eLife Sciences Publications Ltd · ISSN 2050-084X
eLife impact factor, and the open numbers behind it.
Short answer
The Journal Impact Factor is a licensed Clarivate metric, so we do not reproduce it. The closest open equivalent is OpenAlex's two-year mean citedness: 2.08 citations per paper for eLife, retrieved 23 Oct 2026.
Key metrics
- Two-year mean citedness
- 2.08Citations per paper, papers from the two prior yearsSource: OpenAlex
- h-index
- 311Across all yearsSource: OpenAlex
- Papers in 2025
- 5,18932,646 in totalSource: OpenAlex
- Access
- OpenAPC about $2,500Source: OpenAlex
Papers per year.
How many works eLife published in each complete year, as indexed by OpenAlex.
Fig. 1Works per year from OpenAlex. Retrieved 23 Oct 2026.
What eLife publishes.
Mostly Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Cognitive Neuroscience and Molecular Biology, within Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology.
- Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
- Neural dynamics and brain function
- Developmental Biology and Gene Regulation
- Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics
- Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research
Most frequent research topics in OpenAlex.
Journals with a similar citation profile.
| Journal | Two-year mean citedness | h-index | Access |
|---|---|---|---|
| eLife | 2.08 | 311 | Open |
| JBC | 1.96 | 781 | Open |
| Biology Open | 1.79 | 77 | Open |
| STAR Protocols | 1.74 | 47 | Open |
| Evolution | 2.80 | 362 | Subscription |
About eLife.
Comment 1What is the eLife impact factor?
The Journal Impact Factor is a licensed Clarivate metric, so we do not reproduce it. The closest open equivalent is OpenAlex's two-year mean citedness: 2.08 citations per paper for eLife, retrieved 23 Oct 2026.
Comment 2Is eLife open access?
Yes, eLife is fully open access, with an article processing charge of about $2,500.
Comment 3How many papers does eLife publish a year?
OpenAlex records 5,189 works in 2025, and 32,646 in total.
Sources
- 1. OpenAlex source record · retrieved 23 Oct 2026
The Journal Impact Factor is a Clarivate metric and is not reproduced here.