The below journals are organized alphabetically.
1. Aging
- Year founded: 2009
- Publication frequency: Twice monthly
- Impact factor: 5.515
With editors including Mikhail Blagosklonny of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Judith Campisi of The Buck Institute for Research on Aging, and co-founded by David Sinclair of the Sinclair Lab at Harvard (and author of popular longevity book Lifespan), you can tell Aging is a powerhouse journal for life extension research.
Aging has published papers from several Nobel Prize winners including Elizabeth Blackburn (who discovered telomerase), and Shinya Yamanaka (who discovered the factors to induce pluripotency in adult stem cells).
Recent published studies include research looking at how resveratrol may enhance the cancer-fighting abilities of immune system T-cells, how anti-aging drugs can help fight COVID-19, and how machine learning tools are helping us understand deep biomarkers of aging and longevity.
2. Aging Cell
- Year founded: 2002
- Publication frequency: Every two months
- Impact factor: 7.346
This open-access journal, published by the Anatomical Society, has covered several important anti-aging research studies including David Sinclair’s research in longevity genes in mice and early research into compounds to extend yeast lifespan, as well as general reviews of interventions to slow aging.
Recent longevity research papers published in Aging Cell include how stress granules seem to mediate the longevity effects of calorie restriction on C-elegans worms, how exercise training seems to reverse cardiac aging in mice, and how inhibition of a specific polymerase can promote autophagy and increase the degradation of α‐synuclein (a protein believed to contribute to the brain “plaque” that causes Parkinson’s).
3. Ageing Research Reviews
- Year founded: 2002
- Publication frequency: Eight issues per year
- Impact factor: 10.390
A hybrid journal that is not wholly open access but supports it by providing access to select studies, Ageing Research Reviews prints review papers across the entire spectrum of aging research and also covers “[a]pplications of basic ageing research to lifespan extension and disease prevention.”
Recent published papers on human life extension research include using telomeric RNA as a possible biomarker for measuring aging, the impact of intermittent fasting on health and longevity, and a general review of what the future holds for lifespan interventions.
4. Biogerontology
- Year founded: 2000
- Publication frequency: Six issues per year
- Impact factor: 3.805
Biogerontology is an aging research journal with a focus on “modulating the ageing process by physical, chemical and biological means.”
It’s not open access but does publish as a hybrid model with open access options.
Some examples of reversing aging research the journal has published include papers on how NADH increases lifespan in fruit fly models, how NAD and autophagy impact cellular health and aging, and how EGCG (found in green tea) can possibly reverse some aspects of “inflammaging” in mice.
5. Experimental Gerontology
- Year founded: 1964
- Publication frequency: Monthly, with special issues in July and October
- Impact factor: 3.08
Experimental Gerontology explicitly welcomes papers “orientated toward the modulation of the aging process” and, though not fully open access, nonetheless contains designated open access articles. It’s published plenty of life extension research, including an early longevity study by David Sinclair.
Some recent, longevity-related studies they’ve published include an investigation into the link between telomerase and ovarian aging in mice and a review covering cellular reprogramming and senescence with respect to aging and regeneration.
6. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience
- Year founded: 2007
- Publication frequency: Continuously online as articles are reviewed (almost daily in 2020)
- Impact factor: 3.633
Fully open access and focused explicitly on how aging impacts the brain, this journal is interested in “insight to the aging process and neurological diseases associated with senescence, and developing treatment strategies aimed at the conservation of neuronal function.”
Interesting recent anti-aging research from Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience includes a review on how plant-derived antioxidants may help protect the brain from aging, and how physical activity can prevent and delay brain aging and neurodegenerative diseases.
7. Gerontology
- Year founded: 1957
- Publication frequency: Six issues per year
- Impact factor: 3.353
The self proclaimed “oldest journal in the field,” Gerontology is devoted to uncovering “the mechanisms of aging and age-related diseases.” As if that wasn’t enough to interest spanners, the journal also has a whole section devoted specifically to “regeneration” and defines its mission as “extending active life and enhancing its quality.”
Though not open access, the journal does have a good deal of free life extension research online. Some relevant recent publications include an in-depth review on Metformin and aging, and a discussion on using blood-based approaches to combat and reverse aging.
8. GeroScience
- Year founded: 1978
- Publication frequency: Six issues per year
- Impact factor: 6.444
The official journal of the American Aging Association, GeroScience is focused on not only understanding the mechanisms of aging, but also on “biomedical applications that impact aging.”
The journal is not open access, but a hybrid model with open access options available.
Life extension-related research they’ve published include a study looking at how caloric restriction affects longevity in genetically altered mice, and the importance of cellular senescence in promoting longevity.
9. Immunity and Aging
- Year founded: 2004
- Publication frequency: Continuously online as articles are reviewed (about three times per week in 2020)
- Impact factor: 4.49
An open access journal, Immunity and Aging focuses, predictably, on how aging impacts the immune system and, of interest to longevity advocates, on “the potential for interventions to increase lifespan.”
Articles like this review on the importance of immune cells to removing damaging and pro-aging senescent cells will be of particular interest for budding longevity researchers.
10. The Journals of Gerontology: Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences
- Year founded: 1946
- Publication frequency: Monthly
- Impact factor: 4.711
Another claimant for the oldest “journals on aging,” this publication of the Gerontological Society of America is not open access, though it does have quite a lot of free content, including entire free issues.
There is also a Series B of this journal that focuses on the psychology of aging, but it does not cover therapies or interventions to slow or stop aging and so I’ve not included it on this list.
The research published by The Journals of Gerontology: Series A is, however, of great interest to anti-aging advocates, and includes recent studies like a comparison of the life extension effects of rapamycin and resveratrol in mice, and even an entire special issue devoted to caloric restriction and restrictive diets and how they impact aging.
11. Mechanisms of Ageing and Development
- Year founded: 1972
- Publication frequency: Eight issues per year
- Impact factor: 3.603
Similar to other journals on this list, including the below-mentioned Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, this journal emphases research on the cellular and metabolic mechanisms and pathways of aging. Mechanisms of Ageing and Development also encourages investigations into “innovative anti-aging approaches” for researchers submitting papers.
While not fully open access, the journal supports open access as a hybrid model and includes several open access articles in most issues. Recent research relevant to life extension science includes how specific signalers in the Hippo pathway could be crucial to tissue regeneration and regenerative medicine, and an examination of how a telomere “clock” may impact cellular senescence.
12. Neurobiology of Aging
- Year founded: 1980
- Publication frequency: Monthly
- Impact factor: 4.398
Not open access but published on a hybrid model that “supports open access,” Neurobiology of Aging, like the above-mentioned Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, has an especial focus on how aging impacts the brain.
Recent articles of note include a study on how suspected anti-aging molecule resveratrol can help to break up amyloid-β peptides (thought to cause Alzheimer’s), and the potential for using autophagy to arrest age-related neurodegenerative diseases.
13. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity
- Year founded: 2008
- Publication frequency: Continuously online as articles are reviewed (almost daily in 2020)
- Impact factor: 4.868
This open access journal focuses on oxidative processes within the body and their impact on aging and on chronic diseases and disorders.
Recent relevant anti-aging research includes the role of oxidative stress in skin aging, and how curcumin (from turmeric) has anti-cancer and DNA demethylation effects.
14. Rejuvenation Research
- Year founded: 1998
- Publication frequency: Six issues per year
- Impact factor: 3.811
Founded by well-known life extension advocate and SENS founder Aubrey de Grey, and originally titled the Journal of Anti-Aging Medicine, Rejuvenation Research is everything you would expect with that pedigree.
Unfortunately not open access, most issues nonetheless have several free articles included.
Recent published research includes the role of telomerase in protection from neurodegenerative diseases, and using stem cell transplantation to slow or reverse aging.
Honorable mentions
There were several journals I found that may still be of interest, but that didn’t quite have high enough impact factors (or in one case, an impact factor I couldn’t find) to be included in the main list, or that have not yet launched (as in the case of Nature Aging). I’ve added them below alphabetically if you wanted to check them out.
- Current Aging Science
- Impact factor: 1.01
- Interventions in Aging (recently launched)
- Impact factor: N/A
- Journal of Aging Science
- Impact factor: 1.860
- Nature Aging (launching in January, 2021)
- Impact factor: N/A
- Nutrition and Healthy Aging
- Impact factor: 1.21
- Translational Medicine of Aging
- Impact factor: Unknown
