Journal of Neuroscience Methods

The Journal of Neuroscience Methods publishes papers that describe new methods that are specifically for neuroscience research conducted in invertebrates, vertebrates or in man. Major methodological improvements or important refinements of established neuroscience methods are also considered for publication. The Journal's Scope includes all aspects of contemporary neuroscience research, including anatomical, behavioural, biochemical, cellular, computational, molecular, invasive and non-invasive imaging, optogenetic, and physiological research investigations.

The Journal no longer publishes papers that exclusively deal with research on skin, muscle (and muscle function, evoked muscle activity, EMG, motor evoked potentials, kinematics, motor learning, rehabilitation) and eye (retina, EOG, hand-eye co-ordination). Analytical and binding methods for neuroactive drugs/neurotransmitters/other endogenous nervous system substances, as well as manuscripts that deal with language, toxicology, clinical trials and case reports are also not considered for publication.

Manuscripts based exclusively on the reanalysis of publicly available datasets will only be considered if they provide significant methodological innovation, rigorous benchmarking or comparison of methods, or novel insights of clear relevance to experimental neuroscience methodology.

Finally, manuscripts dealing exclusively with new algorithms/softwares or new tools. Software without a scientific/research component are not considered for publication in this Journal.

Regarding review articles, the Journal primarily considers critical methodological reviews with substantial methodological analysis. The Journal does not generally publish scoping reviews, descriptive literature surveys, or systematic reviews that lack a strong methodological focus. Review articles should critically evaluate methodologies, discuss their strengths and limitations, address issues of validation, reproducibility, standardization, and benchmarking, and provide practical guidance and future methodological directions for researchers.