ISSN 1983-3288 Online version

INSTRUCCIONES A LOS AUTORES

• Focus and Scope
• Author Guidelines

Psychology & Neurosciences is a new Open Access, peer-reviewed, online journal publishing articles encompassing all intersection areas between psychology and neurosciences.The journal is organized into five thematic sections:

PLASTICITY AND NEURAL DEVELOPMENT

Devoted to publish theoretical and experimental studies concerned with neural mechanisms underlying adaptability, development and plasticity, specially related to its implications to assay the bidirectional relationship between brain and behavior.

CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL NEUROPSYCHOLOGY

This section focuses on the relation between neurological and human cognitive, emotional, and behavioral function, especially from studies employing neuropsychological evaluation.

NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY

This section focuses on clinical, pre-clinical and basic pharmacological studies in human and animal models to address physiological, molecular and behavioral properties of psychotropic agents. Studies primarily employing pharmacological agents as research tools to investigate psychological processes and its neurobiological bases are also encouraged.

BEHAVIOR / SYSTEMS / COGNITION

The primary aim of this section is to publish advances in general topics relating to learning, memory, emotion, cognition, and other psychological systems.

PSYCHOPHYSICS AND PERCEPTION

This section covers studies in sensory processes, perception, attention, and psychophysics. Description of methods, techniques, and instrumentation of research in the field are also encouraged.

The journal is published two times a year and considers the following categories of manuscripts:

REVIEW ARTICLES: critical and comprehensive evaluations of any subject within the journal´s scope, advancing the reader to identify the problem(s) and variables under analysis. It should draw attention to outstanding problems and take care to accommodate different points of view. Limited to 10 PDF published pages, as provided in Item 1.

RESEARCH ARTICLES: reports of original research data derived from ethically regulated methods in human and animals. Limited to 10 PDF published pages in the final version. The authors should estimate that one PDF published page of the article corresponds to three double- spaced pages of the manuscript. Therefore, manuscripts of research articles should not exceed 30 double- spaced pages, including all major subsections, references, tables and figures. For further instructions about manuscript style and format, please access Author Guidelines.

REPORT OF PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: original case reports that improve the practice of psychologists and neuroscientists. The text should include a clear description of procedures or intervention strategies employed. Limited to 7 PDF published pages, as provided in item 1.

SHORT COMMUNICATION: brief but definitive and conclusive reports from original research data. Limited to 4 PDF published pages, as provided in item 1, and should not include more than 12 references.

BOOK REVIEWS: summaries of the currently available books that may be of interest to the audiences of the journal. Limited to 2 PDF published pages, as provided in item 1.

NEWS: report of a significant event related to any intersection area between psychology and neuroscience. Limited to 1 PDF published pages, as provided in item 7.

Peer Review Process

All published articles are peer reviewed. The Editors-in-Chief make an initial appraisal of each manuscript. If the topic and treatment meet the basic guidelines within the journal's scope, the manuscript is assigned to one of the Section Editors according to the thematic sections. They will oversee the review process with the help of Associate Editors, which may be advised by independent expert reviewers. They will ask whether the manuscript is scientifically sound and coherent, how interesting it is and whether the quality of the writing is acceptable. The editorial decision is generally made on the basis that the reviewers are in accordance, or that at least there is no strong dissenting view. Slight modifications in the text could be directly executed by the Editorial Board. Once the review process has been completed, the Associate Editor recommends acceptance, revision, or rejection of the manuscript. The ultimate responsibility for editorial decisions lies with the Editors-in-Chief.

General Information

Manuscripts submitted to the journal involve the tacit assurance that they have not been previously published and are not currently under consideration elsewhere. Manuscripts containing parts of text extracted from other publications, including figures, tables and drawings, should comply with the specified limits to assure originality of the article. It is the author's responsibility to obtain the corresponding written permission to use material in their manuscripts that is protected by Copyright Law. The Journal is not responsible for statements or copyright infringements made by contributors.

A copy of the manuscript and a covering letter stating the author's intent to publish in the journal should be submitted via e-mail to Editors-in-Chief. The submitting author takes responsibility for all information during submission and peer review. Manuscripts submitted under multiple authorship are reviewed on the understanding that all listed authors are in accordance with the submission and that the final version of the manuscript has been seen and approved by all co-authors. The receipt of manuscripts is acknowledged via e-mail as soon as possible. It is very important to note that only a formal acknowledgment from the editorial office officially establishes the date of receipt.

Language

Manuscripts must be written in English. We ask that non-native English speakers ensure their manuscripts be submitted in grammatically correct form. Only manuscripts written in clear and understandable English will be considered.

Detailed Text Formating

The text should be submitted in MS Word (.doc) format using 12-point Times New Roman or Arial. All paragraphs should be justified at the left and right edges in double-line spacing with 6-point spacing before and 6-point spacing after. The pages should be letter-sized or A4, with top and bottom margins of at least 2.5 cm, and left and right margins of at least 3 cm. The manuscripts should not exceed the number of pages according to the type of contribution (1-7).

Citation Format

This journal adopts the American Psychology Association (APA) citation format. Please refer to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA, 5th edition, 2001). Additional information may be found in the Manual and on the World Wide Web at APA Style at: http://www.apastyle.org/faqs.html. The main point in the general guidelines is that the reference list and text citations should agree and be accurate. All references cited in the text must appear in the reference list, and all references listed in the reference list must be cited in the text.

Reference Citation in Text

References should be cited in text by the last name of the author(s) followed by the year of publication. These citations in the text usually appear in parentheses, e.g. (Hobin, Ji, & Maren, 2006) unless the author's name is part of the sentence, e.g., "as previously reported by Hobin, Ji and Maren (2006)".

Note the use of and instead & in this last example. If a parenthetical citation includes two or more articles, separate them by a semicolon in chronological order: (Fanselow & Bolles, 1979; Bolles & Fanselow, 1982; McNaughton & Gray, 2000). When two or more articles by the same author(s) are cited together, the author(s) is listed just once, with the year of the articles following, separated by commas: (Graeff, 2003, 2004). To distinguish articles by the same author(s) published in the same year, append a, b, c, etc., to the date: e.g., Kandel (2005a, 2005b).

The following are representative examples of how to cite in the text according to the number of authors:

One Author

Use the surname (without suffixes such as Jr.) and the year of publication separated by a comma in parentheses. If you have just stated the author's name in the text, put the year of publication only in parentheses: It has been shown that...(Gibson, 2003) Gibson (2003) showed that...

Two Authors

For citing a work with two authors, always cite both author names every time the reference appears in text:...as previously demonstrated (Adler & Schwartz, 2000)

Three to Five Authors

If there are fewer than six authors, cite all of them the first time and subsequently use the first author's name followed by "et al." and the year of publication:
First Entry: Di Chiara, Loddo and Tanda (2000) describe an experimental procedure...
...as reported in rats (Di Chiara, Loddo, & Tanda, 2000)
Subsequent Entries: Di Chiara et al. (2000) describe an experimental procedure...
...as reported in rats (Di Chiara et al., 2000)
Note: All names should be listed in References.

Six or More Authors

For work with six or more authors, cite only the first author's last name followed by "et al." and the year of publication:
Ventura et al. (2005) reported ...
...as reported in human (Ventura et al., 2005)
Note: All names should be listed in References.

Work by Association and Corporation

The names of groups that serve as authors (corporate authors): National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2005)

Personal Communications

Should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. They are referenced in the body of the text only. Include the name, type of communication, and date. Example of parenthetical citation in text: Fukushima (personal communication, April 24, 2003) also found this...

Article Reported in a Secondary Source

Example: File (as cited by Rodgers, 2001) observed a similar profile.
Note: In References, list only the secondary source.

Citation of Old Works Reissued

Author (date of original publication/date of edition searched):
Darwin (1872/2000).

Special Part of the Source

If you are including a quotation or referring to a specific part of the source, cite the year of publication and the page number: "Likewise, electroencephalograms and functional MRI scans capture correlates of the mind but those correlates are note the mind" (Damasio, 1999, p. 82).

Reference List Format

All sources cited in the main body of the text must appear in References. They should follow the general principle of arranging them in alphabetical order and chronological sequence. Enter the last name of the first author, followed by the first author's initial(s), and so on for each additional author. Multiple entries for same author or group of authors should be ordered chronologically, and multiple entries for the same year should be distinguished by appending sequential lowercase letters to the year. The first line of each entry is flush with the left margin, and all subsequent lines are indented (7 spaces) to form a "hanging indent."

The following examples offer basic guidelines according to different reference sources:

Journal Articles

Must include the following elements: author(s), date of publication, article title, journal title, volume number, issue number (if applicable), and page numbers. Capitalize only the first word of the title or subtitle, and any proper names that are part of a title. Use an ampersand (&) instead of the word "and" when listing multiple authors of a single work.

Examples:

Brown, R.M. & Robertson, E.M. (2007). Off-line processing: reciprocal interactions between declarative and procedural memories. Journal of Neuroscience, 27(39), 10468-10475.

Carrozzo, M., Koch, G., Turriziani, P., Caltagirone, C., Carlesimo, G.A. & Lacquaniti, F. (2005). Integration of cognitive allocentric information in visuospatial short-term memory through the hippocampus. Hippocampus, 15(8), 1072-1084.

Edited Books

References to an entire book must include the following elements: author(s) or editor(s), date of publication, full title (in italics), place of publication, and the name of the publisher.

Examples:

Sacks, O. (2000). Seeing voices. New York: Vintage Books.

LeDoux, J. (1996). The emotional brain: The mysterious of emotional life. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks.

Chapters in Edited Books

Must include the following elements chapter author(s), date of publication, chapter title, book editor(s), book title, chapter page numbers indicated by pp., place of publication, and the name of the publisher.

Examples:

Hameroff, S., & Penrose, R. (1995). Orchestrated reduction of quantum coherence in brain molecules: A model for consciousness. In J. King & K.H. Pribam (Eds.), Conscious experience: Is the brain too important to be left to specialists to study? (pp. 241-274). Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Citation of Electronic Sources

Cite the author(s) or authoring agency, title of the document, location and name of the hosting organization, page or document number if any, date of retrieve and the URL.

Unpublished Theses/Dissertations

Example:

Schutter, D.J.L.G. (2003). The affective brain: Novel insights into the biological mechanisms of motivation and emotion. Unpublished Doctoral Theses: Universiteit Utrecht.

Works in Press

Do not include year, volume or number of pages until the manuscript is published. It should be the last reference of the author, in alphabetical order: Langeland, W. & Olff, M. (in press). Psychobiology of posttraumatic stress disorder in pediatric injury patients: A review of the literature. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.

Preparation of Manuscripts

The following should be used as a guide in preparing papers for publication:

Title Page

The manuscript should include a title page as the first page with the following:
1. A concise (not to exceed 20 words) but informative Title, which clearly refers to its content;
2. Authors and author addresses. The initials and surname of each author should be inserted just below the title together with the correspondent affiliations.
3. Corresponding author with complete address, preferentially including an e-mail address.

Abstract

An abstract (not to exceed 250 words) should be typed on a separate page (number 2). No references should be quoted.

Keywords

Three to six keywords must be listed immediately below the Abstract to easily searching bibliographic databases for the paper.

Main Body of the Manuscript

Research Articles - Must include the following subsections:

1. Introduction - Theoretical background, rationale and appropriate references that inform the reader as to why you undertook the study. Brevity and focus are important.

2. Methods (not Methodology)

2.1 Subjects (Animals or Participants, when humans)
Must include a suitable design indicating the number and characteristics of the sample (s) employed in the study. For human or animal experimental investigations, the authors should indicate if the procedures respect the determinations of the Helsinki Accord (1975, revised in 1983). Brazilian papers and authors must also respect the Resolutions of the National Council of Health n. 196, of Oct. 10, 1996 and n. 251, Aug. 7, 1997, and present a report from the Ethics Committee of the author's institute of origin. Participants should have given written informed consent.

2.2 Apparatus
Should indicate all instrumentation and materials (trade names and location in parentheses) employed in the study.

2.3 Procedure
Should provide sufficient information to allow the reader to repeat the experiment in an identical manner. Details of inclusion and exclusion criteria should be clearly stated.

2.4 Statistics (when appropriate)
Should inform the test (s) and rationale used to analyze the results.

3. Results
Make sure to give results for all items mentioned in Methods section. State the statistical significance of your findings when appropriate. The use of tables and figures is encouraged.

4. Discussion
Should be clear and directly related to the results, indicating when appropriate the major implications of the findings on the basis of the objectives and literature under analysis.

5. Acknowledgment

6. References

Other Categories of Manuscripts

Report of Professional Experience

Should be divided into Introduction, Case Report, Discussion, Acknowledgements, and References.

Short Communication

Should be divided into Introduction (describing the procedure in the last paragraph), Results and Discussion, Acknowledgements, and References.

Note: Review Articles and other contributions may take their own relevant main headings.

Manuscript submitted in the incorrect format or well beyond the length guidelines may be returned without review.

Tables and Figures

Number tables and figures consecutively with Arabic numerals. Provide a short but informative title for each table and figure on a separate sheet. If an illustration is taken from a copyrighted publication, credit must be given in the legend and it is the author's responsibility to obtain the permission for its reproduction. Figures should be submitted in black/white as tiff or jpg files (300 dpi), without frame. Composite figures should be labeled A, B, C and submitted as one figure.

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
1.The contribution is original and unpublished, and is not being evaluated by other journals.
2.The electronic files were created using Microsoft Word (.doc).
3.The text is double-spaced, font Times New Roman or Arial, size 12, throughout the whole manuscript, with paragraphs aligned to the left, with appendixes, tables and figures at the end of the manuscript, after the References, with indications in the body of the text as to where they should be inserted. The size of the page should be A4 (21 x 29,7cm), with margins of 2,5cm.
4.The text follows the journal's formatting requirements, according to the Author Guidelines.
5.The manuscript complies with the technical norms of the American Psychological Association: Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th edition, 2001).