Neuro Forum Guidelines
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.
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.
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