Journal profile · Clinical Neurology
Spinal Cord
ISSN 1362-4393 · eISSN 1476-5624 · Springer Nature · ENGLAND · Monthly · Founded 1996
Spinal Cord: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.77; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,990; median 184 days to acceptance (98 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: about 75%; 108 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Spinal Cord is published by Springer Nature 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 Spinal Cord Injury Research, Cerebral Palsy and Movement Disorders and Cervical and Thoracic Myelopathy, together about 44.4% of its articles. Its main subfields are Surgery. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Spinal Cord is a specialised, international journal that has been publishing spinal cord related manuscripts since 1963. It appears monthly, online and in print, and accepts contributions on spinal cord anatomy, physiology, management of injury and disease, and the quality of life and life circumstances of people with a spinal cord injury. Spinal Cord is multi-disciplinary and publishes contributions across the entire spectrum of research ranging from basic science to applied clinical research. It focuses on high quality original research, systematic reviews and narrative reviews.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Clinical Neurology
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Spinal Cord Injury ResearchMedicine31.4%
- Cerebral Palsy and Movement DisordersMedicine6.6%
- Cervical and Thoracic MyelopathyMedicine6.3%
- Traumatic Brain Injury ResearchMedicine6%
- Nerve Injury and RehabilitationMedicine5.2%
- Stroke Rehabilitation and RecoveryMedicine4.8%
- Urinary Bladder and Prostate ResearchMedicine4.6%
- Spinal Fractures and Fixation TechniquesMedicine4.5%
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 | Clinical Neurology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Rehabilitation | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Clinical Neurology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Rehabilitation | 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 | Rehabilitation | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Clinical Neurology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
MEDLINEEmbaseCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS
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
- 1.77LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.8Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.7LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.72LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.1LetPub ·
- h-index
- 97LetPub ·
- h-index
- 163OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 4,288OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.86OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5.6%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 31.56%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 99LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 2,545,954Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 7,452 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 115 | 40 | 23 |
| 2025 | 108 | 43 | 163 |
| 2024 | 101 | 52 | 416 |
| 2023 | 79 | 32 | 517 |
| 2022 | 142 | 64 | 1,794 |
| 2021 | 137 | 53 | 1,844 |
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
184 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 127 days – 271 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 13 days (99 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 199 days
- Sample
- 98 articles with submission and acceptance dates (238 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 2 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- 75%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 4,990 / EUR 3,990 / GBP 3,390 | — | — |
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
- Springer Nature
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Founded
- 1996
- ISSN
- 1362-4393
- Electronic ISSN
- 1476-5624
- Society / sponsor
- International Spinal Cord Society
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Spinal Cord
What CAS zone is Spinal Cord in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Spinal Cord is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Clinical Neurology / Rehabilitation. 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 Spinal Cord?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.77; CiteScore 4.7, h-index 163.
How long does peer review take at Spinal Cord?
Based on the dates recorded on 98 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 184 days (interquartile range 127–271 days); authors report an average review time of about 2 months; the community-reported acceptance is “about 75%”. 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 Spinal Cord?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Spinal Cord is indexed in SCIE and Scopus. The journal's website also lists MEDLINE, Embase and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Spinal Cord open access, and what is the APC?
Spinal Cord is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,990.
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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .