Journal profile · NEUROSCIENCES
Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience
ISSN 1663-3563 · FRONTIERS MEDIA SA · SWITZERLAND
Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 6.83; fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 55 days to acceptance (45 articles, last 24 months); 14 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience is published by FRONTIERS MEDIA SA and is in Zone 4 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research, Neural dynamics and brain function and Photoreceptor and optogenetics research, together about 44.9% of its articles. Its main subfields are Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience is a multidisciplinary neuroscience journal publishing research that advances our understanding of synaptic structure: its function, plasticity, and alterations in diseases. Led by Specialty Chief Editor Prof. Dirk Feldmeyer (Julich Research Centre, Germany) and indexed in PubMed Central (PMC), Scopus, and the DOAJ, the journal publishes articles on synaptic transmission and plasticity in all relevant areas. Topics of interest include but are not limited to: biochemical, biophysical, and structural mechanisms involved in forming, maintaining, and altering synaptic properties molecular composition of synapses synaptic basis of neuropathology techniques to interrogate synaptic function, such as those based on electrophysiology, optics, genetics, etc. the ultrastructure, physiology, and biophysics of synaptic transmission. In particular, the journal welcomes submissions which support and advance the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), notably SDG 3: good health and wellbeing, ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all, at all ages. Manuscripts that focus solely on theory or computer modeling are not suitable for publication in this journal. Frontiers’ journals require that manuscripts primarily comprising computational studies of public data, must include appropriate validation. Please refer to the Frontiers Standards for research methodology policy, for more information. Manuscripts not adhering to these standards will not be considered. Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience is committed to advancing developments in the field of synaptic neuroscience allowing unrestricted access to articles and communicating scientific knowledge to researchers and the public alike, to enable scientific breakthroughs of the future. Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): NEUROSCIENCES
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 6, France 3, Argentina 3, United Kingdom 1, Germany 1 (17 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology ResearchNeuroscience26.4%
- Neural dynamics and brain functionNeuroscience11.6%
- Photoreceptor and optogenetics researchNeuroscience7%
- Cellular transport and secretionBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.3%
- Memory and Neural MechanismsNeuroscience4.8%
- Neuroscience and Neural EngineeringNeuroscience4.8%
- Advanced Memory and Neural ComputingEngineering4.2%
- Lipid Membrane Structure and BehaviorBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.1%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Neurosciences | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Neurosciences | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | 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 SciencePMCEmbasePsycINFOPublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, CLOCKSS, Crossref
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
- 6.83LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 6.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 9.9LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 9.9Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 2.05LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.36LetPub ·
- h-index
- 70OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 381OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.84OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 1.4%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 14LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 580 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 32 | 32 | 17 |
| 2025 | 14 | 14 | 45 |
| 2024 | 12 | 12 | 45 |
| 2023 | 45 | 45 | 960 |
| 2022 | 78 | 78 | 1,172 |
| 2021 | 71 | 71 | 1,638 |
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
55 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 35 days – 89 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 20 days (45 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 73 days
- Sample
- 45 articles with submission and acceptance dates (45 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 ·
- 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 | CHF 3,150 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | CHF 3,150 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 3,295 | Yes | — |
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 prepare4 items from the author guidelines
- Keywords
- 5–8
- Reference style
- Harvard
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
- Not considered
- section titles; funding statement; acknowledgments
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Conflicts of interest, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- AI use Use of AI to create written or visual content
Authors should not list a generative AI technology as a co-author or author of any submitted manuscript. Generative AI technologies cannot be held accountable for all aspects of a manuscript and consequently do not meet the criteria required for authorship. If the author of a submitted manuscript has used written or visual content produced by or edited using a generative AI technology, this use mu…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Safeguards against financial conflicts of interest
Only leading researchers acting as Associate Editors, who are not part of Frontiers' staff, can make acceptance decisions based on reviews performed by external experts acting as Community Reviewers or Reviewers. None have a financial incentive to accept articles, i.e. they are not paid for their role as Associate Editor or community Reviewer, and any award scheme is not linked to acceptances of m…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Open access and copyright
All Frontiers' articles from July 2012 onwards are published with open access under the Creative Commons CC-BY license (the current version is CC-BY, version 4.0). This means that the author(s) retains copyright, but the content is free to download, distribute, and adapt for commercial or non-commercial purposes, given appropriate attribution to the original article. Upon submission, the author(s)…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access and copyright
All Frontiers' articles from July 2012 onwards are published with open access under the Creative Commons CC-BY license (the current version is CC-BY, version 4.0). This means that the author(s) retains copyright, but the content is free to download, distribute, and adapt for commercial or non-commercial purposes, given appropriate attribution to the original article. Upon submission, the author(s)…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review
Our rigorous, transparent peer review process combines expert review and constructive dialogue to strengthen your manuscript.
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
- FRONTIERS MEDIA SA
- Country or region
- SWITZERLAND
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1663-3563
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- 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 ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience
What CAS zone is Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Neurosciences. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Medicine. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 6.83; CiteScore 9.9, h-index 70.
How long does peer review take at Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience?
Based on the dates recorded on 45 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 55 days (interquartile range 35–89 days); authors report an average review time of about 14 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.
What are the manuscript requirements of Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Keywords: 5–8; Reference style: Harvard; Templates: LaTeX and Word. 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 Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience based?
Of the 17 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (6), France (3) and Argentina (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science, PMC, Embase and PsycINFO; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience open access, and what is the APC?
Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, Publisher website, 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: .