Journal profile · Developmental Biology
Neural Development
ISSN 1749-8104 · eISSN 3005-1827 · BioMed Central · ENGLAND · Monthly · Founded 2006
Neural Development: CAS Zone 2 · Biology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.29; diamond open access (no APC); no APC; median 128 days to acceptance (13 articles, last 24 months); indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Neural Development is published by BioMed Central and is in Zone 2 of Biology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Developmental Biology and Gene Regulation, Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms and Axon Guidance and Neuronal Signaling, together about 46.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience and Molecular Biology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Discover Neuroscience is an open access journal publishing research from all fields relevant to neuroscience. Publication costs will be covered by Springer Nature until 31 December 2026. Authors whose articles are accepted for publication in Discover Neuroscience up to and including that date will not pay an article-processing charge. Note that the APC-free period does not apply to any journal to which your article may be transferred if not accepted in Discover Neuroscience. Current charge: £0/$0/€0 Standard charge: £1890/$2590/€2190. Indexed in Web of Science's Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) and Scopus. Considers articles from a broad range of neuroscience disciplines. Formerly Neural Development (2023 Impact Factor: 4.0), Discover Neuroscience is expected to receive its first Impact Factor under the new name in 2027. Topics include neurosurgery, cognitive processes, neuroimaging and more. A journal in Springer Nature’s Discover Series: Rigorous, representative and wide-reaching.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Developmental Biology
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Developmental Biology and Gene RegulationBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology18.5%
- Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanismsNeuroscience16.9%
- Axon Guidance and Neuronal SignalingNeuroscience11.1%
- Neurobiology and Insect Physiology ResearchNeuroscience7.4%
- Nerve injury and regenerationNeuroscience5.9%
- Retinal Development and DisordersBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.5%
- Zebrafish Biomedical Research ApplicationsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.6%
- Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology ResearchNeuroscience4.4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Biology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Developmental Biology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Neurosciences | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Biology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Developmental Biology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Neurosciences | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Biology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Biology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Developmental Biology | Zone 3 |
| 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
EmbaseCASPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS, BIOSIS, CNPIEC, Chinese Academy of Medical Science (CAMS), Gale, Japanese Science and Technology Agency (JST), Meta, OCLC WorldCat Discovery Service, Ovid Discovery, Pathway Studio, Reaxys, SCImago, TD Net Discovery Service, Wanfang, eLibrary.ru
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
- 1.29LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2023
- 4Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.9LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.07LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1LetPub ·
- h-index
- 46LetPub ·
- h-index
- 78OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 382OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 5.26OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 399,800Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 449 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 19 | 19 | 100 |
| 2023 | 9 | 9 | 38 |
| 2022 | 12 | 12 | 204 |
| 2021 | 6 | 6 | 252 |
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
128 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 112 days – 154 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 5 days (13 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 132 days
- Sample
- 13 articles with submission and acceptance dates (13 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)
- over 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 16 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
Diamond open access (no APC)DOAJ
Every article is open access and authors pay no article processing charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | No APC | No | CC BY, CC0 | |
| OpenAlex | USD 2,890 / EUR 2,390 / GBP 2,090 | — | — | |
| LetPub | GBP 2,090 / USD 2,890 / EUR 2,390 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | GBP 1,890 / USD 2,590 / EUR 2,190 | — | — |
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 papers3, by deadline
Publisher websitePolicy excerpts from the journal's websitePreprints
- Preprints
Preprint service In Review available Model summary
In Review, a new preprint service brought to you by Research Square, is available on Discover Neuroscience.
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
- BioMed Central
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Founded
- 2006
- ISSN
- 1749-8104
- Electronic ISSN
- 3005-1827
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Neural Development
What CAS zone is Neural Development in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Neural Development is in Zone 2 of Biology, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Developmental Biology / Neurosciences. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Biology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Neural Development?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.29; CiteScore 4.9, h-index 78.
How long does peer review take at Neural Development?
Based on the dates recorded on 13 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 128 days (interquartile range 112–154 days); authors report an average review time of over 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.
Which databases index Neural Development?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Neural Development is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Embase and CAS; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Neural Development open access, and what is the APC?
Neural Development is a diamond open-access journal (no APC). It charges no article processing charge.
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: .