Journal rankings · indicator year 2021
Choose a field to open its ranking, or a journal to find its row in its subfield’s list.
Field ranking · 2021
Neuroscience journal rankings 2021
344 ranked journals · Field in Life Sciences
Neuroscience has 344 ranked journals in 2021. The median OJR fell 0.08 on 2020 to 0.93, below the world average of 1.00; Q1 starts at OJR 1.38. The top three are Nature Neuroscience, Nature Human Behaviour, and Psychological Science.
Ranks and citation indicators: 2021. Journal access status and listed APC: source snapshot September 23, 2026.
Journals whose main subfield sits in this category and that published at least 30 citable documents (articles, reviews and conference papers) in 2018–2020, the window the 2021 score is computed on.
The OpenJournalRank Indicator (OJR) is a free, publicly available metric of a journal’s field-normalized citation impact, computed from open OpenAlex citation data. It compares citations to a journal’s papers from the previous three years with the world average for papers of the same subfield, year and type, so 1.00 is the world average and values can be compared across fields. It is computed with the NCI3 method.
The middle OJR among ranked journals in this category: half score higher, half lower. 1.00 is the world average for papers of the same subfield, year and type.
The dot is this category, the solid tick is the median of all ranked journals and the dashed line is the world average.
Share of ranked journals in this category that are fully open access, so every paper is free to read. Hybrid journals, which sell subscriptions and open single papers for a fee, are not counted.
Median list price of the article processing charge, in US dollars, among ranked journals in this category that list a price above zero. Journals with a listed APC of $0 and journals with no known price are left out of this median. The At a glance table below gives a second median that includes the $0 prices.
Subfields in Neuroscience (8)
Up to Life Sciences344 ranked journals
Filters
Rank is the position by OJR within the list on screen; 1 is the highest. | OJR is field-normalized 3-year citation impact: 1.00 is the world average for papers of the same subfield, year and type, so values compare across fields. The badge is the journal’s quartile in this list. | Citations per paper over a two-year window, counted from OpenAlex. It is not field-normalized, so compare it only between journals of the same field. ▲ or ▼ is the change from 2020. This is OpenJournalRank’s own count, not Clarivate’s Journal Impact Factor. | Citable documents (articles, reviews and conference papers) published in 2018–2020, the window the 2021 OJR is computed on. A journal needs at least 30 to be ranked. | Share of the journal’s 2018–2020 papers that are free to read in any open-access form. The green OA tag next to a title marks a fully open-access journal. | List price of the article processing charge in US dollars. “$0 listed” means the listed price is zero; a dash means no price is listed. | The line is the journal’s OJR from 2012 to 2021. | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1Nature NeuroscienceNature Portfolio · United States | 7.44Q1 | 25.60 2.86 up from 2020 | 632 | 62% | $12,690 | ||
2Nature Human BehaviourNature Portfolio · United Kingdom | 6.47Q1 | 18.67 10.03 up from 2020 | 630 | 56% | $12,690 | ||
3Psychological ScienceSAGE Publishing · United States | 4.57Q1 | 12.10 1.59 up from 2020 | 454 | 58% | $3,900 | ||
4Current Directions in Psychological ScienceSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 4.53Q1 | 9.62 0.94 down from 2020 | 245 | 46% | $3,900 | ||
5Brain Behavior and ImmunityElsevier BV · United States | 3.91Q1 | 18.34 12.28 up from 2020 | 1,095 | 38% | $5,680 | ||
6NeuronCell Press · United States | 3.88Q1 | 13.15 0.29 down from 2020 | 1,465 | 100% | $10,400 | ||
7Psychological ReviewAmerican Psychological Association · United States | 3.76Q1 | 8.98 1.06 down from 2020 | 134 | 50% | — | ||
8Annual Review of PsychologyAnnual Reviews · United States | 3.34Q1 | 24.52 1.80 down from 2020 | 84 | 60% | — | ||
9Molecular PsychiatrySpringer Nature · United Kingdom | 3.24Q1 | 11.77 0.10 up from 2020 | 838 | 76% | $5,490 | ||
10Behavior Research MethodsSpringer Science+Business Media · United States | 3.15Q1 | 8.16 1.14 up from 2020 | 490 | 98% | $3,990 | ||
11Brain InformaticsOASpringer Science+Business Media · Germany | 3.11Q1 | 8.54 0.41 up from 2020 | 44 | 100% | $1,090 | ||
12npj Science of LearningOANature Portfolio · United Kingdom | 3.03Q1 | 7.32 1.43 up from 2020 | 61 | 100% | $2,690 | ||
13Journal of Pineal ResearchWiley · Denmark | 2.99Q1 | 9.61 1.39 down from 2020 | 223 | 44% | $5,000 | ||
14Journal of NeuroinflammationOABioMed Central · United Kingdom | 2.92Q1 | 10.51 1.24 up from 2020 | 991 | 100% | $4,090 | ||
15Frontiers in NeuroendocrinologyElsevier BV · United States | 2.85Q1 | 8.52 2.60 down from 2020 | 131 | 43% | $4,800 | ||
16Progress in NeurobiologyElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 2.84Q1 | 8.05 2.45 down from 2020 | 249 | 56% | $5,190 | ||
17Health Information Science and SystemsSpringer Nature · United Kingdom | 2.79Q1 | 8.23 3.40 up from 2020 | 87 | 100% | $2,590 | ||
18Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Cognitive ScienceWiley · United States | 2.79Q1 | 6.19 1.43 up from 2020 | 71 | 37% | $4,150 | ||
19Nature reviews. NeuroscienceNature Portfolio · United Kingdom | 2.75Q1 | 14.07 0.76 down from 2020 | 435 | 29% | — | ||
20Journal of Experimental Psychology GeneralAmerican Psychological Association | 2.58Q1 | 5.78 0.04 down from 2020 | 478 | 36% | — | ||
21Molecular AutismOABioMed Central · United Kingdom | 2.56Q1 | 7.72 1.35 down from 2020 | 218 | 100% | $3,990 | ||
22Translational PsychiatryOASpringer Nature · United States | 2.52Q1 | 9.44 1.64 up from 2020 | 1,018 | 100% | $5,290 | ||
23Developmental Cognitive NeuroscienceOAElsevier BV · Netherlands | 2.51Q1 | 5.56 3.17 down from 2020 | 325 | 100% | $3,650 | ||
24British Journal of PsychologyWiley · United Kingdom | 2.47Q1 | 5.98 1.17 up from 2020 | 152 | 46% | $3,800 | ||
25Trends in Cognitive SciencesElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 2.44Q1 | 14.65 0.21 up from 2020 | 425 | 56% | $7,030 | ||
26Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain SciencesSAGE Publishing · United States | 2.41Q1 | 4.35 1.06 up from 2020 | 73 | 43% | $3,400 | ||
27Journal of CognitionOAUbiquity Press · United Kingdom | 2.30Q1 | 5.38 0.77 down from 2020 | 119 | 100% | $1,240 | ||
28Annals of the New York Academy of SciencesWiley · United States | 2.26Q1 | 6.45 0.29 up from 2020 | 776 | 41% | $5,080 | ||
29Current BiologyElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 2.25Q1 | 6.62 0.18 down from 2020 | 2,900 | 99% | $7,030 | ||
30NeuropsychopharmacologySpringer Nature · United States | 2.21Q1 | 6.84 0.08 down from 2020 | 893 | 100% | $5,290 | ||
31Neurobiology of StressOAElsevier BV · Netherlands | 2.20Q1 | 7.66 0.59 down from 2020 | 183 | 100% | $4,050 | ||
32Biological PsychiatryElsevier BV · United States | 2.19Q1 | 6.46 0.29 down from 2020 | 972 | 19% | $5,489 | ||
33Cognitive PsychologyElsevier BV · United States | 2.15Q1 | 5.29 0.32 down from 2020 | 95 | 45% | $3,570 | ||
34Fluids and Barriers of the CNSOABioMed Central · United Kingdom | 2.14Q1 | 7.86 0.76 down from 2020 | 138 | 100% | $3,390 | ||
35Journal of Memory and LanguageElsevier BV · United States | 2.13Q1 | 5.49 1.91 up from 2020 | 188 | 47% | $4,670 | ||
36NeuroImageOAElsevier BV · United States | 2.08Q1 | 6.94 0.35 up from 2020 | 2,877 | 100% | $3,540 | ||
37CognitionElsevier BV · Netherlands | 2.07Q1 | 4.38 0.91 down from 2020 | 796 | 57% | $3,910 | ||
38Neuroscience & Biobehavioral ReviewsElsevier BV · United States | 2.03Q1 | 8.95 0.59 down from 2020 | 967 | 61% | $4,860 | ||
39AutismSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 2.02Q1 | 7.38 1.70 up from 2020 | 413 | 57% | $3,900 | ||
40GliaWiley · United States | 1.95Q1 | 7.29 0.58 up from 2020 | 538 | 62% | $5,450 | ||
41Cognitive Research Principles and ImplicationsOASpringer Nature · Switzerland | 1.95Q1 | 4.78 0.08 up from 2020 | 164 | 100% | $1,990 | ||
42Topics in Cognitive ScienceWiley · United States | 1.94Q1 | 3.13 0.60 down from 2020 | 194 | 72% | $3,470 | ||
43Trends in Neuroscience and EducationElsevier BV · Netherlands | 1.89Q1 | 5.36 1.27 up from 2020 | 54 | 47% | $3,880 | ||
44Bioelectronic MedicineOABioMed Central · United Kingdom | 1.89Q1 | 6.60 2.63 up from 2020 | 55 | 100% | $2,590 | ||
45Journal of NeuroscienceSociety for Neuroscience · United States | 1.88Q1 | 6.21 0.18 down from 2020 | 2,463 | 100% | — | ||
46Frontiers in Cellular NeuroscienceOAFrontiers Media · Switzerland | 1.86Q1 | 6.85 0.51 up from 2020 | 1,530 | 100% | $3,801 | ||
47Psychonomic Bulletin & ReviewSpringer Science+Business Media · United States | 1.83Q1 | 5.35 0.34 up from 2020 | 419 | 96% | $3,790 | ||
48The NeuroscientistSAGE Publishing · United States | 1.78Q1 | 4.70 0.71 down from 2020 | 172 | 36% | $4,400 | ||
49Human Brain MappingOAWiley · United States | 1.78Q1 | 5.70 0.37 up from 2020 | 1,160 | 100% | $3,520 | ||
50Frontiers in NeuroscienceOAFrontiers Media · Switzerland | 1.77Q1 | 6.06 0.41 up from 2020 | 3,739 | 100% | $3,801 |
Citations made in 2021. Corpus-wide, 87.7% of core-journal articles and reviews published that year have at least one matched reference; the share varies by journal and field.
81 additional Neuroscience journals with metrics are unranked under this release’s eligibility rules: a journal needs at least 30 citable documents in 2018–2020, at least 80% of them with a subfield, and a positive world-average expectation. Ranks are within the whole category; filters hide rows without re-ranking. OJR excludes self-citations.
At a glance
Indicator year: 2021. Publication window: 2018–2020. How these summaries are calculated
- Ranked journals
- 344
- Window papers (baseline)
- 201,253 +8.9% from indicator year 2018
- Median OJR
- 0.93 -8.8% from indicator year 2018
- Rising journals (2025)
- 30Comparison-group list (30)
Window papers are the baseline paper population: citable papers (articles, reviews and conference papers) from 2018–2020 in all journals of the world-average baseline, including non-core journals, counted by each paper’s own subfield. They are not the papers of the ranked journals alone.
| Measure | Year series | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranked journals | 196 | 201 | 210 | 220 | 223 | 230 | 231 | 238 | 242 | 248 | 266 | 276 | 290 | 292 | 295 | 306 | 314 | 319 | 321 | 328 | 332 | 344 | 352 | 356 | 360 | 355 | |
| Window papers (baseline) | 92,779 | 97,762 | 100,667 | 104,810 | 108,324 | 115,003 | 120,244 | 126,308 | 131,531 | 143,118 | 150,842 | 164,012 | 167,583 | 173,307 | 175,900 | 181,549 | 185,572 | 184,543 | 184,806 | 187,130 | 193,371 | 201,253 | 210,793 | 215,142 | 216,969 | 218,119 | |
| Median OJR | 0.79 | 0.84 | 0.889 | 0.91 | 0.924 | 0.998 | 1.04 | 0.9996 | 1.024 | 1.094 | 1.146 | 1.136 | 1.16 | 1.150 | 1.141 | 1.086 | 1.083 | 1.076 | 1.022 | 1.06 | 1.01 | 0.93 | 0.918 | 0.90 | 0.890 | 0.86 |
| Measure | Category statistic | Eligible population |
|---|---|---|
| Journal self-citation share | Median: 3.2% | 293 journals |
| Retracted papers per 1,000 | Pooled rate: 0.951 per 1,000 | 257 journals |
| Output growth | Median: -9.4% | 327 journals |
| Open access share | Median: 68.0% | 355 journals |
| Listed APC (USD) | Median including $0 listed prices: $3,555 | 226 ranked journals with a known listed price, including $0 listed prices |
| International collaboration share | Median: 27.0% | 344 journals |
| Review share | Median: 1.4% | 355 journals |
| Articles-only OJR | Median: 0.86 | 349 journals |
| Uncited share | Median: 27.2% | 355 journals |
| Citation concentration | Median: 43.1% | 355 journals |
How to read these rankings
- OJR, the OpenJournalRank Indicator
- A field-normalized 3-year citation impact, computed from OpenAlex with the NCI3 method. It divides the citations a journal’s papers received by the world average for papers of the same subfield, year and type, so 1.00 is the world average and 2.00 means twice as many citations as expected. Because it is normalized, it can be compared across fields. Read the methodology
- Quartiles
- Q1 to Q4 split the ranked journals of the list you are viewing into four equal groups by OJR. A journal’s quartile depends on the list: the same journal can be Q1 in its subfield and Q2 among all journals.
- Impact factor (2-year)
- Citations per paper over a two-year window, counted from OpenAlex. It is easy to compare with familiar impact factors but is not field-normalized, so compare it only within a field. It is not Clarivate’s Journal Impact Factor. Why it differs from the Journal Impact Factor
- Rank ranges
- Each rank in the latest year carries a likely range from 1,000 resamples of the journal’s papers. Where two journals’ ranges overlap, the data cannot tell them apart, so treat neighbouring ranks as ties.