Journal profile · PSYCHOLOGY, EXPERIMENTAL
Cognitive Science
ISSN 0364-0213 · eISSN 1551-6709 · Wiley-Blackwell
Cognitive Science: CAS Zone 2 · Psychology (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 2.46; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,000; median 233 days to acceptance (90 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 15% (journal website); 173 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Cognitive Science is published by Wiley-Blackwell and is in Zone 2 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, Language, Metaphor, and Cognition and Cognitive Science and Mapping, together about 25.4% of its articles. Its main subfields are Developmental and Educational Psychology and Artificial Intelligence. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The following kinds of articles are appropriate for the journal: (a) theories or theoretical analyses of knowledge representation, cognitive processes, and brain theory; (b) experimental or ethnographic studies relevant to theoretical issues in cognitive science; (c) descriptions of intelligent programs that exhibit or model some human ability; (d) design proposals for cognitive models; (e) protocol or discourse analysis of human cognitive processing; (f) discussions of new problem areas or methodological issues in cognitive science; and (g) short theoretical notes or rebuttals. The journal will publish four categories of articles.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): PSYCHOLOGY, EXPERIMENTAL
Editorial board by country: 2 in mainland China (about 3%); most named United States 40, United Kingdom 12, Germany 4, Italy 3, Canada 3 (80 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Child and Animal Learning DevelopmentPsychology11.4%
- Language, Metaphor, and CognitionPsychology7.9%
- Cognitive Science and MappingComputer Science6.1%
- Neurobiology of Language and BilingualismNeuroscience6%
- Language and cultural evolutionSocial Sciences5%
- Natural Language Processing TechniquesComputer Science4.7%
- Reading and Literacy DevelopmentPsychology4.6%
- Language Development and DisordersPsychology4.6%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Psychology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Psychology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Psychology, Experimental | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Psychology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Psychology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Psychology, Experimental | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Psychology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Psychology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Psychology, Experimental | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
MEDLINEPubMedPsycINFODBLPCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest
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
- 2.46LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.8LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 3.8Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.98LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.21LetPub ·
- h-index
- 250OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 2,260OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.74OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 61.96%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 125LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 5,655 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 114 | 79 | 31 |
| 2025 | 173 | 115 | 228 |
| 2024 | 147 | 125 | 494 |
| 2023 | 187 | 173 | 1,698 |
| 2022 | 193 | 87 | 1,695 |
| 2021 | 173 | 124 | 2,706 |
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
233 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 186 days – 315 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 24 days (91 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 265 days
- Sample
- 90 articles with submission and acceptance dates (283 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
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 15%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 10 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Double anonymous peer reviewPublisher website
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
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 4,000 / EUR 3,300 / GBP 2,650 | — | — |
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- Submission fee
- No submission fee
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 prepare2 items from the author guidelines
- Reference style
- APA
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
Article types accepted5
- brief reportIn all cases, the word limits are intended as approximate upper bounds, excluding references. Authors are encouraged to be as concise as possible within reason …Length not stated
- case reportIn all cases, the word limits are intended as approximate upper bounds, excluding references. Authors are encouraged to be as concise as possible within reason …Length not stated
- commentaryIn all cases, the word limits are intended as approximate upper bounds, excluding references. Authors are encouraged to be as concise as possible within reason …Length not stated
- letter to the editorIn all cases, the word limits are intended as approximate upper bounds, excluding references. Authors are encouraged to be as concise as possible within reason …Length not stated
- regular articleIn all cases, the word limits are intended as approximate upper bounds, excluding references. Authors are encouraged to be as concise as possible within reason …Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Data availability, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Preprints
- AI use AI Policy
Artificial Intelligence Generated Content (AIGC) tools—such as ChatGPT and others based on large language models (LLMs)—cannot be considered capable of initiating an original piece of research without direction by human authors. They also cannot be accountable for a published work or for research design, which is a generally held requirement of authorship (as discussed in the previous section), no…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Authorship
All listed authors should have contributed to the manuscript substantially and have agreed to the final submitted version. Review editorial standards and scroll down for a description of authorship criteria.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data Sharing and Data Availability
This journal encourages data sharing. Review Wiley’s Data Sharing policy where you will be able to see and select the data availability statement that is right for your submission.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Reproduction of Copyright Material
If excerpts from copyrighted works owned by third parties are included, credit must be shown in the contribution. It is your responsibility to also obtain written permission for reproduction from the copyright owners. For more information visit Wiley’s Obtaining Permission to Reproduce Material.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access
Open Materials Policy: authors required to share materials (code, data, stimuli) for review and with final accepted versions. Model summary
This journal is a subscription journal that offers an Open Access option. You’ll have the option to make your article open access after acceptance, which will be subject to an APC unless a waiver applies. Read more about APCs here.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review 1. Submission and Peer Review Process
Double-anonymized peer review; at least two anonymous reviewers and an Associate or Assistant Editor; Editor-in-Chief screens for quality and relevance. Model summary
Once the submission materials have been prepared in accordance with the author guidelines, new submissions should be made online via the Research Exchange submission portal: https://authors.wiley.com/journal/COGS. You may check the status of your submission at any time by logging on to submission.wiley.com and clicking the "My Submissions" button. For technical help with the submission system, ple…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism IThenticate CrossCheck:
This journal uses iThenticate’s CrossCheck software to detect instances of overlapping and similar text in submitted manuscripts. Read Wiley’s Top 10 Publishing Ethics Tips for Authors and Wiley’s Publication Ethics Guidelines.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints
Preprint policy: journal accepts articles previously published on preprint servers; authors may post submitted version at any time. Model summary
This journal accepts articles previously published on preprint servers. Cognitive Science will consider for review articles previously available as preprints. You may also post the submitted version of a manuscript to a preprint server at any time.
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
- Wiley-Blackwell
- ISSN
- 0364-0213
- Electronic ISSN
- 1551-6709
- Society / sponsor
- Cognitive Science Society
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 50, Issue 9 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Cognitive Science
What CAS zone is Cognitive Science in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Cognitive Science is in Zone 2 of Psychology, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Psychology, Experimental; 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 Cognitive Science?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.46; CiteScore 3.8, h-index 250.
How long does peer review take at Cognitive Science?
Based on the dates recorded on 90 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 233 days (interquartile range 186–315 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 15%. 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 Cognitive Science?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Reference style: APA; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required. 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 Cognitive Science based?
Of the 80 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 2 (about 3%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (40), United Kingdom (12) and Germany (4). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Cognitive Science?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Cognitive Science is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists MEDLINE, PubMed, PsycINFO, DBLP and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Cognitive Science open access, and what is the APC?
Cognitive Science is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,000.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex; 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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .