Journal profile · Clinical Neurology
Acta Neurochirurgica
ISSN 0001-6268 · eISSN 0942-0940 · Springer Vienna · AUSTRIA · Monthly · Founded 1950
Acta Neurochirurgica: CAS Zone 3 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.87; fully open access; APC about USD 3,990; median 79 days to acceptance (96 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: easy; 339 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Acta Neurochirurgica is published by Springer Vienna and is in Zone 3 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Intracranial Aneurysms: Treatment and Complications, Meningioma and schwannoma management and Traumatic Brain Injury and Neurovascular Disturbances, together about 28.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Neurology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Acta Neurochirurgica publishes only original papers that are useful for both research and clinical practice. Articles should focus on clinical neurosurgery - including diagnosis and diagnostic techniques, operative surgery and outcomes, and postoperative treatment, or on research in neuroscience where the underlying questions or results are of neurosurgical relevance. The journal is quality-focused, ensuring that all published work meets the highest scientific and ethical standards. In addition to original research, Acta Neurochirurgica is committed to publishing clinically relevant, practice-oriented content, including “How I Do It” articles that provide practical insights and guidance for neurosurgeons in their daily work.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Clinical Neurology
Editor-in-chief Tiit IllmarPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 2 in mainland China (about 2%); most named United States 23, Germany 15, Switzerland 11, United Kingdom 5, Netherlands 5 (104 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Intracranial Aneurysms: Treatment and ComplicationsMedicine9.7%
- Meningioma and schwannoma managementMedicine9.4%
- Traumatic Brain Injury and Neurovascular DisturbancesMedicine9.1%
- Cerebrospinal fluid and hydrocephalusNeuroscience8.6%
- Glioma Diagnosis and TreatmentMedicine6.6%
- Vascular Malformations Diagnosis and TreatmentMedicine5.6%
- Head and Neck Surgical OncologyMedicine5.6%
- Neurosurgical Procedures and ComplicationsMedicine4.8%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Surgery | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Clinical Neurology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Clinical Neurology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Surgery | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Surgery | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Clinical Neurology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
MEDLINEEmbaseCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS, Semantic Scholar
As the journal's website lists them, not checked against each database; for Web of Science editions the records above apply.
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor
- 1.87LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.9Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.5LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.68LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.96LetPub ·
- h-index
- 85LetPub ·
- h-index
- 150OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 7,466OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.57OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5.3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 53.9%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 316LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 1,600,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 14,403 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 282 | 282 | 80 |
| 2025 | 339 | 339 | 679 |
| 2024 | 512 | 238 | 2,153 |
| 2023 | 421 | 166 | 2,440 |
| 2022 | 381 | 167 | 3,413 |
| 2021 | 414 | 190 | 4,919 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
Review time from article dates manuscript dates registered with Crossref · to
79 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 51 days – 107 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 13 days (96 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 95 days
- Sample
- 96 articles with submission and acceptance dates (747 in the window); the latest was accepted on
Only articles that were accepted and published are counted, not the time spent on rejected manuscripts, so this usually runs longer than a publisher's "time to first decision".
Other sources
- Average review time (community reports)
- 3–6 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 8 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 15 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer reviewDOAJ
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Fully open accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | EUR 3,090 / USD 3,990 / GBP 2,590 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 3,990 / EUR 3,090 / GBP 2,590 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | No APC | — | — |
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- Page charges
- Charged; see the journal's website for the amount
- Submission fee
- Charged; see the journal's website for the amount
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
Open calls for papers2, by deadline
Publisher websiteWhat to prepare6 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- 150–250 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 4
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 5,000 words
- Reference style
- Numbered, in order of citation
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
Article types accepted7, with length limits
- case reportA checklist is provided to aid authors in preparing a manuscript that meets the standards of the journal. It is suggested that the completed checklist be upload…main text ≤ 1,500 words
- editorialSingle-blind peer review This journal follows a single-blind reviewing procedure. This journal also publishes special/guest-edited issues. The peer review proce…Length not stated
- mini reviewd for further work should be presented. Mini Reviews Articles should not exceed 5000 words, including an abstract of no more than 350 words, referencemain text ≤ 5,000 words
- original research articleA checklist is provided to aid authors in preparing a manuscript that meets the standards of the journal. It is suggested that the completed checklist be upload…Length not stated
- original research paperA checklist is provided to aid authors in preparing a manuscript that meets the standards of the journal. It is suggested that the completed checklist be upload…Length not stated
- review articleA checklist is provided to aid authors in preparing a manuscript that meets the standards of the journal. It is suggested that the completed checklist be upload…Length not stated
- surveyA checklist is provided to aid authors in preparing a manuscript that meets the standards of the journal. It is suggested that the completed checklist be upload…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, Open access, Peer review, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- AI use Generative AI Images
Please check Springer’s policy on generative AI images and make sure your work adheres to the principles described therein. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Authorship principles
These guidelines describe authorship principles and good authorship practices to which prospective authors should adhere to. Authorship clarified The Journal and Publisher assume all authors agreed with the content and that all gave explicit consent to submit and that they obtained consent from the responsible authorities at the institute/organization where the work has been carried out, before th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflict of interest
Authors must indicate whether or not they have a financial relationship with the organization that sponsored the research. This note should be added in a separate section before the reference list. If no conflict exists, authors should state: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability statements
All original research must include a data availability statement. This statement should explain how to access data supporting the results and analysis in the article, including links/citations to publicly archived datasets analysed or generated during the study. Please see our full policy here. If it is not possible to share research data publicly, for instance when individual privacy could be com…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Ethical standards
Manuscripts submitted for publication must contain a statement to the effect that all human and animal studies have been approved by the appropriate ethics committee and have therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. It should also be stated clearly in the text that all persons gave their informed conse…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publishing
To find out more about publishing your work Open Access in Acta Neurochirurgica, including information on fees, funding and licences, visit our Open access publishing page. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Single-blind peer review
This journal follows a single-blind reviewing procedure. This journal also publishes special/guest-edited issues. The peer review process for these articles is the same as the peer review process of the journal in general. Additionally, if a guest editor authors an article in their issue/collection, they will not handle the peer review process.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Trial registration / reporting guidelines Clinical Trial Registration
The World Health Organization (WHO) definition of a clinical trial is "any research study that prospectively assigns human participants or groups of humans to one or more health-related interventions to evaluate the effects on health outcomes". The WHO defines health interventions as “A health intervention is an act performed for, with or on behalf of a person or population whose purpose is to ass…
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Springer Vienna
- Country or region
- AUSTRIA
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Founded
- 1950
- ISSN
- 0001-6268
- Electronic ISSN
- 0942-0940
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗DOAJ
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗DOAJ
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Acta Neurochirurgica
What CAS zone is Acta Neurochirurgica in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Acta Neurochirurgica is in Zone 3 of Medicine, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Surgery / Clinical Neurology. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Medicine. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Acta Neurochirurgica?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.87; CiteScore 3.5, h-index 150.
How long does peer review take at Acta Neurochirurgica?
Based on the dates recorded on 96 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 79 days (interquartile range 51–107 days); authors report an average review time of 3–6 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Easy”. Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
What are the manuscript requirements of Acta Neurochirurgica?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 150–250 words; Keywords: ≥ 4; Manuscript length: ≤ 5,000 words; Reference style: Numbered, in order of citation; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Optional. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Where are the editorial board members of Acta Neurochirurgica based?
Of the 104 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 2 (about 2%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (23), Germany (15) and Switzerland (11). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Acta Neurochirurgica?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Acta Neurochirurgica is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists MEDLINE, Embase and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Acta Neurochirurgica open access, and what is the APC?
Acta Neurochirurgica is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,990.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, DOAJ, Publisher website; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-24). Last updated: .