Journal profile · Neurosciences
Synapse
ISSN 0887-4476 · eISSN 1098-2396 · Wiley-Liss Inc. · UNITED STATES · Monthly · Founded 1987
Synapse: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.3; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,570; median 102 days to acceptance (44 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: fairly easy; 37 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Synapse is published by Wiley-Liss Inc. 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, Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior and Receptor Mechanisms and Signaling, together about 55.6% of its articles. Its main subfields are Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience and Molecular Biology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
SYNAPSE publishes articles concerned with all aspects of synaptic structure and function. This includes neurotransmitters, neuropeptides, neuromodulators, receptors, gap junctions, metabolism, plasticity, circuitry, mathematical modeling, ion channels, patch recording, single unit recording, development, behavior, pathology, toxicology, etc.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Neurosciences
Editor-in-chief Benjamin J. HallPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 3 in mainland China (about 4%); most named United States 39, United Kingdom 7, Italy 5, Mainland China 3, Japan 2 (67 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology ResearchNeuroscience25.5%
- Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorNeuroscience17.9%
- Receptor Mechanisms and SignalingBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology12.2%
- Memory and Neural MechanismsNeuroscience4.2%
- Neuropeptides and Animal PhysiologyNeuroscience4.1%
- Ion channel regulation and functionBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology3.9%
- Neural dynamics and brain functionNeuroscience2.9%
- Neurological disorders and treatmentsMedicine2.9%
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 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Neurosciences | Zone 4 |
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
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of ScienceMEDLINEPubMedEmbaseCASCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: ProQuest
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
- 2.3LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2.5Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.3LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 3.3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 3.3Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.56LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.44LetPub ·
- h-index
- 100LetPub ·
- h-index
- 155OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 2,951OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.4OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 4%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 23.08%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 25LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 25Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 69,361Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 4,675 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 26 | 9 | 3 |
| 2025 | 37 | 16 | 57 |
| 2024 | 35 | 20 | 77 |
| 2023 | 34 | 22 | 177 |
| 2022 | 41 | 5 | 170 |
| 2021 | 36 | 6 | 133 |
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
102 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 73 days – 146 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 20 days (46 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 127 days
- Sample
- 44 articles with submission and acceptance dates (61 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)
- Fairly easyLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 16%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 16%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 7 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 7 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 103 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 18 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer reviewPublisher website
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 3,570 / EUR 3,000 / GBP 2,380 | — | — |
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.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
What to prepare2 items from the author guidelines
- Reference style
- APA
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Data availability, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- Authorship Authorship
All listed authors should have contributed to the manuscript substantially and have agreed to the final submitted version. Review editorial standards and scroll down for a description of authorship criteria.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data Sharing and Data Availability
Data sharing expected and peer reviewed Model summary
This journal expects and peer reviews data sharing. Review Wiley’s Data Sharing policy where you will be able to see and select the data availability statement that is right for your submission.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Reproduction of Copyright Material
If excerpts from copyrighted works owned by third parties are included, credit must be shown in the contribution. It is your responsibility to also obtain written permission for reproduction from the copyright owners. For more information visit Wiley’s Copyright Terms & Conditions FAQ.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access
Hybrid open access option Model summary
You may choose to publish under the terms of the journal’s standard copyright agreement, or hybrid Open Access under the terms of a Creative Commons License.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review 1. Submission and Peer Review Process
Single-blind peer review model Model summary
Once the submission materials have been prepared in accordance with the Author Guidelines, new submissions should be made via the Wiley Authors submission portal. For technical help with the submission system, please review our FAQs or contact submissionhelp@wiley.com. For help with submissions, please contact: synapse@wiley.com. For help with article preparation, Wiley Editing Services offers exp…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints
Preprints accepted for review Model summary
Synapse will consider for review articles previously available as preprints.
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
- Wiley-Liss Inc.
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Founded
- 1987
- ISSN
- 0887-4476
- Electronic ISSN
- 1098-2396
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 80, Issue 5 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Synapse
What CAS zone is Synapse in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Synapse is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Neurosciences. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 4 of Medicine. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Synapse?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.3; CiteScore 3.3, h-index 155.
How long does peer review take at Synapse?
Based on the dates recorded on 44 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 102 days (interquartile range 73–146 days); authors report an average review time of 4–8 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly easy”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 16% (2025). 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 Synapse?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Reference style: APA; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required. 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 Synapse based?
Of the 67 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 3 (about 4%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (39), United Kingdom (7) and Italy (5). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Synapse?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Synapse is indexed in SCIE and Scopus. The journal's website also lists Web of Science, MEDLINE, PubMed, Embase, CAS and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Synapse open access, and what is the APC?
Synapse is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,570.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex; 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: .