Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A researcher comparing Neuron's current JCR entry against Cell's separately computed JIF before deciding which Cell Press title's scope and audience better fits a neuroscience manuscript, checking each journal's own current JCR record directly rather than an older cached aggregator number.
- Is an instance
An author working through the mechanical calculation -- total JCR-data-year citations to Neuron's prior-two-years' citable items, divided by that item count -- to explain to a tenure or grant committee how the reported figure is derived, while flagging that the specific number cited is from the prior (2024 data year) cycle pending direct confirmation of the current one.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
Treating a reported Neuron impact factor number as interchangeable with Cell's JIF because both carry the Cell Press name -- they are separately indexed journals with independently computed figures that differ substantially.
- Not an instance
Citing Neuron's approximately-15.0 figure (2024 data year) as though it were confirmed current for the 2025 data year/June 2026 release, when CASRAI's direct publisher check for that cycle could not be completed.
Editorial commentary
Neuron’s Journal Impact Factor (JIF) is a specific, illustrative instance of the general Journal Impact Factor metric published annually by Clarivate in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR). Neuron is Cell Press’s flagship neuroscience journal, first published in 1988, and its JIF is computed and reported entirely independently of the JIF for Cell and other Cell Press titles, even though all carry the Cell Press name.
What the number actually measures
The JIF is a ratio: citations received in a given year to a journal’s citable items (articles and reviews) published in the two preceding years, divided by the number of those citable items. Neuron (ISSN 0896-6273 print, 1097-4199 online) is indexed in Clarivate’s Science Citation Index Expanded and receives its own JIF on that basis, computed the same mechanical way as every other JCR-indexed title.
Neuron’s Impact Factor in 2026: what the named sources actually say
Neuron’s Journal Impact Factor is 16.9, for the 2025 JCR data year — the release Clarivate issued in June 2026. The source is Neuron’s own publisher metrics panel at cell.com/neuron/home, which attributes the figure on-page to “Journal Citation Reports 2025 (Clarivate Analytics, 2026)”. It appears there verbatim as “16.9 | Impact Factor”, retrieved 23 August 2026. That is the publisher restating Clarivate’s number for its own title — not a third-party JCR-tracking aggregator and not a Wikipedia infobox, either of which can lag behind or drift from the release Clarivate actually issued.
Sources disagree, so here are both. An earlier version of this page could not reach Cell Press’s pages and therefore reported only an aggregator figure of about 15.0 for the 2024 data year, with a 5-year figure near 16.6. The publisher’s own metrics panel is now readable and gives 16.9 for the 2025 data year.
The same publisher page also shows a CiteScore of 27. That is Elsevier/Scopus’s metric, computed over a four-year window and a broader document set, and it is not a second opinion on the Impact Factor. Quoting the larger number as though it were the JIF is the single most common sourcing error on this metric.
Clarivate republishes the JCR every June, so this figure is current only for the 2025 data year. Re-check it at the publisher’s page or in JCR itself before putting it in a CV, tenure file, grant application or funder report — and say which data year you mean when you cite it.
What CASRAI could verify at source
- ISSN: 0896-6273 — Crossref journal record, checked 23 August 2026.
- Publisher: Elsevier (Cell Press) — Crossref journal record, checked 23 August 2026.
- PubMed / MEDLINE: Currently indexed for MEDLINE; MEDLINE coverage v1n1, Mar. 1988- — NLM Catalog record, checked 23 August 2026.
- DOAJ: Not listed in DOAJ (subscription journal) — DOAJ API, checked 23 August 2026.
- Journal Impact Factor: 16.9 for the 2025 JCR data year; CiteScore 27 (a different metric — see above) — Neuron’s own publisher metrics panel at cell.com/neuron/home, which attributes the figure on-page to “Journal Citation Reports 2025 (Clarivate Analytics, 2026)”, retrieved 23 August 2026.
What was last reported, for context
For the 2024 data year (June 2025 release), aggregator sources converged on a 2-year JIF of approximately 15.0 for Neuron, with a reported JCR Quartile 1 placement in neuroscience. A 5-year JIF near 16.6 was also reported by at least one aggregator (journalmetrics.org) for the same period, but that figure was not independently cross-corroborated against a second source. Treat both as REPORTED-tier historical context for the prior cycle, not as this journal’s current figure.
Neuron vs. Cell: related journals, separate figures
Neuron and Cell are both published under the Cell Press imprint, but they are editorially distinct journals — Cell covers life sciences broadly across a subscription/hybrid model, while Neuron is a narrower, discipline-specific title covering neuroscience — and each carries its own separately computed JIF that should never be used interchangeably. Cell’s reported JIF has historically run substantially higher than Neuron’s, reflecting different citation norms and volumes between a broad flagship title and a discipline-specific one, not a difference in editorial rigor. Always confirm which specific Cell Press title’s JCR entry is being quoted, and which release cycle it is dated to, before citing a figure in a CV or grant narrative.
Why this number alone is a poor stand-in for quality
Citation-tracking organizations including DORA, the CoARA coalition, and Clarivate itself caution against over-relying on a single journal-level metric to judge an individual article or researcher. A flagship journal’s JIF is heavily shaped by a small number of highly cited papers and by field-level citation norms, so the same score means different things depending on what is being compared. DORA’s core recommendation is not to eliminate the JIF, but to stop treating it as a proxy for the quality of a specific paper or the merit of an individual researcher’s work.
Counter-example
Neuron’s CiteScore (a separate Elsevier/Scopus metric using a four-year citation window and a broader document set) is not the same figure as its Clarivate JIF, and reporting one as if it were the other is a common sourcing error. Similarly, an individual highly cited article published in Neuron does not “have” the journal’s JIF — the metric is computed at the journal level, not the article level, which is precisely the conflation DORA’s guidance warns against.
Related terms
- Journal Impact Factor (JIF) — the general metric this page illustrates.
- Cell’s Journal Impact Factor (JIF) — Cell Press’s broader-scope flagship journal; not interchangeable with Neuron’s own figure.
- CiteScore — Elsevier/Scopus’s competing journal-level metric, different window and denominator.
- DORA (San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment) — the reform commitment behind the over-reliance caveat above.
- How to look up a journal’s Impact Factor — practical guide to finding current, release-dated figures directly from a publisher or Clarivate.
- Impact Factor vs. h-index — how journal-level and author-level metrics differ.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Neuron’s current impact factor?
CASRAI could not independently confirm Neuron’s figure for the current JCR cycle (2025 data year, released June 2026) against Cell Press’s own pages during this revision (the request was blocked). The last figure CASRAI can attribute to a specific, dated cycle is approximately 15.0 for the 2024 data year (June 2025 release), reported by third-party aggregators — that number is one cycle old, not current. Check cell.com/neuron or cell.com/metrics directly for the release-dated figure before citing one formally.
Is Neuron’s impact factor the same as Cell’s?
No. Neuron and Cell are both published under the Cell Press imprint but are editorially distinct journals, and each carries its own separately computed Journal Impact Factor that should never be used interchangeably.
What is Neuron’s ISSN?
Neuron’s ISSN is 0896-6273 for the print edition and 1097-4199 for the online edition. It is indexed in Clarivate’s Science Citation Index Expanded under this identifier, which is how it receives its own Journal Impact Factor entry in the JCR.
Is Neuron a good journal based on its impact factor?
Neuron’s reported Quartile 1 placement in neuroscience (as of the 2024-data-year cycle) indicates it was among the more highly cited journals in its field, but citation-tracking organizations including DORA, the CoARA coalition, and Clarivate itself caution against using a single journal-level metric to judge an individual article or researcher.
How often does Neuron’s impact factor change?
Clarivate publishes updated Journal Citation Reports data, including Neuron’s Journal Impact Factor, every June. The current cycle is the 2025 data year, released June 2026. Any figure cited elsewhere should be checked against that release, or against Cell Press’s own metrics page, before being used in a formal context.
Is Neuron’s Impact Factor the same as its CiteScore?
No. CiteScore is a separate Elsevier/Scopus metric that uses a four-year citation window and a broader document set than Clarivate’s JIF, which uses a two-year window. An individual article published in Neuron does not “have” the journal’s JIF, since the metric is computed at the journal level, not the article level.
Last verified 2026-08-16. CASRAI attempted direct verification against Cell Press’s own Neuron and metrics pages this session; the requests could not be completed (redirect/bot-protection behavior), so no current 2025-data-year figure is stated as fact on this page. Clarivate republishes the Journal Citation Reports every June — re-check this page after the next release.
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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