Coming soon: 2017 analysis based on the most recent Journal Citation Reports by Clarivate Analytics (formerly published by Thomson Reuters).

Frontiers in Neurology, launched in 2010, received its first official Impact Factor of 3.184 in 2016. In just 5 years, it became the most cited and the 3rd largest open-access journal in Neurology.

Impact Factor (IF), defined as the total number of citations in a given year divided by the number of citable articles over the previous two-year period, is the most commonly accepted metric of journal quality (but not of an individual paper or researcher). It was formally established by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) in 1975. As the IF can be heavily skewed by a few highly-cited papers, total citations generated over the same two-year period provide a more accurate indication of the overall  influence or impact of the articles published by a journal in a field. Frontiers is a pioneer in the use of article-level and author-level metrics and encourages every author to use these to track the development of his or her readership on a more granular level.

Analysis within the category of Neurology

There are 192 journals listed in the category of Neurology in the 2015 Journal Citation Reports (JCR) provided by Thomson Reuters in 2016. Frontiers in Neurology is one of the 16 open-access journals.

Below are the results of our comparative analysis of these journals on the article volume published, IF achieved and total number of citations in 2015, based on articles published over the two preceding years, 2013 and 2014. (Click here to see the volume, IF and number of citations of other Frontiers journals).

Total citations among all open-access journals in Neurology

Figure 1. Total number of citations in 2015 for articles published in 2013 and 2014, ranked for all (16) open-access journals listed in the Neurology JCR category. Plot shows ranks for all open-access journals, where (in red) Frontiers in Neurology ranks #1 most-cited. The journal analysis is based on the 2015 Journal Citation Reports published by Thomson Reuters in 2016.

Relationship between volume and Impact Factor for all open-access journals in Neurology

Figure 2.Volume of citable items in 2015, plotted against the 2015 journal Impact Factor, for all 16 open-access journals listed in the Neurology JCR category. Plot shows all open-access journals in the category, with (in red) Frontiers in Neurology. D__ot size is proportional to the total number of citations received during the citation-counting period. The journal analysis is based on the 2015 Journal Citation Reports published by Thomson Reuters in 2016.

Relationship between volume and Impact Factor for all journals in Neurology

Figure 3. Volume of citable items in 2015, plotted against the 2015 journal Impact Factor, for all 192 journals (open-access  and subscription) listed in the Neurology JCR category. Plot shows all journals in the category, with (in red) Frontiers in Neurology. Dot size is proportional to the total number of citations received during the citation-counting period. The journal analysis is based on the 2015 Journal Citation Reports published by Thomson Reuters in 2016. 

Summary

Amongst the 16 open-access journals listed in the category of Neurology, Frontiers in Neurology:

• The 1st most cited journal in 2015 based on articles published in 2013 and 2014.

• Is the 3rd largest open-access journal in Neurology – 1.8 times larger than the average article volume in open-access journals in Neurology.

• Ranks 5 on Impact Factor – 1.4 times the average in open-access journals in Neurology.

Amongst all of the 192 journals listed in the category of Neurology, Frontiers in Neurology is:

• It is in the top 21% ( 41/192) most cited journal in 2015 based on articles published in 2013 and 2014.

• It is in the top 15% (30/192) of article volume amongst all journals in Neurology – 0.3 larger than the average volume of articles in all journals in Neurology.

• In the top 16% of Impact Factors in all journals in Neurology.

Key to Success

At Frontiers, we publish all articles that are scientifically correct. We engineered the Collaborative Peer Review process with a review mandate focused on enhancing article quality by means of rigorous and constructive feedback from expert reviewers, as well as quick and direct interactions between authors, reviewers and the editor. This is enabled by our unique review forum platform, and we enhance transparency by acknowledging reviewers and editors on the published articles. The analysis presented here indicates that the impact neutral Collaborative Peer Review conducted in Frontiers, together with an outstanding editorial board, has become a powerful model for publishing quality academic papers at scale.

All of this is only possible with a stellar editorial board of researchers (see infographic). Frontiers congratulates Field Chief Editor Jose Biller, the outstanding board of Specialty Chief Editors and the diligent work of the Associate and Review Editors (see full  board), as well as the Frontiers Journal Management team, for this spectacular achievement.

Frontiers in Neurology fact sheet (as of June 2016):

The same analysis of volume, IF and number of citations of other Frontiers journals can be found here.

Chief Editors (see full board):

Jose Biller, Loyola University Medical Center, USA | Field Chief Editor, Frontiers in Neurology

Alberto Albanese, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy | Specialty Chief Editor, Movement Disorders

Nicholas M Barnes, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom | Specialty Chief Editor, Neuropharmacology

Joel C Bornstein, The University of Melbourne, Australia | Specialty Chief Editor, Autonomic Neuroscience

Mark P Burns, Georgetown University Medical Center, USA | Specialty Chief Editor, Neurodegeneration

Louis R Caplan, Harvard Medical School, USA | Specialty Chief Editor, Stroke

Ambar Chakravarty, Vivekananda Institute of Medical Sciences, India | Specialty Chief Editor, Spinal Cord Medicine

Mark J Cook, University of Melbourne, Australia | Specialty Chief Editor, Epilepsy

Yves A Dauvilliers, Hôpital Gui de Chauliac, France | Specialty Chief Editor, Sleep and Chronobiology

Camilo R Gomez, Loyola University Medical Center, USA | Specialty Chief Editor, Endovascular and Interventional Neurology

Gregory Gruener, Loyola University, USA | Specialty Chief Editor, Neurology Education

Hans-Peter Hartung, Heinrich-Heine University Duesseldorf, Germany | Specialty Chief Editor, Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology

Christopher Mario Inglese, Medical College of Wisconsin,USA | Specialty Chief Editor, Neuropediatrics

Barry D Jordan, Burke Rehabilitation Hospital, USA | Specialty Chief Editor, Sports Neurology

Scott E Kasner, University of Pennsylvania, USA Specialty Chief Editor, Stroke

Aki Kawasaki, Hôpital Ophtalmique Jules Gonin, Switzerland | Specialty Chief Editor, Neuro-Ophthalmology

Eric Leuthardt, Washington University School of Medicine, USA | Specialty Chief Editor, Neuroprosthetics

Vaughan G Macefield, Western Sydney University, Australia | Specialty Chief Editor, Autonomic Neuroscience

Wendy Noble, King’s College London, United Kingdom | Specialty Chief Editor, Neurodegeneration

Russell A Poldrack, Stanford University, USA | Specialty Chief Editor, Brain Imaging Methods

Jean-Baptiste Poline,University of California Berkeley, USA | Specialty Chief Editor, Brain Imaging Methods

Mårten Risling, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden | Specialty Chief Editor, Neurotrauma

Mark Ross, Mayo Clinic, USA | Specialty Chief Editor, Neuromuscular Diseases

Sean Ruland, Loyola University Medical Center, USA | Specialty Chief Editor, Neurocritical and Neurohospitalist Care

Michael J Schneck, Loyola University, USA Specialty Chief Editor, Neurocritical and Neurohospitalist Care

Eugene R Schnitzler, Loyola University Medical Center, USA | Specialty Chief Editor, Neuropediatrics

Einar M Sigurdsson, NYU School of Medicine, USA | Specialty Chief Editor, Neurodegeneration

Michael Strupp, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany | Specialty Chief Editor, Neuro-otology

Roger Stupp, University of Zurich, Switzerland | Hospital Specialty Chief Editor, Neuro-Oncology

Lawrence Wechsler, University of Pittsburgh, USA | Specialty Chief Editor, Teleneurology

A special thanks goes to:

S R Pandi-Perumal, Somnogen Canada Inc**,** Canada | former Specialty Chief Editor, Sleep and Chronobiology

Jorge Asconape, Loyola University Medical Center, USA | former Specialty Chief Editor, Epilepsy