The Journal of Neuroscience was founded in 1981 to publish the strongest research in the emerging field of neuroscience and to serve the membership of the Society for Neuroscience. The journal's editors are working scientists who strive to implement the Society's values for scientific publication and who are strongly committed to promoting scientific advances throughout the neuroscience community. It is therefore important to let our authors and reviewers know about changes JNeurosci is making to meet its goal of publishing high-quality work that reflects advances being made across the diverse landscape of modern neuroscience.
Since the founding of JNeurosci, the field has grown and changed; The Journal of Neuroscience has expanded and adapted along with our evolving field. The journal has moved from an initial monthly, then to a biweekly and eventually to a weekly publication schedule. It currently publishes more than 1,450 papers a year, well above any other neuroscience journal. Despite the large number of papers published, we continue our commitment to publishing rapidly. Currently, the time between submission and first decision is less than 30 days, and the time between acceptance and publication is approximately 42 days, both among the fastest in our field. Most importantly, the journal continues to publish many high-impact papers. JNeurosci's Eigenfactor, a measure of impact that is not diminished by the large number of papers we publish, is 0.41, almost twice that of any other journal focusing on neuroscience. Overall, JNeurosci thus remains one of the most respected publishers of neuroscience research.
JNeurosci is committed to continuing to serve the field by reflecting the breadth of neuroscience and by adapting and improving as the publishing environment changes. We have recently added two exciting types of featured reviews: Dual Perspectives, which will present complementary or opposing views on important questions in neuroscience, and Techsights, which will review ground-breaking technical developments that are expected to have a profound impact on neuroscience research. Open access has become increasingly important to our membership, and JNeurosci responded by shortening the time before articles become freely available to 6 months after publication, as well as offering an Open Choice option.
As JNeurosci strives to meet the needs of neuroscientists, it will continue to focus on having a high impact on the field. Because SfN now has two options — eNeuro as well as JNeurosci — to meet the publishing needs of the field, we will be able to make changes to JNeurosci that were not possible or desirable when it was the only SfN journal. Our authors may already have experienced some of the changes that have been put in place to move The Journal of Neuroscience forward and to maintain its impact on the field. Authors are now being asked to identify the significance of their study in terms of conceptual and empirical advances. JNeurosci has also developed more consistent standards for editorial rejection so that manuscripts that might be more appropriate for other journals can receive a rapid decision and move forward without a long delay. The new process involves a consultation between at least two Reviewing Editors and one Senior Editor who have knowledge of the scientific area, thus ensuring that each manuscript is given careful consideration. The decision letter now outlines the rationale for editorial rejections. JNeurosci still sends out for review a very large majority of manuscripts it receives, in line with our commitment to open, fair scientific review.
As we implement these changes, JNeurosci remains committed to reflecting the diversity of neuroscience. Therefore, evaluation of impact will continue to depend on the degree of conceptual advance within the subfield studied, regardless of the relative size of that particular area of neuroscience. Indeed, the proportion of papers accepted in each journal section closely mirrors that of submitted papers. Submissions from all areas of neuroscience are welcome in JNeurosci and are evaluated solely on the merits of the science presented.
In the future, JNeurosci will continue to adapt and change to serve the neuroscience community. We invite you to submit your most exciting work to JNeurosci and to serve as reviewers when invited to do so. Reviewer engagement is the most important component in the robust and fair review process to which the journal is committed. As part of our commitment to serve the field, we always welcome your suggestions for innovative ideas for continuing to improve The Journal of Neuroscience.
Note from the Publisher
SfN′s two journals, JNeurosci and eNeuro, reflect a commitment to the excellence, rigor, and breadth of scientific publishing for which the Society for Neuroscience is known. To reflect and serve an exciting and evolving field, the Society's publishing options are also evolving. SfN journals offer neuroscientists more choices for how to publish, while you can be confident you are publishing in journals with a reputation for excellence that reinvest in the long-term growth of the neuroscience field. Building on the historic strengths of JNeurosci and the innovative publishing models of eNeuro, the two journals' editors-in-chief, Marina Picciotto and Christophe Bernard, as well as their editorial boards, are exploring how they can best serve publishing needs in the field. Already, they are identifying opportunities to define the studies that will be most appropriate to each journal's format.
JNeurosci will focus on in-depth, well-rounded studies of high scientific quality and impact. eNeuro will have a similar breadth and focus on scientific soundness, but it will also publish studies that present new observations that may not yet have mechanistic underpinnings, as well as papers describing new tools, theories or concepts, negative results, failure to replicate, and confirmations. In keeping with this focus, eNeuro will become the new home for Brief Communications. This is a natural development because manuscripts that reviewers may now consider too preliminary for JNeurosci could be highly appropriate for eNeuro. JNeurosci will still publish short manuscripts and have no lower or upper limit on the number of figures; it will focus on well-rounded papers regardless of length.
To support the complementary roles of JNeurosci and eNeuro, an efficient manuscript transfer process for authors who elect to move scientifically sound papers between the two journals has been developed by the editorial boards of the two journals. If they are not accepted in the journal originally selected by the authors, these articles will be considered by the sister journal, sometimes without additional review. With this interactive relationship, the journals will provide new options for rapid publication, all handled and reviewed by working scientists who have been nominated based on their service to the journals through frequent, thoughtful and constructive manuscript reviews. The addition of eNeuro will allow SfN to publish more articles based on sound science, including those that reviewers might judge to have less depth or a different impact than those required for publication in JNeurosci. As a result, we expect more opportunities for our authors to get their manuscripts published in a journal published by SfN.
The Society thanks authors and members for your strong support. We welcome your ongoing feedback on what we are doing well, and what we can do better. We look forward to serving you and encourage you to submit your excellent science to The Journal of Neuroscience and eNeuro.