Journal profile · Behavioral Sciences
Behavioral and Brain Sciences
ISSN 0140-525X · eISSN 1469-1825 · Cambridge University Press · ENGLAND · Bimonthly · Founded 1978
Behavioral and Brain Sciences: CAS Zone 1 · Psychology (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 5.9; subscription journal; community-reported acceptance: hard; 199 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE, SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Behavioral and Brain Sciences is published by Cambridge University Press and is in Zone 1 of Psychology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Child and Animal Learning Development, Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation and Neural dynamics and brain function, together about 24.6% of its articles. Its main subfields are Cognitive Neuroscience. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Behavioral and Brain Sciences ( BBS) is an internationally renowned journal with an innovative format known as Open Peer Commentary. Particularly significant and controversial pieces of work are published from researchers in any area of psychology, neuroscience, behavioral biology or cognitive science, together with 20-40 commentaries on each article from specialists within and across these disciplines, plus the author's response to them. The result is a fascinating and unique forum for the communication, criticism, stimulation, and particularly the unification of research in behavioral and brain sciences from molecular neurobiology to artificial intelligence and the philosophy of the mind.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Behavioral Sciences
Editor-in-chief Paul BloomPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 8, United Kingdom 3, Canada 1 (12 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Child and Animal Learning DevelopmentPsychology10.2%
- Evolutionary Game Theory and CooperationSocial Sciences7.5%
- Neural dynamics and brain functionNeuroscience6.9%
- Language and cultural evolutionSocial Sciences6.4%
- Evolutionary Psychology and Human BehaviorPsychology5.4%
- Action Observation and SynchronizationPsychology5.1%
- Philosophy and History of ScienceArts and Humanities4.7%
- Memory and Neural MechanismsNeuroscience4.4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Psychology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Psychology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Behavioral Sciences | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Neurosciences | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Psychology, Biological | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Psychology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Psychology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Psychology, Biological | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Behavioral Sciences | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Neurosciences | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Psychology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Psychology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Behavioral Sciences | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Neurosciences | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Psychology, Biological | Zone 1 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIESSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
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
- 5.9LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 2.5LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.6LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.61LetPub ·
- h-index
- 148LetPub ·
- h-index
- 304OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 3,052OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.99OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 4.9%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 0%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 18LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 17,306 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 415 | 47 | 18 |
| 2025 | 199 | 30 | 283 |
| 2024 | 202 | 40 | 510 |
| 2023 | 405 | 93 | 758 |
| 2022 | 318 | 64 | 2,561 |
| 2021 | 209 | 40 | 1,295 |
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
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- HardLetPub ·
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
Subscription journalLetPub
A subscription journal: articles are read by subscription or purchase, and authors usually pay no publication charge.
No source has fee information yet; check the journal's website.
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Bimonthly
- Founded
- 1978
- ISSN
- 0140-525X
- Electronic ISSN
- 1469-1825
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Behavioral and Brain Sciences
What CAS zone is Behavioral and Brain Sciences in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Behavioral and Brain Sciences is in Zone 1 of Psychology, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Behavioral Sciences / Neurosciences / Psychology, Biological; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Psychology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Behavioral and Brain Sciences?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 5.9; CiteScore 2.5, h-index 304.
Where are the editorial board members of Behavioral and Brain Sciences based?
Of the 12 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (8), United Kingdom (3) and Canada (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Behavioral and Brain Sciences?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Behavioral and Brain Sciences is indexed in SCIE, SSCI and Scopus.
Is Behavioral and Brain Sciences open access, and what is the APC?
Behavioral and Brain Sciences is a subscription journal. Fee information is not available yet; check the journal's website.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, 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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .