Author Requirements
To submit a Neuro Forum manuscript, authors must be current students or postdoctoral fellows (including medical residents). Faculty, either in tenure stream or non-tenure stream positions, is excluded. Multiple authorship is allowed. Authors of Neuro Forum submissions must comply with the same requirements as other JN authors regarding ethical issues (including plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and multiple submission) and conflict of interest (please see the APS Ethical Policies and Standards for details).
Target article requirements
Neuro Forum submissions may either be based on a single target article or they may comprise a mini-review of a topic in neurophysiology with significant recent advancements. For single target article submissions, the target article may have been published in any journal within the past 3 months (at the time of submission). The target article will most typically be an exciting finding in some area of neurophysiology, broadly defined, but could also include work from other areas of neuroscience of compelling interest to neurophysiologists such as neuroanatomy, neurochemistry or neural computation. For mini-review submissions, significant advances in the field must have been published within the last year. You should not submit a manuscript to Neuro Forum if you have another manuscript examining the same or an overlapping set of target articles under review, recently published (within the last year), or in press elsewhere. Target articles should not be from the author’s current or former laboratory.
Content and Format
Submissions, both those based upon single target articles and mini-reviews are limited to 3 printed pages (this corresponds to ~2,300 words) including a maximum of 12 references and one original schematic/explanatory figure. This figure can include color if it is scientifically necessary. The figure should not, in whole or in part, reproduce material from other sources.
The title page should include the names, affiliations and contact information for all of the authors. The title should be clear and informative and should avoid wordplay. Submissions based upon single target articles should give the full citation for the target article on the title page. Four keywords should be provided for indexing purposes. Brief acknowledgments, to be placed on the title page, are allowed.
The submission should start with a standalone brief abstract of 3 sentences or 75 words maximum. Authors should endeavor to make their writing accessible to a broad readership of neuroscientists. Thus, specialized jargon and abbreviations should be avoided. More importantly, the scientific context and rationale for the studies presented should be clearly and concisely articulated. It is not necessary to discuss every figure in a paper, although crucial controls, analytic techniques and statistical issues can be mentioned. Please strive for an evenhanded and constructive critique. Overly harsh or laudatory prose is not appropriate and will be cause for rejection. The purpose of Neuro Forum pieces is not merely to summarize recent research, but rather to enhance the readers understanding of it. As such, it useful to consider possible alternative explanations for the conclusions of the target articles. If the target articles provide data bearing upon an ongoing scientific dispute, it is worthwhile to explain the dispute and the role of the new study. A brief discussion of future questions and avenues for research prompted by the work is also useful.
While it is reasonable to briefly present your own theoretical ideas that are prompted by the target articles, these should be clearly indicated as such and should comprise no more than a single paragraph. Neuro Forum should not be a venue for extensive explication of ones own theoretical ideas.
It’s appropriate and desirable to seek feedback and advice from your colleagues, including faculty. However, the main ideas and the text itself should all be generated by the authors.
Review Procedures
Reviews will be conducted by the Chief Editor and Associate Editors. Occasionally, submissions will be sent for external review. Submissions will be evaluated for scientific accuracy, logic, clarity and general interest. Successful submissions will not merely summarize the target article but will evaluate it critically, place it in context and suggest further lines of inquiry. Manuscripts requiring major revisions cannot be accepted due to time constraints. While accepted manuscripts will receive feedback for minor revision, rejected manuscripts will not receive detailed reviews. Decisions on Neuro Forum submissions cannot be appealed.
Submission Instructions
Neuro Forum submissions are made through the JN website. No submission fee is required and no page charges or color charges will be levied for accepted manuscripts. Offprints will be billed at the normal rate. Presubmission enquiries to the Chief Editor (dlinden@jhmi.edu) are encouraged. These can help to assure that a target article or minireview topic are appropriate and timely and have not already been covered by another submission.