🧠 eLife

• Name: eLife
• Publisher: eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd.
• Founded: 2012
• Focus: Life and biomedical sciences — includes neuroscience, computational biology, and translational research
• Official site: https://elifesciences.org/

Impact Metrics:

• CiteScore (2023): 10.3
• SCImago Rank (SJR): Q1 in Neuroscience and Neurology
• Google Scholar h5-index: 152 (Neuroscience section)

eLife does not publish clinical neurosurgery per se, but is highly relevant for:

• Systems and cognitive neuroscience
• Brain networks and consciousness
• Neuro-oncology mechanisms
• Computational neurosurgery
• AI/neuroimaging innovations
• Deep brain stimulation, epilepsy, neuroplasticity

It’s a top choice for neurosurgeons engaged in translational research or surgical neurophysiology.

• Open review: Reviewer names are published.
• Review histories: Published with accepted articles.
• Author-reviewer dialogue: Encouraged during the decision process.
• eLife “Review Commons”: Pre-peer review transferable to other journals.

🧾 Verdict: A gold standard of peer review transparency and rigor. Minimal bias, constructive tone, rapid feedback.

• Ideal for interdisciplinary work linking surgery with neuroscience.
• High editorial prestige and indexation (PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus).
• Emphasizes mechanisms and functional outcomes rather than just surgical techniques.
• Very citationally impactful in high-level science.

• No acceptance of purely clinical neurosurgical case series or technical notes.
• Not intended for typical operative neurosurgery studies.
• Article processing charge (APC): ~$3,000 USD (waivers available for LMICs or justified requests).

eLife is an outstanding venue for neurosurgeons doing neuroscience-oriented, mechanism-driven, or technologically novel research. It is not a fit for standard surgical case reports, but an excellent outlet for work in:

• Network science in epilepsy or consciousness
• DBS, connectomics, or intraoperative monitoring
• Computational models of tumors or vascular risk
• Neural interfaces or brain–computer interactions

🎯 If your neurosurgical research *asks a neuroscientific question* or *tests a mechanistic hypothesis* — eLife is among the best.

🧠 Tip: Pair eLife submissions with a preprint on bioRxiv and reference your open peer review profile on Sciety.org to maximize transparency and reach.