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Our impact

Your research makes a difference. That’s why maximizing its impact is important to us. 

We're here to support the superheroes making discoveries - no matter how big or small - that will enable us all to live healthy lives on a healthy planet.

Highly visible, highly cited research

Views and downloads

There is an innovator in every corner of the globe: in 2024 to date, articles published with Frontiers were viewed and downloaded 356 million times across the world, totaling more than 2.8 billion overall.

Data source: Dimensions 31 May 2024

Article citations

Articles published in our journals have been cited 9.4 million times in total. And behind each of those citations is a story of inspiration and discovery.

Influential journals, defining their fields

Journal Impact Factor and CiteScore

Following the 2023 release of the Web of Science Group's Journal Citation Report (JCR 2022) and Scopus' CiteScore, 109 of the journals published by Frontiers have a Journal Impact Factor and 113 journals have a CiteScore.

Looking for the right home for your research? Browse all of our community journals

Journal Impact Factors and CiteScores
Journal 2023 Impact Factor 2023 CiteScore Total views and downloads 2023 JIF rank quartile 2023 CiteScore rank quartile
3.3
3.0
1.6M
Q2
Q3
4.1
6.3
40.8M
Q2
Q2
3.5
4.8
1.5M
Q1
Q1
3.3
2.8
1.3M
Q2
Q3
2.1
2.3
1.1M
Q1
Q2
1.3
1.9
3.1M
Q3
Q3
3.0
6.1
5.6M
Q2
Q2
2.6
3.4
4.6M
Q2
Q2
2.6
4.7
26.9M
Q2
Q2
2.4
5.2
2.6M
Q2
Q1
4.3
8.3
42.8M
Q1
Q1
2.8
2.6
1.2M
Q2
Q2
1.9
7.0
2.5M
Q3
Q1
2.2
4.8
7.3M
Q2
Q1
2.8
3.8
29.6M
Q2
Q2
4.6
9.7
54.9M
Q1
Q1
4.6
7.9
42.9M
Q1
Q1
4.2
7.9
35.7M
Q2
Q2
2.5
3.5
1.1M
Q3
Q3
3.8
8.5
33.2M
Q2
Q1
3.3
4.5
3.1M
Q2
Q2
1.0
498k
Q4
1.5
3.3
8.4M
Q2
Q1
2.1
4.9
710k
Q3
Q2
2.1
5.3
12.8M
Q2
Q1
2.4
4.3
4.2M
Q3
Q2
1.9
2.6
1.7M
Q2
Q2
1.5
2.1
1M
Q3
Q2
3.2
4.2
3.2M
Q1
Q2
2.0
3.5
21.8M
Q3
Q2
2.4
4.0
27M
Q2
Q2
2.3
2.9
27.4M
Q2
Q2
1.9
325k
Q3
3.9
5.7
66.8M
Q2
Q2
2.6
3.9
19M
Q3
Q2
3.3
4.5
25.1M
Q2
Q2
2.7
4.5
4.9M
Q1
Q1
2.1
2.7
602k
Q3
Q2
1.3
2.2
449k
Q3
Q2
2.8
5.5
70.4M
Q2
Q2
4.9
7.0
1.3M
Q1
Q2
2.3
3.7
2.5M
Q1
Q1
1.6
1.0
736k
Q3
Q3
2.2
2.8
1.1M
Q1
Q2
2.4
4.7
72.1M
Q2
Q2
5.7
9.8
229M
Q1
Q1
2.4
1.8
352k
Q1
Q3
2.6
4.6
10M
Q2
Q2
2.8
5.1
58.4M
Q1
Q1
2.6
4.8
12.3M
Q3
Q2
2.0
4.4
3.8M
Q2
Q2
2.7
3.7
1M
Q3
Q1
3.1
5.1
54.7M
Q1
Q1
4.0
7.7
191M
Q2
Q2
3.9
7.2
21.4M
Q2
Q1
3.5
5.7
22.8M
Q2
Q3
4.1
7.1
1.2M
Q2
Q1
2.7
308k
Q3
3.4
6.0
11.9M
Q2
Q1
2.1
4.7
13.2M
Q1
Q2
1.5
370k
Q3
2.5
4.8
9.5M
Q2
Q2
2.7
4.9
68.1M
Q2
Q2
2.6
5.2
7M
Q3
Q2
3.2
6.2
83.5M
Q2
Q2
0.9
248k
Q4
4.0
5.2
38.6M
Q2
Q2
3.5
6.2
93.5M
Q2
Q2
0.5
343k
Q4
3.0
3.3
1.1M
Q1
Q1
2.5
2.1
1.8M
Q2
Q1
2.1
3.6
35.4M
Q2
Q2
4.4
7.8
109M
Q1
Q1
1.9
4.5
14.8M
Q2
Q1
3.2
6.5
91M
Q2
Q2
4.1
7.3
148M
Q1
Q1
2.3
2.9
2.6M
Q1
Q1
3.2
6.2
84.4M
Q2
Q1
2.6
5.3
367M
Q2
Q1
3.0
4.8
85.4M
Q2
Q2
1.2
272k
Q3
1.3
1.1
1.5M
Q3
Q3
3.4
3.9
830k
Q2
Q2
2.3
2.0
1.4M
Q2
Q2
3.5
2.8M
Q1
2.9
6.5
12.5M
Q2
Q2
1.3
314k
Q3
2.0
3.4
8.8M
Q2
Q1
2.1
1.9
456k
Q3
Q3
2.3
2.6
8.4M
Q2
Q1
1.6
1.9
13.8M
Q2
Q2
3.3
2.1M
Q2
2.4
4.0
2.8M
Q2
Q1
3.7
5.6
15.8M
Q2
Q1
2.8
7.1
5.5M
Q2
Q2
3.1
6.0
15.8M
Q2
Q1
3.6
3.8
1M
Q2
Q1
1.6
788k
Q3
0.4
213k
Q4
2.6
4.8
43.5M
Q1
Q1
2.0
1M
Q4
3.2
5.8
2.5M
Q2
Q1
2.6
4.0
2.3M
Q2
Q2
1.4
2.4
5.5k
Q4
Q3
1.1
3.1
30.4k
Q4
Q3
2.3
4.4
18.7k
Q2
Q2
2.7
4.4
Q2
Q2
0.4
2.8
6.0
Q2
Q2
2.6
4.2
1.4M
Q2
Q2
1.1
0.6
7.3k
Q4
Q4
2.9
6.9
Q2
Q1
3.1
6.3
55.2k
Q2
Q2
1.7
4.2
Q3
Q1
2.3
6.3
930k
Q2
Q1
3.5
8.3
419k
Q1
Q1
2.0
2.2
68.9k
Q3
Q3
2.7
4.7
Q1
Q2
See all journals

How are journal metrics calculated?

The Journal Impact Factor is the average number of citations received in the last year to articles published in the previous two years. It is measured each year by the Web of Science Group and reported in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR). The Journal Impact Factors, published in this year's report, are based on citations in 2023 for articles published in 2021 and 2022.

The CiteScore journal impact metric measures the average citations received in a four-year time window to selected documents published in the same four years. The 2023 CiteScores (released in 2024) are based on citations received to articles, reviews, conference papers, book chapters, and data papers published in 2020-2023, divided by the total number of documents published in this four-year window. CiteScore covers all journal titles in Elsevier's Scopus database and is released once a year.

Infographic showing how the annual Journal Impact Factors and CiteScores are each calculated


Total journal citations

Many of our journals rank as the most influential and most cited in their fields, including neurosciences, immunology, microbiology, plant science, and psychology.

Journal Citation Report

Impact 2024_About Page_Rank hero 1
Data source: Journal Citation Reports 2024

Ranking of the most cited journals in JCR categories (released in 2024 by Web of Science Group). Bar plots show the total number of citations received in 2023, with Frontiers journals in blue.

Clinical Neurology (SCIE) (278 Journals)

Developmental Biology (SCIE) (39 Journals)

Endocrinology & Metabolism (SCIE) (187 Journals)

Genetics & Heredity (SCIE) (191 Journals)

Geriatrics & Gerontology (SCIE) (74 Journals)

Immunology (SCIE) (181 Journals)

Marine & Freshwater Biology (SCIE) (113 Journals)

Microbiology (SCIE) (161 Journals)

Neurosciences (SCIE) (310 Journals)

Pediatrics (SCIE) (186 Journals)

Pharmacology & Pharmacy (SCIE) (354 Journals)

Physiology (SCIE) (85 Journals)

Plant Sciences (SCIE) (265 Journals)

Psychiatry (SCIE) (279 Journals)

Psychology, Multidisciplinary (SSCI) (218 Journals)


CiteScore

Impact 2024_About Page_Rank hero 2
Data source: Scopus 2024

Ranking of the most cited journals in 2023 CiteScore categories (released in 2024 by Scopus, Elsevier). Bar plots show the total number of citations received in 2020–2023 to articles, reviews, conference papers, book chapters and data papers published in 2020–2023, with Frontiers journals in blue.

Cell Biology (285 journals)

Developmental Biology (82 journals)

Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism (244 journals)

Genetics (clinical) (99 journals)

Histology (62 journals)

Immunology (236 journals)

Immunology and Allergy (233 journals)

Microbiology (182 journals)

Microbiology (medical) (140 journals)

Neurology (192 journals)

Neurology (400 journals)

Neuroscience subject area (632 journals)

Pharmacology (313 journals)

Pharmacology (medical) (272 journals)

Plant Science (516 journals)

Psychiatry and Mental Health (567 journals)

Psychology (all) (216 journals)

*Neuroscience subject area: The ranking is calculated from CiteScore citations to all journals in the Frontiers in Neuroscience journal series. The Frontiers in Neuroscience journal series includes all Frontiers journals in the field of Neuroscience with the exception of Frontiers in Neurology.

Reach and real-world impact


Frontiers’ articles achieve international visibility with more than 252,000 mentions in major news outlets worldwide including BBC, Newsweek, Time. They have been mentioned 3.4 million times in social media channels.

They also achieved 7,000 mentions in policies and 13,000 in patents, demonstrating the real impact your research is having in the world.

Data source: Altmetric 2024

Evaluating research

To benchmark the reach, influence and quality of our journals, we measure and communicate a range of indicators of our journals’ impact, including Journal Impact Factors, CiteScores, overall citation rates, aggregate views and downloads, press pick-ups, and social media mentions.

We fully support the responsible use of Journal Impact Factors, other quantitative research metrics, and innovative ways for researcher evaluation, as proposed by the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA, to which we are a signatory), the Leiden Manifesto, the Metric Tide for Responsible Metrics and the European Commission's Expert Group on Altmetrics.