Journal profile · Behavioral Sciences
Cortex
ISSN 0010-9452 · eISSN 1973-8102 · Masson SpA · ITALY · Bimonthly · Founded 1964
Cortex: CAS Zone 2 · Psychology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.11; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,830; median 173 days to acceptance (110 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: fairly hard (Elsevier website: 25%); 228 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE, SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Cortex is published by Masson SpA and is in Zone 2 of Psychology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism, Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies and Spatial Neglect and Hemispheric Dysfunction, together about 28.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Cognitive Neuroscience. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
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From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Behavioral Sciences
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Neurobiology of Language and BilingualismNeuroscience11.2%
- Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesNeuroscience8.9%
- Spatial Neglect and Hemispheric DysfunctionNeuroscience8.1%
- Action Observation and SynchronizationPsychology5.6%
- Hemispheric Asymmetry in NeuroscienceNeuroscience5.6%
- Visual perception and processing mechanismsNeuroscience5.3%
- Memory and Neural MechanismsNeuroscience5%
- Functional Brain Connectivity StudiesNeuroscience4.6%
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 | Behavioral Sciences | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Neurosciences | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Psychology, Experimental | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Psychology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Psychology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Behavioral Sciences | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Neurosciences | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Psychology, Experimental | Zone 2 |
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 | Behavioral Sciences | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Neurosciences | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Psychology, Experimental | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview 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
- 3.11LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.8LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.24LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.29LetPub ·
- h-index
- 101LetPub ·
- h-index
- 204OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 4,967OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.85OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 12.5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 57.02%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 202LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 7,682 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 195 | 129 | 93 |
| 2025 | 228 | 152 | 490 |
| 2024 | 262 | 189 | 1,367 |
| 2023 | 241 | 164 | 2,468 |
| 2022 | 260 | 159 | 4,022 |
| 2021 | 294 | 170 | 5,222 |
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 PubMed · to
173 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 120 days – 223 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 8 days (110 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 182 days
- Sample
- 110 articles with submission and acceptance dates (452 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)
- 4–8 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- 25%LetPub ·
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 3,830 / EUR 3,580 / GBP 3,070 / JPY 475,030 | — | — |
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
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
- Masson SpA
- Country or region
- ITALY
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Bimonthly
- Founded
- 1964
- ISSN
- 0010-9452
- Electronic ISSN
- 1973-8102
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Cortex
What CAS zone is Cortex in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Cortex is in Zone 2 of Psychology, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Behavioral Sciences / Neurosciences / Psychology, Experimental. 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 Cortex?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.11; CiteScore 5.8, h-index 204.
How long does peer review take at Cortex?
Based on the dates recorded on 110 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 173 days (interquartile range 120–223 days); authors report an average review time of 4–8 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly hard (Elsevier website: 25%)”. 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.
Which databases index Cortex?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Cortex is indexed in SCIE, SSCI and Scopus.
Is Cortex open access, and what is the APC?
Cortex is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,830.
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: .