Journal profile · BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES-NEUROSCIENCES
Brain and Behavior
ISSN 2162-3279 · John Wiley and Sons Inc. · UNITED STATES
Brain and Behavior: CAS Zone 3 · Psychology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.8; fully open access; APC about USD 3,810; median 164 days to acceptance (143 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 36% (journal website); 935 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Brain and Behavior is published by John Wiley and Sons Inc. and is in Zone 3 of Psychology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Functional Brain Connectivity Studies, Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research and Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies, together about 23.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Neurology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Brain and Behavior is an open access journal covering neurology, neuroscience, psychology, psychiatry, and any research related to mental health. We publish studies on brain function and behavior in relation to health, social, political systems, and the environment. We accept research in clinical and basic sciences, including descriptive studies, preliminary research, and work that involves reproducibility. Our goal is to support authors in publishing research while meeting high publication standards. We aim to foster collaboration among professionals and policymakers to champion evidence-based initiatives in mental health. The journal's broad scope considers submissions in areas including, but not limited to: mechanisms and treatment of psychiatric disorders and neurological diseases; behavioral and cognitive science; clinical, social, developmental, and cognitive psychology; neurosurgery, neuroimaging, and neuroimmunology; epidemiology and genetics of psychological and neurological conditions; Emerging technologies and new research methods; Planetary health-mental health disorders linked to environmental degradation; Global health and mental health; Public health and mental health. Out of scope: The journal will not consider the following studies MR: Medelian randomisation studies NHANES:National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Bibliometric studies Brain and Behavior gives rapid consideration to papers in all areas of clinical and basic research across a broad scope of topics in neuroscience, neurology, psychology, and psychiatry and any research related to mental health. Brain and Behavior features original research articles, reviews, methods papers, editorials, and commentaries. Original research papers must report well-conducted research with conclusions supported by the data presented in the paper. Limitations and results in context need to be reported. Molecular, cellular, systems and population-level research in humans and animal models are welcome. A more extensive list of keywords is listed below. Terms are sorted into two categories: "Brain" and "Behavior". Those terms most relevant to neuroscience and neurology are found under "Brain" and those terms most relevant to psychology and psychiatry, public, global and planetary health research are under "Behavior".
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES-NEUROSCIENCES
Editor-in-chief Amanda Bischoff-GrethePublisher website
Editorial board by country: 3 in mainland China (about 10%); most named United States 10, Mainland China 3, United Kingdom 3, India 3, Poland 2 (29 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Functional Brain Connectivity StudiesNeuroscience10.8%
- Dementia and Cognitive Impairment ResearchMedicine6.3%
- Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesNeuroscience6.1%
- Acute Ischemic Stroke ManagementMedicine6.1%
- Parkinson's Disease Mechanisms and TreatmentsMedicine5%
- Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation StudiesNeuroscience4.5%
- Multiple Sclerosis Research StudiesMedicine4%
- Tryptophan and brain disordersNeuroscience4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Psychology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Psychology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Behavioral Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Neurosciences | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Psychology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Psychology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Behavioral Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Neurosciences | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Psychology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Psychology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Behavioral Sciences | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Neurosciences | 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
Web of ScienceMEDLINEPMCEmbaseCASPublisher website
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
- 2.8LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2.8Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.9LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 3.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 3.9Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.88LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.93LetPub ·
- h-index
- 30LetPub ·
- h-index
- 93OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 2,244OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.59OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 892LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 895Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 2,062,823Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 5,498 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 616 | 616 | 203 |
| 2025 | 935 | 935 | 2,191 |
| 2024 | 515 | 515 | 2,956 |
| 2023 | 499 | 499 | 5,127 |
| 2022 | 406 | 406 | 6,337 |
| 2021 | 475 | 475 | 7,884 |
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
164 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 114 days – 226 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 23 days (144 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 194 days
- Sample
- 143 articles with submission and acceptance dates (1,663 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)
- about 14 weeksLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 36%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 36%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 45 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 45 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 135 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 25 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 14 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 | USD 3,810 / GBP 2,360 / EUR 2,870 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | USD 3,630 / EUR 2,730 / GBP 2,360 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 3,300 / GBP 2,150 / EUR 2,480 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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)
What to prepare8 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 300 words
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Templates
- Word
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
- Highlights
- Required
- Graphical abstract
- Required
- Cover letter
- Optional
Article types accepted10
- brief reportBrain and Behavior publishes the following types of submissions: Original Research Review Article Brief Report Commentary Data Article Editorial Method Register…Length not stated
- commentaryBrain and Behavior publishes the following types of submissions: Original Research Review Article Brief Report Commentary Data Article Editorial Method Register…Length not stated
- data articleBrain and Behavior publishes the following types of submissions: Original Research Review Article Brief Report Commentary Data Article Editorial Method Register…Length not stated
- editorialBrain and Behavior publishes the following types of submissions: Original Research Review Article Brief Report Commentary Data Article Editorial Method Register…Length not stated
- methodBrain and Behavior publishes the following types of submissions: Original Research Review Article Brief Report Commentary Data Article Editorial Method Register…Length not stated
- original researchBrain and Behavior publishes the following types of submissions: Original Research Review Article Brief Report Commentary Data Article Editorial Method Register…Length not stated
- registered reportBrain and Behavior publishes the following types of submissions: Original Research Review Article Brief Report Commentary Data Article Editorial Method Register…Length not stated
- registered report (stage 1)Brain and Behavior publishes the following types of submissions: Original Research Review Article Brief Report Commentary Data Article Editorial Method Register…Length not stated
- registered report (stage 2)Brain and Behavior publishes the following types of submissions: Original Research Review Article Brief Report Commentary Data Article Editorial Method Register…Length not stated
- review articleBrain and Behavior publishes the following types of submissions: Original Research Review Article Brief Report Commentary Data Article Editorial Method Register…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints, Self-archiving, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- AI use Disclosing the use of artificial intelligence (AI)
If you or your co-authors have used Artificial Intelligence Generated Content (AIGC) tools such as ChatGPT and others based on large language models (LLMs) to develop any portion of a manuscript, their use must be described transparently and in detail in the Methods section. Find more details on Wiley’s AI guidelines for researchers and Wiley’s AI policy in full in the Best Practices Guidelines on…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Authorship
All listed authors should have contributed to the manuscript substantially and have agreed to the final submitted version. You can review the Authorship section of Wiley’s Best Practice Guidelines on Research Integrity and Publishing Ethics for Wiley’s definition of authorship.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflicts of Interest (COIs)
A common reason for third-party complaints of published articles is an allegation that author(s) have not fully disclosed perceived conflicts of interest (COIs). Such complaints may lead to ethics investigations by the journal and publisher. Therefore, when submitting your manuscript, you should disclose any potential conflicts of interests (also referred to as “competing interests”) that might ap…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data Sharing
This journal expects data sharing. You can learn more about data sharing in Wiley’s Data Sharing Policies resource.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics COPE
This journal adheres to the ethical standards set by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) to uphold integrity in scholarly research and publishing. While COPE previously organized its guidance around "core practices," these have since been replaced with a topic-based structure to better reflect the evolving needs of the research community. You can learn more about this transition and explore…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright and licensing
This is an open access journal. Authors of accepted papers pay an Article Publication Charge (APC) and their papers are published under a Creative Commons (CC) license. For more information on this journal’s APCs and licensing policy, please visit this journal’s Open Access page. Note: Some funders require authors to use a particular type of CC license. Please check directly with your funder to de…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access
This is an open access journal. Submissions will be subject to an Article Publication Charge (APC) if accepted and published in the journal. Please read more about APCs and whether you may be eligible for waivers or discounts through your institution, your funder, or a country waiver at Wiley Author Services.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer Review Model
Transparent peer review Model summary
We follow a single-anonymized peer-review model, for applicable article types. Except where otherwise stated, manuscripts are peer reviewed by at least one anonymous reviewer and an Associate or Assistant Editor. Papers authored by Editors or Editorial Board members of the journal will be sent to Editors unaffiliated with the author or institution and monitored carefully to ensure there is no peer…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprint Policy
Preprint policy Model summary
The journal accepts articles previously published on preprint servers and does not consider this to compromise the novelty of the results. Articles based on content previously made public only on a preprint server, institutional repository, or in a thesis will be considered. The preprint should be cited. You will be asked to update any pre-publication versions with a link to the final published ar…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Self-archiving Self-Archiving definitions and policies
This journal’s standard copyright agreement allows for self-archiving of different versions of the article under specific conditions. You can learn more by reading Wiley’s self-archiving policy.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Trial registration / reporting guidelines Reporting guidelines
Authors are strongly encouraged to use appropriate reporting guidelines when preparing and submitting manuscripts, to maximize transparency and reproducibility. Our editors and reviewers are also encouraged to use them in the review process. Completed checklists should be provided in the supplementary files on submission. We particularly encourage the use of: Wiley Biological and Biomedical Scienc…
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
- John Wiley and Sons Inc.
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2162-3279
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 16, Issue 9 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Brain and Behavior
What CAS zone is Brain and Behavior in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Brain and Behavior is in Zone 3 of Psychology, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Behavioral Sciences / Neurosciences. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Psychology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Brain and Behavior?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.8; CiteScore 3.9, h-index 93.
How long does peer review take at Brain and Behavior?
Based on the dates recorded on 143 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 164 days (interquartile range 114–226 days); authors report an average review time of about 14 weeks; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 36% (2025). 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 Brain and Behavior?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 300 words; Reference style: Author–date; Templates: Word; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Optional; Highlights: Required; Graphical abstract: Required; Cover letter: 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 Brain and Behavior based?
Of the 29 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 3 (about 10%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (10), Mainland China (3) and United Kingdom (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Brain and Behavior?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Brain and Behavior is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science, MEDLINE, PMC, Embase and CAS; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Brain and Behavior open access, and what is the APC?
Brain and Behavior is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,810.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, DOAJ; 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: .