Journal of Magnetic Resonance Open

The Journal of Magnetic Resonance Open (JMRO), a companion title to the well-known Journal of Magnetic Resonance, is a Gold Open Access peer-reviewed journal that publishes a variety of research articles and reviews on Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and Imaging. Editors welcome original scientific papers in all aspects of magnetic resonance, including nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) of solids and liquids, nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR), magnetic resonance magnetometry, electron spin/paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and in-vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy and imaging (MRS, MRI). Manuscripts dealing with the development of these methodologies, with related technologies and with their cutting-edge applications in all research areas (chemistry, biology, physics), are of particular interest to this Journal. Editors have tailored article types that JMRO accepts to six distinct kinds, believing that these will maximize the benefit resulting from the accessibility provided by Gold Open Access. We divide this kind of articles into Research, Concept, Idea, Protocol, Tutorial and Classroom papers.

Research papers should include hard-core original results in the above fields. Authors are encouraged to provide a contextual description of their research emphasizing on their contribution into a broader context in an Introduction section, comprehensive Experimental and Results sections, and the implications of these to advance the field in a Discussion.

Concept papers will be submissions that combine original research propositions or outlooks, with an overview of the state-of-the-art status in a given subfield. The idea of this class of articles is to fill back the kind of niche that papers in the "Advances in Magnetic Resonance" and in the "Concepts in Magnetic Resonance" series occupied with great success over several decades. We expect these to be relatively long accounts (5,000-10,000 words, ≡10 figures/tables), aimed at specialists that will appreciate new takes, alternative vistas and/or clarifications about concepts, techniques, algorithms and applications in magnetic resonance.

Idea papers will be essays containing novel ideas at an early stage of development. This article type provides an opportunity to disclose breakthroughs early in their gestation -even before their full experimental validation or implications has been completed. Idea papers should be brief, aiming at ca. 2000 words and 4 figures and/or tables. Their format could be similar to regular papers, including an abstract and keywords section, with the length and detail of the remaining sections tailored in accordance to the novelty of the contribution.

Protocol papers will be hands-on descriptions where facility managers, advanced students, postdocs and other experts from academia or industry, share their know-how about setting up and analysing magnetic resonance experiments. What we would like to target is the kind of accumulated knowledge that is essential for running a successful project, but which can rarely make it into a stand-alone publication. We trust to rely heavily on videos in addition to figures and recent text, to facilitate this transfer of knowledge.

Tutorial papers are inspired by the pedagogical efforts we have witnessed in major magnetic resonance conferences (ENC, EUROMAR, ISMRM), and their idea is to present an introduction to either a theoretical or experimental subject in magnetic resonance. These papers should be directed to a learned but non-expert student / practitioner that is interested in the field, and of particular importance is that it be prepared with good pedagogical skills. Tutorial papers do not have to shy from recent or ongoing breakthroughs, but their emphasis would be better spent in clarity rather than comprehensiveness: explain the concepts, describe the protocols, give valuable practical information -help us nurture a new generation of scientists.

Classroom papers will be submissions that are specifically meant to disseminate magnetic resonance teaching efforts, both in the classroom and in the lab, both at graduate and undergraduate levels. The idea here is to publish useful protocols, experiments, solved quizzes and problems, as well as evaluations/feedback from students, that will help us improve our training of the upcoming generation of magnetic resonance practitioners.