====== Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience ======

=== 📊 Overview ===
* '''Publisher''': Frontiers Media SA
* '''Launch''': 2009
* '''Indexing''': PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science (SCI-E)
* '''Impact Factor (2025)''': ≈ 4.5  
* '''CiteScore''': ≈ 8.6  
* '''Field''': Aging, neurodegeneration, cognitive decline, dementia

=== ✅ Strengths ===
  * **High visibility and citation metrics**
    * Q1 journal in aging neuroscience.
    * >180,000 citations since launch.
    * 4th most cited journal in Geriatrics & Gerontology (open access).
  
  * **Interactive peer review**
    * Dialogue-based system among reviewers, editors, and authors.
    * Median time to first decision: 6–8 weeks.
  
  * **Open access & global reach**
    * All content immediately available.
    * Strong discoverability and dissemination in non-subscribed institutions.

=== ⚠️ Weaknesses and Criticisms ===
  * **Publisher reputation (Frontiers Media)**
    * Previously listed in Jeffrey Beall’s list of potentially predatory publishers.
    * Criticized for pressuring editors to accept more papers and for monetizing the APC (article processing charge) model.

  * **Peer review concerns**
    * Reports of inconsistent quality and potential editorial bias toward acceptance.
    * Editorial independence questioned in past controversies (e.g., removal of rigorous editors).

  * **Ethical oversight**
    * Past retractions in sister journals (e.g., *Frontiers in Psychology*) due to editorial interference and ethical disputes.

=== 🧭 Who Should Consider It? ===
^ You are... ^ Verdict ^
| A researcher seeking fast, visible publication | '''Recommended''' |
| Focused on top-tier selectivity and academic prestige | '''Use with caution''' |
| A clinician referencing systematic reviews | '''Check methodology critically''' |

=== 📌 Summary Judgment ===
Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience is a widely cited, open-access journal with rapid review and good thematic focus on aging-related neuroscience. However, concerns about publisher practices, peer review rigor, and editorial independence warrant a critical eye when publishing or citing.

=== 🔎 Tips Before Submitting or Citing ===
  * Analyze reviewer comments if available.
  * Assess author background and affiliations.
  * Prioritize well-structured, methodologically robust articles.
  * Consider alternative journals for high-prestige submissions (e.g., ''Aging Cell'', ''Neurobiology of Aging'').