Lancet Neurology

The Lancet Neurology: The World's Leading Clinical Neurology Journal

Overview

The Lancet Neurology (Lancet Neurol.) is the highest-ranked journal in clinical neurology in the world, published monthly by Elsevier as part of The Lancet group. Launched in 2002, it describes itself as "the world-leading clinical neurology journal," and the numbers support the claim: it ranks first among 296 clinical neurology journals in the 2025 Journal Citation Reports (Clarivate 2026) and first among 403 neurology journals in Scopus, with a Journal Impact Factor of 54.6, a five-year impact factor of 60.2, and a CiteScore of 75.0 (all as displayed on the journal's official metrics pages).

The journal's mission, in its own words, is to publish "original research that advocates change in, or illuminates, neurological clinical practice." It covers the whole of clinical neurology — cerebrovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, epilepsy, migraine, neurological infections, movement disorders, multiple sclerosis, neuromuscular disorders, peripheral nerve disorders, paediatric neurology, sleep disorders, and traumatic brain injury — and it combines original research (including randomised clinical trials and meta-analyses) with reviews, comments, personal views, and influential Lancet Series and Commissions designed to shape clinical practice and health policy.

The Lancet Neurology's influence extends well beyond citation counts. Its Global Burden of Disease neurology series — quantifying the worldwide burden of neurological disorders, stroke, dementia, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, and traumatic brain injury — has become the standard reference for health policy in neurology, informing WHO agendas, national research priorities, and funding decisions across the globe.

Aims and Scope

The journal's official "About" page defines its remit as publishing original research that advocates change in, or illuminates, neurological clinical practice. Topics include, but are not limited to: cerebrovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, epilepsy, migraine, neurological infections, movement disorders, multiple sclerosis, neuromuscular disorders, peripheral nerve disorders, paediatric neurology, sleep disorders, and traumatic brain injury.

The journal publishes a range of article types spanning all aspects of neurological medicine:

• Articles — original research, including randomised clinical trials and meta-analyses
• Review and Rapid Review — authoritative syntheses of important topics
• Comment and Correspondence — expert commentary and scientific debate
• Personal View — opinion and perspective pieces from leaders in the field
• Series and Commissions — multi-paper, policy-shaping projects aimed at driving positive change in clinical practice and health policy in areas of need

The journal also operates a fast-track publication service: original research of immediate public health or clinical importance (or where timed publication has been agreed) can be published within 10 weeks of submission, while still undergoing The Lancet's usual rigorous external and statistical peer review. Manuscripts must be solely the work of the stated authors, must not have been previously published, and must not be under consideration elsewhere.

Journal History

The Lancet Neurology was established in 2002 by Elsevier as the neurology specialty journal of The Lancet family — the parent journal having been founded in London in 1823. Contemporary trade reporting announced that the new monthly journal for clinicians and researchers worldwide would begin with a May 2002 issue, conceived initially as a journal of "review, opinion and news" covering international issues relevant to clinical neurologists, with review articles, summaries of recent neurology papers, pre-clinical literature round-ups, commentaries, and forums.

Over the following two decades it evolved into a primary research journal while retaining its distinctive mix of research, review, and commentary. A turning point in its institutional identity was the arrival of Dr. Elena Becker-Barroso, who served three years as Senior Editor and two years as Deputy Editor before becoming Editor-in-Chief in July 2012 (after a year as Acting Editor). She remains in the role today. Her predecessor editorship is not documented in the sources consulted; what is clear from the journal's own pages is the continuity of an in-house professional editorial team, including Deputy Editor Laura Hart (with the Lancet group since 2004, Senior Editor since 2017) and Senior Editors Morgane Boillot and Heather Brown (a Senior Editor since 2008).

There have been no renamings or mergers: The Lancet Neurology has carried the same title continuously since 2002. Its growth in influence has been striking — from an initial concept as a review-and-news title to the undisputed #1 journal in its field, with its impact factor rising from the high 20s in 2018 to 44.182 in 2020 and 54.6 in the most recent release shown on the journal's own metrics pages.

Editorial Leadership

The Lancet journals are run by professional in-house editors, and The Lancet Neurology's editorial team is listed on its official "About" page:

• Elena Becker-Barroso, Editor-in-Chief — The Lancet Group, London, UK. Became Editor-in-Chief in July 2012 after one year as Acting Editor, two years as Deputy Editor, and three years as Senior Editor. PhD in molecular biology (Instituto de Microbiologia-Bioquimica, CSIC–Universidad de Salamanca, Spain); postdoctoral training at the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, New York University.
• Laura Hart, Deputy Editor — held various editorial roles at The Lancet and The Lancet Neurology since 2004; appointed Senior Editor in 2017. Studied clinical sciences at King's College London and completed a master's in clinical trials at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
• Morgane Boillot, Senior Editor — based in Madrid; previously a Senior Editor on eBioMedicine (joined 2023); PhD in Neuroscience (Sorbonne University, 2015), with postdoctoral research on epilepsy, autism, and serotonin dysfunction.
• Heather Brown, Senior Editor — Senior Editor since 2008; PhD on cell adhesion molecules in axon guidance (University of Sheffield); earlier editorial roles at Trends in Neurosciences and Current Opinion in Neurobiology.

The journal is supported by an International Advisory Board of key opinion leaders and researchers worldwide. The board offers subject, academic, and geographical advice on an ad hoc basis; members have no formal involvement in content selection or peer review. The journal states that the Editor-in-Chief is the final arbitrator of all editorial decisions, and that the Lancet journals follow the ICMJE recommendations and the COPE code of conduct for editors.

Key Facts

ISSN verification: the print ISSN 1474-4422 and online ISSN 1474-4465 are listed consistently across the journal's official pages, the EVISA journals database, and bibliographic aggregators; the ISSN pattern matches the journal's official imprint.

Metrics (Attributed)

All figures below carry their source and year. Where sources conflict, the conflict is stated openly.

• Journal Impact Factor: 54.6 as displayed on the official thelancet.com/journal-impact-metrics page (table labeled "2024 Journal Citation Reports®, Clarivate 2025"). Flag — source conflict: independent aggregators attribute 45.5 to the 2024 JCR release and 54.6 to the 2025 JCR release (bioxbio.com). The Lancet's own About page cites the 2025 JCR (Clarivate 2026) for its #1 ranking. Readers should treat "54.6" as the journal's most recent official figure and check the release year against their use case.
• 5-Year Impact Factor: 60.2 (thelancet.com journal-impact-metrics, same table).
• CiteScore: 75.0 (Scopus, via thelancet.com journal-impact-metrics).
• Immediacy Index: 8.8; Eigenfactor: 0.05738 (2024 JCR, Clarivate 2025, via thelancet.com).
• Rank: 1st of 296 clinical neurology journals (2025 JCR, Clarivate 2026) and 1st of 403 neurology journals (Scopus) — both per the official About page.
• SJR: 11.729 (countryofpapers.com, citing SCImago; release year not specified — flag as unverified year).
• H-index — conflict: the journalsworld.com journal page lists 398 (SCImago, 2025), while countryofpapers.com lists 379. The two figures come from different SCImago snapshots; 398 is the more recent.

No acceptance rate, submission volume, or average time-to-decision figures are officially published for this journal.

Indexing and Abstracting

The Lancet Neurology is indexed by the following services, per its official About page:

• Science Citation Index Expanded (Web of Science)
• Scopus
• MEDLINE / PubMed
• Embase
• Current Contents — Clinical Medicine
• APA PsycInfo
• Chemical Abstracts
• CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature)
• Crossref
• Essential Science Indicators

Open Access and Article Processing Charges

The Lancet Neurology is a hybrid journal. Authors of original research whose funding requires open access can choose gold open access or a subscription green open access solution. The gold-OA option offers a choice of Creative Commons licences (CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND, or CC BY-NC). Authors funded by commercial (for-profit) organizations must use CC BY-NC-ND.

APC: USD 8,810 for The Lancet Neurology (official APC table on thelancet.com/open-access, rates as of January 1, 2026). The journal's editors state that ability to pay should not be a barrier to publication and outline fee-support options; gold OA is additionally available to authors funded by a listed set of research funders (including Wellcome, UKRI, NIH, the European Research Council, Cancer Research UK, and the Michael J. Fox Foundation, among others).

Submission Information

Manuscripts are submitted through The Lancet's online system (linked from the journal's "Information for Authors" pages). Key points from the journal's official author guidance:

• Peer review: research papers that survive in-house review are assessed by at least two external reviewers and a statistician; authors are told which editor is handling their paper's peer review.
• Scope bar: the journal seeks work that will change or illuminate neurological clinical practice — technically strong papers without clear clinical implications are routinely declined.
• Fast-track: papers of immediate public-health or clinical importance can be published within 10 weeks of submission when authors request the service at submission.
• Revisions: submissions that survive review may be invited for revision; the journal asks authors to return two copies of the revised manuscript, one showing the changes.
• Ethics and policy: the journals follow ICMJE recommendations and the COPE code of conduct; editors are barred from involvement in decisions on papers in which they have a vested interest.
• Visibility: accepted authors receive a customised Share Link giving 50 days' free access to the final published version of their article; the Lancet group reports 4.4 million alert subscribers and roughly 298,000 annual media mentions of its journals' research.

Acceptance rates and average review timelines are not officially published.

Landmark Papers

The Lancet Neurology's most-cited contributions are its Global Burden of Disease (GBD) neurology analyses and its landmark dementia reviews. Each DOI below was individually verified to resolve in Crossref (October 2026); the journal title as recorded in Crossref is The Lancet Neurology in every case.

1. Global, regional, and national burden of neurological disorders during 1990–2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. Feigin VL, Abajobir AA, Abate KH, et al. Lancet Neurol. 2017;16(11):877–897. DOI: 10.1016/S1474-4422(17)30299-5. The first GBD analysis devoted entirely to neurological disorders, establishing that they were the leading cause of disability-adjusted life-years worldwide.
2. Global, regional, and national burden of neurological disorders, 1990–2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. GBD 2016 Neurology Collaborators (Feigin VL, Nichols E, Alam T, et al.). Lancet Neurol. 2019;18(5):459–480. DOI: 10.1016/S1474-4422(18)30499-X. Updated the 2015 analysis and remains the canonical reference for the global neurology burden.
3. Global, regional, and national burden of Parkinson's disease, 1990–2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. Dorsey ER, Elbaz A, Nichols E, et al. Lancet Neurol. 2018;17(11):939–953. DOI: 10.1016/S1474-4422(18)30295-3. Documented the doubling of Parkinson's disease prevalence over 26 years and its emergence as the fastest-growing neurological disorder.
4. Global, regional, and national burden of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, 1990–2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. Nichols E, Szoeke CEI, Vollset SE, et al. Lancet Neurol. 2019;18(1):88–106. DOI: 10.1016/S1474-4422(18)30403-4. The definitive GBD dementia analysis, showing dementia as the fifth leading cause of death globally.
5. Global, regional, and national burden of stroke, 1990–2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. GBD 2016 Stroke Collaborators (Johnson CO, Nguyen M, Roth GA, et al.). Lancet Neurol. 2019;18(5):439–458. DOI: 10.1016/S1474-4422(19)30034-1. Quantified stroke as the second leading cause of death worldwide and the third leading cause of death and disability combined.
6. Global, regional, and national burden of epilepsy, 1990–2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. GBD 2016 Epilepsy Collaborators (Beghi E, Giussani G, Nichols E, et al.). Lancet Neurol. 2019;18(4):357–375. DOI: 10.1016/S1474-4422(18)30454-X. The most comprehensive global epilepsy-burden assessment, covering idiopathic and secondary epilepsy.
7. Global, regional, and national burden of traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury, 1990–2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. James SL, Theadom A, Ellenbogen RG, et al. Lancet Neurol. 2019;18(1):56–87. DOI: 10.1016/S1474-4422(18)30415-0. A landmark quantification of the global neurotrauma burden, widely cited in injury-prevention policy.
8. Global, regional, and national burden of disorders affecting the nervous system, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. GBD 2021 Nervous System Disorders Collaborators (Steinmetz JD, Seeher KM, Schiess N, et al.). Lancet Neurol. 2024;23(4):344–381. DOI: 10.1016/S1474-4422(24)00038-3. The most recent GBD nervous-system update, covering 37 conditions and confirming nervous-system disorders as the top cause of global DALYs.
9. Defeating Alzheimer's disease and other dementias: a priority for European science and society. Winblad B, Amouyel P, Andrieu S, et al. Lancet Neurol. 2016;15(5):455–532. DOI: 10.1016/S1474-4422(16)00062-4. A sweeping Commission-style review of the state of dementia science, care, and research priorities in Europe.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is The Lancet Neurology?
It is a monthly, peer-reviewed clinical neurology journal published by Elsevier as part of The Lancet group, established in 2002. It is ranked the #1 journal in clinical neurology worldwide.

What is the impact factor of The Lancet Neurology?
54.6 as displayed on the journal's official metrics page (table labeled 2024 JCR, Clarivate 2025). Note a source conflict: independent aggregators attribute 45.5 to the 2024 release and 54.6 to the 2025 release. The five-year impact factor is 60.2 and the CiteScore is 75.0.

Who is the editor-in-chief of The Lancet Neurology?
Dr. Elena Becker-Barroso, who has been Editor-in-Chief since July 2012 after serving as Senior Editor, Deputy Editor, and Acting Editor of the journal.

What are the ISSNs of The Lancet Neurology?
Print ISSN 1474-4422 and online ISSN 1474-4465.

Is The Lancet Neurology open access?
It is a hybrid journal. Gold open access is available for original research funded by qualifying funders, at an APC of USD 8,810 (as of January 1, 2026); green open access options also exist.

How often is The Lancet Neurology published?
Monthly — 12 issues per year.

What types of articles does The Lancet Neurology publish?
Original research articles (including randomised clinical trials and meta-analyses), Reviews, Rapid Reviews, Comments, Correspondence, Personal Views, and policy-shaping Series and Commissions.

Is The Lancet Neurology indexed in PubMed?
Yes — in MEDLINE/PubMed, the Science Citation Index Expanded, Scopus, Embase, and Current Contents — Clinical Medicine, among others.

Conclusion

The Lancet Neurology has, in just over two decades, become the defining journal of clinical neurology — the venue researchers, clinicians, and policymakers turn to first for practice-changing trials, authoritative reviews, and the global burden-of-disease analyses that set the policy agenda. Its metrics are unmatched in the field: an impact factor of 54.6, a CiteScore of 75, and #1 rankings in both the Journal Citation Reports and Scopus. But the journal's real distinction lies in its editorial model — a professional in-house team led since 2012 by Elena Becker-Barroso, fast-track pathways for urgent science, and the Series and Commissions that deliberately aim to change clinical practice and health policy. For anyone working in neurology, it is not merely the highest-ranked journal; it is the field's central forum.

DEPTH-133-OCT2026