2019 PROGRESS REPORT

An award-winning
Open Science platform and leading
Open Access scholarly publisher.
Key facts
Frontiers is an award-winning Open Science platform and leading Open Access scholarly publisher.

Our mission is to make research results openly and freely available to the world, thereby accelerating scientific and technological innovation, societal progress and economic growth. We empower scientists with innovative Open Science solutions that radically improve how science is published, evaluated and disseminated to researchers, innovators and the public.
5th most-cited publisher
3.63
Publishers
Average Citations
Analysis of the world’s 20 largest publishers by volume, ranked by number of average citations received to articles published in 2016, 2017 and 2018 (Scimago, 2019).

Frontiers ranks 5th most-cited with an average of 3.63 citations per article.
Article Citations (total Scopus)
1,343,119
Articles published (total)
137,756
Articles published (per year)
Articles
Year
Total
Submitted
222,860
Accepted
140,625
Rejected
64,384
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
The Frontiers collaborative review objectively certifies quality, validity and rigor of research. It is performed by an external editorial board of researchers, assisted by our peer review team and powered by our custom-built Open Science platform. The review mandate does not focus on potential impact, nor are artificial acceptance or rejection rates imposed. Within this framework, the rejection rate for 2019 was on average 42% across all Frontiers journals, and up to 58% in some fields.
Article views & downloads (total)
701,321,611
Map Views & Downloads
Articles views and downloads (per year)
Open-access journals (total)
Academic disciplines (total)
79
662
Institutional Agreements (total)
164
Frontiers works with research institutions, libraries, consortia and funders to devise and implement innovative plans to support their researchers. New members in 2019 include Yale, MIT, University of Helsinki, Duke, and the Francis Crick Institute.
National Agreements (total)
5
Pioneering and fully transparent national Open Access publishing agreements for research organizations and their researchers in Austria, Sweden, Qatar, the UK and Norway. Frontiers also has a Memorandum of Understanding with Germany to conclude an agreement in 2020.
National agreements simplify the process for authors wishing to publish in Frontiers journals, and help contribute to the growing number of research articles that are openly available to all.
National Agreements Flags National Agreements Flags National Agreements Flags National Agreements FlagsNational Agreements Flags
Top institutional affiliations
Institutions
Total
Authors
483,536
Editors
102,521
University of California System
Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)
Harvard University
University of Texas System
Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren (HZ)
State University System of Florida
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG)
Universidade de São Paulo
University College London
University of Zurich
University of Toronto
University of Copenhagen
University of Oxford
McGill University
La Sapienza University of Rome
Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche (CNR)
The University of Melbourne
Karolinska Institutet (KI)
Johns Hopkins University
University of Washington
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)
University of Cambridge
Duke University
The University of Queensland
University of Pennsylvania
Stanford University
The Ohio State University
University of Pittsburgh
The State University of New York (SUNY)
University of British Columbia
Imperial College London
Cornell University
Monash University
Yale University
King's College London
Columbia University
University of Sydney
University of Southern California
New York University
University of Western Australia
University of Edinburgh
National University of Singapore
University of Michigan
Emory University
Texas A&M University System
Pennsylvania State University (PSU)
Editors (total)
102,521
Editors’ geographical locations
World Map
43%
Europe
31%
North
America
16%
Asia
4%
Oceania
3%
South
America
1%
Africa
Authors (total)
483,536
Authors’ geographical locations
World Map
40%
Europe
24%
North
America
29%
Asia
3%
Oceania
4%
South
America
1%
Africa
News mentions of articles (total)
Social media mentions of articles (total)
39,334
1,053,562
Top articles in 2019
Social media mentions of articles
News mentions of articles
Journal Citations
Journal impact is traditionally measured via the number of citations received by the articles published within the journal. Journal Impact Factor and CiteScore, which measure average citations over a given time period, are two indicators of journal quality.

Read our full impact analysis here.
Journal Impact Factor
Impact Factor rankings
Impact Factors displayed according to category rankings. A total of 11,877 journals are indexed in the Journal Citation Reports (2019 JCR update; released by Web of Science Group in June 2019). The analysis here includes the 4,197 journals in the 35 subject categories containing at least one Frontiers journal. Red dots indicate Frontiers journals; grey bars represent all other journals in the category.
Impact Factor by journal
A journal's 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 JCR analysis released in 2019 is based on citations in 2018 to articles published in 2016 and 2017.
Most cited journals in the 2019-JCR update
Journals
Citations
      Ranking of the top 10 most-cited journals in several JCR categories (2019 update released by Web of Science Group in June 2019, based on 2018 source data). Bar plots show the total number of citations in 2018 to articles published in 2016 and 2017, with Frontiers journals in red. *Neurosciences: The ranking is calculated from total citations for all journals in the Frontiers Neuroscience journal series, in the Neurosciences category (JCR 2019 update). The Frontiers Neuroscience journal series includes all Frontiers journals in the field of Neuroscience.
      Journal CiteScore
      CiteScore rankings
      Citescores displayed according to category rankings. A total of 23,891 journals are indexed in the CiteScore 2018 edition across 330 categories (Scopus, 2019). The analysis here includes the 10,337 journals in the 73 subject categories containing at least one Frontiers journal. Red dots indicate Frontiers journals; grey bars represent all other journals in the category.
      CiteScore by journal
      The CiteScore journal impact metric represents the average citations received in a specific year to articles published in the previous three years. The CiteScore 2018 edition is therefore based on citations in 2018 to articles published in 2015, 2016 and 2017. CiteScore was launched in December 2016, covers journal titles in Elsevier’s Scopus database and is released once a year.
      Most cited journals in the 2018 CiteScore edition
      Journals
      Citations
          Ranking of the top 10 most-cited journals in several 2018 CiteScore categories (released in 2019 by Scopus, Elsevier). Bar plots show the total number of citations in 2018 to articles published in 2015, 2016 and 2017, with Frontiers journals in red. *Neurosciences: The ranking is calculated from total citations for all journals in the Frontiers Neuroscience journal series, in the Neuroscience subject area (CiteScore 2018 edition). The Frontiers Neuroscience journal series includes all Frontiers journals in the field of Neuroscience.
          Research topics
          Increasing impact
          and discoverability

          Frontiers’ Research Topics are peer-reviewed special issues. They unite the world’s leading experts around the hottest topics in research, stimulating collaboration and accelerating science.

          Managed and disseminated on Frontiers’ customized Open Science platform, Research Topics are free to access and highly visible, increasing the discoverability, readership, and citations of the research. A freely shareable and downloadable eBook is also available for the most impactful collections.
          Research Topics views & downloads (total)
          416,231,804
          Research Topics with eBooks (total)
          2,157
          Spotlight Award
          Every year, 10 outstanding Research Topics are selected as finalists of the Frontiers Spotlight Award. This international research prize recognizes the most innovative and impactful topics. The winning team of editors receives $100,000 to organize an international scientific conference on the theme of their successful collection.
          Spotlight winner
          Spotlight winner
          Spotlight winner
          Spotlight finalists
          Spotlight finalists
          Spotlight finalists
          Spotlight finalists
          Spotlight finalists
          Spotlight finalists
          Spotlight finalists
          Collaborative Peer Review
          Rigorous, constructive,
          transparent and fast

          Peer review is at the heart of the publishing process, and constantly improving peer review has been a priority. Our unique system is engineered to be rigorous, yet at the same time efficient, collaborative, transparent and fair. These guiding principles are integrated into our sophisticated online review platform, the Collaborative Review Forum.
          Average time
          from submission to decision
          90 days
          Average time for online
          publication of accepted articles
          21 days
          Authors rated our Review Process as good/excellent
          84%
          • Excellent
          • Good
          • Average
          • Poor
          • 57%
          • 27%
          • 5%
          • 10%
          3,356 authors surveyed in 2019
          Reviewers rated our Review Process as good/excellent
          92%
          • Excellent
          • Good
          • Average
          • Poor
          • 52%
          • 40%
          • 5%
          • 2%
          2,335 reviewers surveyed in 2019
          Editors rated our Review Process as good/excellent
          89%
          • Excellent
          • Good
          • Average
          • Poor
          • 47%
          • 42%
          • 5%
          • 5%
          626 editors surveyed in 2019
          Frontiers for Young Minds
          Science edited for kids, by kids

          Frontiers for Young Minds is a philanthropic outreach program that involves young people (8 - 15 years old) in the review process of real scientific papers and brings the latest, cutting-edge research into the classroom.
          Hebrew launch event
          In addition to English, Frontiers for Young Minds is also available in Hebrew. As part of the official launch event in Israel, leading scientists gave short lectures to kids on the science of the future, including autonomous cars, space travel and organ printing.
          Speakers (top scientists)
          Attendees (children & parents)
          7
          1,000
          Hebrew event
          Hebrew event
          2019 article highlights
          Loop
          The open network that maximizes the impact of researchers and their discoveries

          Loop profiles of authors, editors and reviewers are integrated into all Frontiers research articles, journal webpages, editorial board listings, and article reviews on the Collaborative Peer Review Forum. Loop profiles guarantee transparency and accountability in the peer review process and enhance researcher recognition.

          Smart algorithms connect researchers to their community and disseminate their research into a network of researchers with related interests, which greatly improves article discoverability and, ultimately, author-level and article-level impact.
          Loop key figures
          60,000
          Institutions
          715,000
          Academics
          88,000,000
          Searchable
          publications
          Innovations
          When Frontiers launched, the bold decision was made to build our technology in-house. This has resulted in a highly scalable digital platform, custom-developed for the needs of our authors, reviewers, editors and readers.
          2019
          New search
          Rebuilt search functionality making it easier to find articles, research topics, journals and people, helping to maximize the dissemination of research.
          Artificial Intelligence Review Assistant (AIRA) updates
          Greatly improved reviewer suggestions as well as new automated checks to help assess article quality.
          2018
          AIRA - Artificial Intelligence Review Assistant
          The next generation of peer review in which AI and machine learning enable more rigorous quality control and efficiency in the peer review
          My Frontiers
          A new editorial interface that helps authors, editors and reviewers to easily track the status of their manuscripts and assignments
          New submission system
          Streamlined submission system to ensure papers are being submitted to the correct journals to prevent delays
          2017
          AI powered reviewer recommendations
          Improved suggestions for editors on the editorial board experts most relevant to manuscripts
          2016
          Editorial Contributions
          Editorial roles showcased on Loop profiles, providing visibility and accreditation for editorial contributions
          2015
          Research Topic Metrics
          Article views and downloads on all articles aggregated at collection level
          2013
          Frontiers for Young minds
          Free open-access science journal for kids, reviewed by kids
          2012
          Frontiers Research Network - Loop
          Academic profiles and research network to improve content dissemination, innovation and impact.
          2011
          Author-Level Metrics - Pioneer
          Article views and downloads on all articles aggregated at author level
          2010
          Digital Editorial Office
          A dedicated online cockpit for editors to manage their journals, enormously enhancing efficiency, oversight and quality control
          Profiles - Pioneer
          Showcasing published work and career achievements for all authors, editors and reviewers and integrated into all articles and journal pages
          Community Platform
          Profiles enriched with multi-media tools, including events and videos
          Commenting functionality & post-publication review
          On all articles and multi-media content
          2009
          Research Topics
          Themed article collections around trending research
          2008
          Online publishing platform Collaborative Review Forum - Pioneer
          Discussion forum for authors and reviewers during peer review
          Article-Level Metrics and Journal-Level Metrics - Pioneer
          Quantative metrics based on article views and downloads
          Frontiers, first publisher to
          launch a comprehensive IT
          publishing platform
          Frontiers Forum
          Accelerating science-based solutions for healthy lives on a healthy planet

          The annual Frontiers Forum brings together a select group of internationally renowned scientists, policy makers and entrepreneurs to discuss groundbreaking new developments for the most critical challenges of our time: extending healthspans, producing food in a sustainable way, providing clean energy, reversing climate change and preserving biodiversity. The aim is to spark and speed up collaborations that take these developments out of the lab and into the market, as new policies and urgently needed solutions.
          Attendees
          Online views of speaker talks
          405
          1,589,416
          Speakers
          16
          speakers 01
          speakers 02
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