Neuroscience Letters: review time and acceptance speed

ISSN 0304-3940 · ISSN 1872-7972 · Elsevier BV · Neuroscience

Half of the articles Neuroscience Letters accepted in 2025 were accepted within 89 days of submission (n = 219); the middle half took 58–120 days.

Submission → acceptance (2025)
89 days median
middle half 58–120 · n = 219
Acceptance → online
1 days median
middle half 1–3 · n = 219
Change since 2023
No clear change since 2023 (median 85 → 89 days; 90% CI -3 to +11 days).
Open access · fees
Hybrid · ≈$3,430

Accepted articles only · dates deposited by the publisher in PubMed · data as of Sep 15, 2026

Plan submissions to a deadline — free

How long does Neuroscience Letters take to accept a paper?

days045901351802020: middle half 63–139 days982020n=6172021: middle half 78–166 days1162021n=5902022: middle half 69–157 days992022n=3872023: middle half 57–124 days852023n=3802024: middle half 57–126 days862024n=2762025: middle half 58–120 days892025n=219
Line = median; shaded box = middle half of articles (25th–75th percentile). Year of acceptance.
Days from submission to acceptance, by year of acceptance
YearArticles (n)25th pctMedian75th pct90th pctAccepted <14 daysHave a revised date
202521958891201670.5%98%
202427657861261710.7%98%
202338057851241761.3%97%
202238769991572250.8%97%
2021590781161662290.7%97%
202061763981392061.1%97%

Distribution in 2025

0–29 days: 4% (8 articles)030–59 days: 23% (50 articles)3060–89 days: 24% (53 articles)6090–119 days: 24% (53 articles)90120–149 days: 13% (28 articles)120150–179 days: 5% (10 articles)150180–209 days: 4% (9 articles)180210–239 days: 1% (2 articles)210240–269 days: 2% (4 articles)240270–299 days: 0% (0 articles)270300–329 days: 0% (1 articles)300330–359 days: 0% (0 articles)330360+ days: 0% (1 articles)360+days from submission to acceptance (30-day bins)
Show as a table
DaysArticlesShare
0–2983.7%
30–595022.8%
60–895324.2%
90–1195324.2%
120–1492812.8%
150–179104.6%
180–20994.1%
210–23920.9%
240–26941.8%
270–29900.0%
300–32910.5%
330–35900.0%
360+10.5%

From acceptance to online publication

After acceptance, half of the 2025 articles appeared online within 1 day (middle half 1–3 days, n = 219).

From submission to online publication, the median was 91 days (middle half 59–122 days, n = 219).

Read these numbers carefully

  • These times describe articles the journal accepted. Rejected manuscripts never appear in public data, so they cannot tell you how long a rejection takes.
  • Dates are the ones the publisher deposited with PubMed. Some publishers record the date a revised manuscript arrived as the submission date, which makes review look faster.
  • Invited articles and special issues can move faster than regular submissions.

Open access status and publishing fees

Hybrid (subscription journal with an open-access option). Listed APC: about $3,430 (as reported by OpenAlex).

OpenAPC has fewer than 5 reported payments for this journal in 2023–2025, so no typical amount is shown.

Many journals waive or reduce fees for authors from eligible countries or institutions with publishing agreements — check with the journal and your library.

Integrity and indexing signals

Facts from public records, shown without judgement. See the methodology for why each can be worth a closer look.

Listed in DOAJNo
Articles indexed for MEDLINE in 2025Yes
Retractions0 retracted articles among 1,874 added to PubMed in 2021–2025 (0.00 per 1,000), per the Retraction Watch Database.
Accepted within 14 days of submission0.5% of 2025 articles
Publication volume222 articles added to PubMed in 2025 (-22% vs 2024).

Topics and scope

Neuroscience journalsCellular and Molecular Neuroscience journals

Similar journals — faster or cheaper, side by side

Journals publishing on the most similar topics (OpenAlex), ordered by similarity. Only 2025 figures are compared with the 2025 median of Neuroscience Letters, 89 days.

Paid APC medianDOAJMEDLINE
Neuroscience118 (2025, n = 671)≈$3,500NoYes
Brain Research115 (2025, n = 465)≈$3,360NoYes
Brain Research Bulletin105 (2025, n = 467)$3,610YesYes
Neuroscience Research90 (2025, n = 95)$3,250YesYes
Neuropharmacology94 (2025, n = 363)≈$4,300NoYes
Neurochemistry International87 (2025, n = 134)≈$4,170NoYes
European Journal of Neuroscience162 (2025, n = 368)≈$3,560NoYes
Molecular Brain80 (2025, n = 95)$2,890$2,475 (8 payments)YesYes
Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology111 (2025, n = 127)≈$4,590NoYes

Frequently asked questions

How long does Neuroscience Letters take to accept a paper?

Half of the articles Neuroscience Letters accepted in 2025 were accepted within 89 days of submission (n = 219); the middle half took 58–120 days. Based on dates in PubMed for accepted articles only.

How long after acceptance are Neuroscience Letters articles published online?

Half of the articles accepted in 2025 appeared online within 1 day of acceptance (n = 219).

Does Neuroscience Letters charge an article processing charge (APC)?

Listed APC: about $3,430 (as reported by OpenAlex).

Sources and method

Journal identity: ISSN-L 0304-3940; NLM ID 7600130; OpenAlex record. Speed figures use 219 articles accepted in 2025 with valid dates; excluded records for that year: none.

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Data sources. Submission, acceptance and publication dates: Courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (PubMed, entries through Sep 15, 2026). NLM does not endorse Journal Clock, and these figures may not reflect the most current PubMed data. Journal fees and open-access listing: DOAJ (CC0, retrieved Sep 16, 2026). Fees paid by institutions: OpenAPC (Open Database License, retrieved Sep 16, 2026). Retractions: Retraction Watch Database via Crossref (retrieved Sep 16, 2026). Journal identifiers and topics: OpenAlex (CC0). Currency conversion: ECB reference rates (Sep 15, 2026). How these numbers are calculated · For organisations.