of the spectacular and often undesirable increase in the number of scientific publications.

The thematic issues published in 2025 covered very different topics, as illustrated below:

• Innovative Solutions for Biomass Resources and Wastewater Management, coordinated with enthusiasm and dedication by Professors Salah Jellali (Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman) and Mejdi Jeguirim (Université de Haute-Alsace, Mulhouse, France).
• Women Chemists in France in 2025, beautifully coordinated by Professor Janine Cossy (ESPCI Paris, PSL University, France), one of our Associate Editors. Its publication was very successfully coupled with a breakfast organised at the Académie des sciences to honour distinguished colleagues and encourage more women to consider a scientific career. Inspired by the IUPAC annual « Women Breakfast », this event was first held in 2024 and represented a « first » for the Académie des sciences.
• Fluorine Chemistry, coordinated by Professor Frédéric Leroux (University of Strasbourg, France), a well-known specialist in this field.
• Biocatalysis and Synthesis, coordinated by Dr. Juliette Martin (SEQENS, Nîmes, France) with considerable industrial experience within SEQENS, a world leader in pharmaceutical and specialty products.
• French Network on Solvation, coordinated by Dr. Francesca Ingrosso (Université de Lorraine, France), with seven articles published in 2024 and two more in 2025.

We are most grateful to our Guest Editors for their dedication and commitment and to our authors for delivering excellent contributions and meeting the deadlines. They are responsible for the success of this journal.

We rely on high-level scientific referees and knowing that they are increasingly solicited, we are particularly grateful to them for their efforts and support of Comptes Rendus Chimie. A special thank you goes to our most active referees listed in Table 1.

I am pleased to report the continuing international visibility of the publications in Comptes Rendus Chimie, in particular in the top five countries USA, China, France, Germany and Japan (data supplied by Centre Mersenne—source: Google Analytics via Elastic statistics module—Kibana, consulted on 23/12/2025).

The 15 most viewed and downloaded articles in 2025 are listed in Tables 2 and 3, respectively.

The articles (all years) that were the most cited in 2025 are listed in Table 4.

We congratulate our authors for their scientific achievements and are proud to help enhance the visibility of their work through a fully Open Access worldwide journal!

Comptes Rendus Chimie were highlighted during the Annual Symposium and Awards Ceremony of the European Academy of Sciences, which took place from 16 to 18 December 2025 at CERN in Geneva. The scientific focus this year was on the “Societal Impact of Fundamental Sciences”.

It is my pleasure to warmly thank our Associate Editors, Professors Janine Cossy and Azzedine Bousseksou, the members of the editorial board, the editorial and production staff for their support and commitment, in particular Justine Fabre (Director, Direction du patrimoine et des ressources scientifiques, Académie des sciences) and Julien Desmarets (scientific secretary).

Finally, it is also time to wish you and your families, friends and colleagues, a happy, fruitful, and scientifically most rewarding New Year. We look forward to receiving your manuscripts!

Pierre Braunstein

Editor-in-Chief

Strasbourg

braunstein@unistra.fr