Abstract
It is my great pleasure to announce the launch of the Journal of Experimental Neuroscience, a new open access, peer-reviewed electronic journal that publishes original papers on nervous system structure and function, from molecular to behavioral levels of inquiry. Our Journal focuses on five general areas of neuroscience: 1) Molecular, Cellular and Developmental; 2) Systems and Computational; 3) Cognitive and Behavioral; 4) Plasticity and Repair; 5) Diseases and Disorders. All articles will be considered for publication; however, preferential consideration will be given to reports of significant interest to the broad neuroscience community. Mini- and full-length reviews are typically invited by the Editor-in-Chief, however, unsolicited outlines for suggested work will be considered.
As an open access publication, the Journal of Experimental Neuroscience will be accessible without any boundaries to all internet users throughout the world and, therefore, it is expected to considerably impact the neuroscience community. Importantly, the extensive reach of the Journal, afforded by open access, is coupled with the Editors’ commitment to fair, rigorous and prompt peer-review. Moreover, articles will follow a consistent format so that publication quality will equal that of the best hard-copy publications.
In hard-copy journals the costs of publication are met by subscriptions paid by the reader. In electronic open access journals, like the Journal of Experimental Neuroscience, these costs are borne by the author in the form of a publication processing fee. By removing the requirements associated with hard-copy, we are able to offer a single, highly competitive publication charge that automatically includes all benefits conferred by digital technologies including the unlimited use of color, large data sets, links to other web pages and services, animations, video clips and slide shows. These benefits are paired with our full commitment to the faithful and high quality representation of the authors’ data. Publication fee waivers and discounts are available on a case-by-case basis, and we shall make every effort to ensure that lack of funds does not impede the overall objective of publishing the best science, irrespective of authorship or country of origin. Importantly, authors retain copyright of their work and can grant anyone the right to reproduce and disseminate it, provided that it is correctly cited and no errors are introduced, under the Creative Commons “CC-BY” licence.
Based on the benefits of online publications, the extra opportunities that digital technologies offer to authors, and the commitment of our highly qualified Editorial Board and staff, I expect that the Journal of Experimental Neuroscience will attract manuscripts of the highest quality. Furthermore, as a result of its open access format, the Journal is expected to be a major gain for researchers around the world working in institutions that are unable to afford subscription fees for a full range of journals.
With the launching of the Journal of Experimental Neuroscience, it is my hope to provide a unique forum for the communication and advancement of forward-thinking, high quality, multi-disciplinary work at the forefront of our field. We look forward to receiving your submissions. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact the Editor-in-Chief if you would like to discuss the suitability of your contribution to the Journal of Experimental Neuroscience.