Journal profile · NEUROSCIENCES
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
ISSN 1878-9293 · eISSN 1878-9307 · Elsevier BV · ENGLAND
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience: CAS Zone 2 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 4.51; fully open access; APC about USD 3,910; median 209 days to acceptance (100 articles, last 24 months); 151 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE, SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience is published by Elsevier BV and is in Zone 2 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Functional Brain Connectivity Studies, Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies and Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development, together about 30% of its articles. Its main subfields are Cognitive Neuroscience. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Official journal of Flux: The Flux Society for Developmental Cognitive NeuroscienceThe journal publishes theoretical and research papers as well as meta-analyses on human neurocognitive brain development, from infancy through childhood and adolescence and into adulthood. The focus is on studies that describe developmental change including how patterns of neurocognition change with age. We invite studies that use brain metrics and a cognitive system that directly address typical and atypical brain development. All studies should address maturational changes across age or with more than one age group alternatively integrating discussion of developmental change in the Introduction and Discussion.Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience does not accept animal studies.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): NEUROSCIENCES
Editor-in-chief Beatriz LunaPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 2%); most named United States 42, United Kingdom 6, Australia 4, Netherlands 2, Sweden 2 (61 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Functional Brain Connectivity StudiesNeuroscience13.6%
- Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesNeuroscience9.6%
- Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentPsychology6.8%
- Neural dynamics and brain functionNeuroscience4.8%
- Neuroendocrine regulation and behaviorPsychology4.1%
- Reading and Literacy DevelopmentPsychology4%
- EEG and Brain-Computer InterfacesNeuroscience4%
- Memory and Neural MechanismsNeuroscience4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Neurosciences | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Psychology, Developmental | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Psychology, Developmental | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Neurosciences | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Neurosciences | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Psychology, Developmental | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIESSCIScopusDOAJLetPub
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
- 4.51LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 4.6Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 8.2LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 8.2Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.99LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.51LetPub ·
- h-index
- 47LetPub ·
- h-index
- 129OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,170OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 5.2OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 10.9%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 134LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,813 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 152 | 152 | 56 |
| 2025 | 151 | 151 | 519 |
| 2024 | 159 | 159 | 1,827 |
| 2023 | 146 | 146 | 2,109 |
| 2022 | 130 | 130 | 3,919 |
| 2021 | 138 | 138 | 4,823 |
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
209 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 154 days – 270 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 2 days (100 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 213 days
- Sample
- 100 articles with submission and acceptance dates (345 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)
- 6–12 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 6 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 68 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 176 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 3 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 27 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 3,910 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 3,650 / EUR 3,410 / GBP 2,920 / JPY 452,710 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 3,280 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 3,910 | — | — |
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 papers1, by deadline
Publisher websiteArticle types accepted8, with length limits
- meta-analysisew empirical data; quantitative, formal meta-analyses Up to 6 printed journal pages or about 6,000 words Reviews Should provide critical accounts and comprehens…main text ≤ 6,000 words
- next-gen toolsShould thoroughly describe either new methodological approaches, analytical techniques, best practices, or understandings that are directly relevant to empirica…Length not stated
- registered reportAre designed to minimize publication and research bias in hypothesis- driven research, describe hypotheses, methods, and proposed analyses of a pre-registered r…Length not stated
- registered reports (rrs)Are designed to minimize publication and research bias in hypothesis- driven research, describe hypotheses, methods, and proposed analyses of a pre-registered r…Length not stated
- research papersreports new empirical data; quantitative, formal meta-analyses Up to 6 printed journal pages or about 6,000 wordsLength not stated
- reviewShould provide critical accounts and comprehensive surveys of topics of major current interest within the scope of the journal, and are limited to 10,000 words.main text ≤ 10,000 words
- reviewsShould provide critical accounts and comprehensive surveys of topics of major current interest within the scope of the journal, and are limited to 10,000 words.Length not stated
- surveyide critical accounts and comprehensive surveys of topics of major current interest within the scope of the journal, and are limited to 10,000 words. Next-Gen T…main text ≤ 10,000 words
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- AI use Declaration of generative AI use
Authors must declare the use of generative AI tools in the manuscript preparation process upon submission of the paper.Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies (“AI tools”) have been rapidly adopted in research and scholarly publishing, offering significant benefits while requiring clear standards for responsible and transparent use.Authors preparing a manuscript for this journal may use AI tool…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Group authorship
Group authorship refers to the attribution of an article to a defined and named group of authors whose members have contributed to the work. Examples include research consortia, clinical trial groups, collaborative networks, task forces or working groups, expert panels or consensus groups, and participatory research groups. Group authorship must be declared on the title page at submission. When av…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Declaration of competing interests
All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence or bias their work. Examples of potential competing interests include:EmploymentConsultanciesStock ownershipHonorariaPaid expert testimonyPatent applications or registrationsGrants or any other fundingAffiliation with the journal as an Editor or Advisory Board …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics
Publishing ethics policy Model summary
Authors must follow ethical guidelines stated in Elsevier's Publishing Ethics Policy.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright License options
Authors will be offered open access user license options which will determine how you, and third parties, can reuse your open access article. We advise that you review these options and any funding body license requirements before selecting a license option.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access
Open access options available Model summary
We refer you to our open access information page to learn about open access options for this journal.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review
Single anonymized review process Model summary
This journal follows a single anonymized review process. Your submission will initially be assessed by our editors. If your submission is deemed suitable, it will typically be sent to be reviewed by a minimum of two reviewers for an independent expert assessment of the scientific quality. The decision as to whether your article is accepted or rejected for publication will be made by our editors.Re…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
Preprint sharing allowed Model summary
Preprint sharingAuthors may share preprints in line with Elsevier's article sharing policy. Sharing preprints, such as on a preprint server, will not count as prior publication.We advise you to read our policy on multiple, redundant or concurrent publication. In support of Open Science, this journal offers its authors a free preprint posting service on SSRN, Elsevier’s preprint and early research …
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
- Elsevier BV
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1878-9293
- Electronic ISSN
- 1878-9307
- Society / sponsor
- Flux
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- 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 Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
What CAS zone is Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience is in Zone 2 of Medicine, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Neurosciences / Psychology, Developmental; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Medicine. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 4.51; CiteScore 8.2, h-index 129.
How long does peer review take at Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience?
Based on the dates recorded on 100 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 209 days (interquartile range 154–270 days); authors report an average review time of 6–12 weeks. 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience based?
Of the 61 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 2%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (42), United Kingdom (6) and Australia (4). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience is indexed in SCIE, SSCI, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience open access, and what is the APC?
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,910.
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: .