Manuscript Preparation Instructions
Scope of the Journal
Streamlined Submission
Registered Reports
Open Science Badges
Article Types
Basic Formatting Guide
Supplementary Material
Language Editing Pre-Submission
Preprints
Scope of the Journal
Neuroscience of Consciousness is an open access journal which publishes papers on the biological basis of consciousness, welcoming contributions from neuroscience, cognitive science, psychology, philosophy, computer science, and allied disciplines. Submissions can be empirical, methodological, theoretical, or philosophical, and need not directly address the biological basis of consciousness so long as the relevance to this topic is clear. As well as the primary phenomenon of consciousness itself, relevant topics include interactions between conscious and unconscious processes; selfhood; emotion; metacognition and higher-order consciousness; intention, volition, and agency; individual differences in consciousness; altered states of consciousness; disorders of consciousness in psychiatry and neurology; and consciousness in infants, non-human animals, and machines. The journal publishes research articles (including registered reports), review articles, brief communications, and ‘spotlight’ commentaries. See instructions to authors for more information on article types.
The journal supports Open Science Badges to acknowledge open science practices. These badges are offered as incentives to share data and materials and preregister research, and signal to the reader that the content has been made available in a persistent location. The journal also welcomes registered report submissions. More information can be found here.
Streamlined Submission
Neuroscience of Consciousness has a streamlined submission process designed to avoid unnecessary work. Please submit your manuscript to the journals online submission system. To contact the editorial office, please email [email protected].
Manuscripts can be submitted in any common document format that can be easily opened and read by others. A single PDF file is usually reliable. When formatting your submission it is helpful to ask: Would I enjoy reading and reviewing a manuscript formatted in this way? Some reviewers find it easier to assess manuscripts that use double line spacing. A basic formatting guide is given below.
Registered Reports
Neuroscience of Consciousness participates in the Registered Reports initiative. Registered Reports emphasize the importance of the research question and the quality of methodology by conducting peer review prior to data collection. High quality protocols are then provisionally accepted for publication if the authors follow through with the registered methodology. This format of article is designed to minimise bias in deductive science, while also allowing complete flexibility to conduct exploratory (unregistered) analyses and report serendipitous findings.
The cornerstone of the Registered Reports format is that a significant part of the manuscript will be assessed prior to data collection, with the highest quality submissions accepted in advance. Initial submissions will include a description of the key research question and background literature, hypotheses, experimental procedures, analysis pipeline, a statistical power analysis (or Bayesian equivalent), and pilot data (where applicable).
Initial submissions will be triaged by an editorial team for suitability. Those that pass triage will then be sent for in-depth peer review (Stage 1). Following review, the article will then either be rejected or accepted in principle for publication. Following in principle acceptance (IPA), the authors will then proceed to conduct the study, adhering exactly to the peer-reviewed procedures. When the study is complete the authors will submit their finalised manuscript for re-review (Stage 2) and will provide their raw data, digital study materials, and laboratory log as supplementary material. Pending quality checks and a sensible interpretation of the findings, the manuscript will be published regardless of the results.
For more information, please see the journal’s Registered Reports Guidelines.
Open Science Badges
Neuroscience of Consciousness supports Open Science Badges to acknowledge open science practices. These badges are offered as incentives to share data and materials and preregister research, and signal to the reader that the content has been made available in a persistent location. These badges will feature in the published article. When submitting a manuscript, authors should indicate the desired badge, and include a completed Open Science Badge application form and eligibility will be confirmed upon acceptance.
The four badges are as follows:
- Open Materials Badge: This will be granted to authors who deposit research materials needed to reproduce the reported procedure and analysis in an Open Access repository; for example, the Open Science Framework (for other repositories please consult the Registry of Research Data Repositories). Open materials criteria can be found here, and a link should be given in the submitted paper with a link to the deposited materials.
- Open Data Badge: This will be awarded to authors who deposit their data in an Open Access repository (either an entire dataset or part of it, or a transformed dataset, as long as an independent researcher can reproduce the reported results). Criteria can be found here, and a link to the deposited data should be included in the paper.
- Preregistered Badge: This is awarded for having a preregistered design. A preregistered design includes: (1) Description of the research design and study materials including planned sample size, (2) Description of motivating research question or hypothesis, (3) Description of the outcome variable(s), and (4) Description of the predictor variables including controls, covariates, independent variables (conditions). When possible, the study materials themselves are included in the preregistration. More information can be found here.
- Preregistered Plus Analysis Plan Badge: This is awarded for having a preregistered research design (described above) and an analysis plan for the research and reporting results according to that plan. An analysis plan includes specification of the variables and the analyses that will be conducted. More information can be found here.
Please note that for all four badges, manuscripts should contain a link to data, materials, or preregistered research in the Open Science Framework or other recognised repository.
Article Types
Research Article: Report on important original research relevant to the scope of Neuroscience of Consciousness, not normally more than 9,000 words, with a max. 250 word abstract. Original research can be experimental, theoretical, conceptual, or methodological in nature.
Review Article: Provide a formal systematic review of recent progress in a particular field relevant to Neuroscience of Consciousness. Submission should not normally exceed 10,000 words, with a max. 250 word abstract.
Rapid Communications: Short articles, not normally exceeding 3,000 words (with a max. 250 word abstract.), presenting timely, original empirical research meriting accelerated publication. Articles submitted as Rapid Communications but which are not deemed urgent enough to justify accelerated publication may still be published as a Research Paper.
Registered Reports: A form of empirical article in which the methods and proposed analyses are pre-registered and reviewed prior to research being conducted. Initial (Stage 1) submissions should include an introduction, methods section, and should include any available pilot data. Stage 2 submissions should also include results and a discussion data. Raw data, digital study materials, and analysis code as appropriate should be included as supplementary material. For more information on format and style, please see the journal’s Registered Reports Guidelines. Initial (Stage 2) submissions should not exceed 7,000 words, and Stage 2 submissions should not normally exceed 9,000 words (with, in addition, Supplementary Material as requested for this submission type).
Methods and Resources Articles: Articles that are primarily focused on making datasets, stimulus sets, toolboxes etc. available to the consciousness science community. Articles should make resources available in an easy-to-use format, with accompanying article text focused on describing the rationale for making the resources broadly available as well as the methododological approaches and the types of resources, and potentially providing illustrative analyses. Submissions should not normally exceed 7,000 words (with, in addition, Supplementary Material as appropriate).
Spotlight Commentary: Short articles, max. 1,500 words, with a max. 100 word abstract, providing an informed opinion on specific high profile recent research.
Basic Formatting Guide
(i) Submitted papers should conform to these constraints:
[maximum length, maximum abstract length, maximum no. of references]
Research Articles: [9,000, 250, n/a]
Review Articles: [10,000, 250, n/a]
Rapid Communications: [3,000, 250, 20]
Spotlight Commentaries: [1,500, 100, 10]
Please note that all manuscript submissions at initial and revised submission should be submitted in an editable file format (i.e. not PDF).
(ii) On the first page please include the title of paper, all author names, all author affiliations, using this format: department, institution, city, state, country. Please also include the mailing address and email address of one corresponding author. If there are multiple corresponding authors then nominate one for communication with the editorial office.
(iii) Authorship - Authorship is confined to those who have made a significant contribution to the design and execution of the work described. Any contributors whose participation does not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged but not listed as an author. For a detailed definition of authorship, please see the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) definitions of authors and contributors.
The Journal does not allow ghost authorship, where an unnamed author prepares the article with no credit, or guest/gift authorship, where an author who made little or no contribution is listed as an author. The Journal follows Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidance on investigating and resolving these cases. For more information, please see the OUP Publication Ethics page.
After manuscript submission, no authorship changes (including the authorship list, author order, and who is designated as the corresponding author) should be made without the approval of the editor. All co-authors must agree on the change(s), and neither the Journal nor the publisher mediates such disputes. If individuals cannot agree on the authorship of a submitted manuscript, contact the editorial office. The dispute must be resolved among the individuals and their institution(s) before the manuscript can be accepted for publication. If an authorship dispute or change arises after a paper is accepted, contact OUP’s Author Support team. COPE provides guidance for authors on resolving authorship disputes.
(iv) CRediT - The Journal uses the contributor roles taxonomy (CRediT), which allows authors to describe the contributor roles in a standardized, transparent, and accurate way. Authors should choose from the contributor roles outlined on the CRediT website and supply this information upon submission. You may choose multiple contributor roles per author. Any other individuals who do not meet authorship criteria and made less substantive contributions should be listed in your manuscript as non-author contributors with their contributions clearly described. Following manuscript submission, any changes to contributor roles require the approval of the editor.
(v) We suggest a maximum length of 250 words for the Abstract. Avoid reference citations and abbreviations in the Abstract.
(vi) Research and rapid communication articles should include the following sections, in this order: Abstract, Introduction, Methods and Materials, Results, Discussion, Summary or Conclusions.
(viii) Tables and figures can be placed wherever the authors think is best, but should be large enough to be readable and include a title. Figures should be accompanied by a legend. Footnotes can be added to tables where appropriate. Try to avoid overcrowding in tables and unnecessary clutter in figures. Please use a common image format for figures (e.g. pdf, eps, gif, tif, jpg). The initial submission can have figures inline in the text rather provided as separate files. You must number all Figures (e.g., Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3) and reference them in the text.
(ix) Videos can be published in the online article, with a still image of the video appearing in the print version. Please submit videos in MP4 format. Still images to be used in the print version should attempt to represent the main subject of the video. Any supplementary videos that you do not want to be included in the article itself can be uploaded as supplementary data. All videos should have an accompanying legend.
(x) References and citations can be formatted in any readable style at submission, although authors are responsible for their accuracy.
(xi) In order to meet your funding requirements authors are required to name their funding sources, or state if there are none, during the submission process. Please refer here for further information on this process or to find out more about the CHORUS initiative. Acknowledgements and details of funding sources should be included at the end of the text. Please refer to your funding organisations for the correct way to acknowledge their support.
(xii) Please include a statement of data availability after the Acknowledgements section of your article. For example: Data available at doi:10.5061/dryad.XXXX; Data available at OpenfMRI accession number dsXXXXXX (https://openfmri.org/dataset/dsXXXXXX); Data available in supplementary material; Data not publically available. Where datasets have a DOI, please cite the data in the text, and place the citation in the reference section. Information on our data availability policy is available here.
(xiii) Please include at submission all files containing supplementary material. Supplementary text, figures and tables can be compiled into a single PDF for submission. Supplementary data files should be included separately.
Please also define non-standard abbreviations at the first occurrence and number figures and tables consecutively.
Footnotes should be avoided.
Upon revision papers should be submitted in an editable file format (i.e. not PDF) and figures should be submitted as separate, high-resolution, files.
Figure accessibility and alt text
Incorporating alt text (alternative text) when submitting your paper helps to foster inclusivity and accessibility. Good alt text ensures that individuals with visual impairments or those using screen readers can comprehend the content and context of your figures. The aim of alt text is to provide concise and informative descriptions of your figure so that all readers have access to the same level of information and understanding, and that all can engage with and benefit from the visual elements integral to scholarly content. Including alt text demonstrates a commitment to accessibility and enhances the overall impact and reach of your work.
Alt text is applicable to all images, figures, illustrations, and photographs.
Alt text is only accessible via e-reader and so it won’t appear as part of the typeset article.
Detailed guidance on how to draft and submit alt text.
Suggested Reviewers
To assist editors in situating your research and to expedite the review process, please provide at least five names and contact details for suggested reviewers. Please consider diversity when making suggestions for reviewers, including not only senior academics but also researchers at other career stages; also please consider including researchers of different genders and researchers from different geographical regions. Suggested reviewers may or may not be invited for review and the editors may also identify further reviewers.
Supplementary Material
Supplementary material that is not essential for inclusion in the full text of the manuscript, but would nevertheless benefit the reader, will be placed online by the journal, and linked to the manuscript. The material should not be essential to understanding the conclusions of the paper, but should contain data that is additional or complementary and directly relevant to the article content. Such information might include more detailed methods, extended data sets/data analysis, or additional figures.
We strongly encourage authors to deposit data in a public repository that assigns a permanent URL (DOI) or accession number, rather than uploading datasets as supplementary data.
All material to be considered as supplementary data must be submitted at the same time as the main manuscript for peer review. It cannot be altered or replaced after the paper has been accepted for publication, and will not be edited. Please make sure this material is checked carefully. Please indicate clearly all material intended as supplementary data upon submission and name the files e.g. 'Supplementary Figure 1', 'Supplementary Data', etc. Also ensure that the supplementary data is referred to in the main manuscript where necessary, for example as '(see Supplementary data)' or '(see Supplementary Figure 1)'.
Language Editing Pre-Submission
Particularly if English is not your first language, before submitting your manuscript you may wish to have it edited for correct usage of English. This is not a mandatory step, but may help to ensure that the academic content of your paper is fully understood by journal editors and reviewers. Language editing does not guarantee that your manuscript will be accepted for publication. If you would like information about one such service provided by SPi, you can find out more here. There are other specialist language editing companies that offer similar services and you can also use any of these. Authors are liable for all costs associated with such services.
Preprints
Authors retain the right to make a preprint version of the article available in free public servers of preprints and/or articles in their subject area. Authors making their manuscripts available in this way must clearly note this in their submission. For further information see our Online Licensing, Copyright and Permissions policies. If accepted, the authors are required to update the status of any preprint, including your published paper’s DOI, as described on our Author Self-Archiving policy page.
Once the manuscript has been accepted the authors must acknowledge that the article has been accepted for publication as follows:
"This article has been accepted for publication in [Journal Title] ©: [year] [owner as specified on the article] Published by Oxford University Press [on behalf of xxxxxx]. All rights reserved."
Additional Author Resources
For additional information regarding submitting a manuscript, what to expect through the publication process, and guidance on how to promote your published article, please see our Author Resources.
