The polymerization of acrylonitrile (AN) using the Ce(IV)-citric acid (CA) redox system as an initiator in aqueous nitric acid solution, in the presence of an anionic surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), has been kinetically studied at a temperature range of 25-45 degrees C. The rate of polymerization (R(p)) and disappearance of Ce(IV) (-R(Ce)) increase with increasing concentration of SDS, above its critical micelle concentration (cmc), when the surfactant molecules are organized. R(p) was found to be proportional to [AN](1.5) and [CA](0.5). With other organic substrates, R(p) follows the increasing order of sorbitol greater than or equal to mannitol > glycerol > CA. But it was found to decrease considerably in the presence of cationic surfactant (CTAB), and nonionic surfactant (Triton-X-100) had no effect on the rate. -R(Ce) varies linearly with [Ce(IV)] and [CA]. Both R(p) and -R(Ce) increase with increasing temperature. The overall activation energy was found to be 18.31 and 13.72 kcal/mol in the absence and presence of 0.015M SDS, respectively. The chain length of the polyacrylonitrile has also increased with increasing SDS concentration.