Focus and scope

The Journal of Applied Cognitive Neuroscience (JACN) is an international, peer-reviewed, open-access journal that seeks to advance the understanding of brain health, cognitive function, and neuroscience through the generation of rigorous and innovative ideas and evidence. The journal welcomes a broad range of high-quality submissions, including original research articles, systematic, scoping and narrative reviews, case reports or case series, and perspective pieces that contribute to the policy, applied, translational, and clinical dimensions of neuroscience.

JACN seeks to publish manuscripts that explore the interface between neuroscience and clinical practice, mental health, general medicine, health professions, and global neurology. JACN is particularly interested in contributions that address real-world applications of neuroscience knowledge to improve diagnosis, treatment, policy, and population outcomes.

The journal’s scope includes, but is not limited to:

• Clinical and translational neuroscience


• Global neurology and research methods in neuroscience


• Cognitive and affective neuropsychology


• Neuropsychiatry and mental health research


• Neuroimaging, electrophysiology, and neuromodulation


• Neuroscience in health professions education and practice


• Artificial Intelligence and big data in neuroscience and medicine


• Neuroscience in aging, development, and public health


• Neuroethics, evidence-based policy, and decision making

JACN encourages interdisciplinary and intersectoral approaches, particularly those involving neuroscience, medicine, psychology, public health, and social sciences. The journal supports responsible science and strives to highlight global perspectives, underrepresented populations, and critical gaps in knowledge that require further exploration.

We also welcome contributions that reflect on the quality, reproducibility, and societal impact of research in neuroscience and cognitive health.

Periodicity

The published scientific articles are available in electronic format with open access to ensure a high level of visibility and accessibility. The journal is published with semiannual periodicity, and it receives applications permanently throughout the year without charging fees.

Article types

JACN accepts five types of manuscripts. Each submission type must adhere strictly to the guidelines described below:

     a. Editorials

Editorials are invited contributions written by members of the editorial board or by guest experts. These articles offer critical commentary or reflections on current issues in neuroscience, global neurology, brain health, knowledge gaps, or clinical practice. Editorials are generally limited to 2500 words and may include up to two figures or tables. No abstract is required.

     b. Original research articles

Original research articles present primary or secondary data derived from original analysis, including observational, experimental, or analytical designs. Manuscripts must employ robust and advanced statistical methodologies, including meta-analyses when appropriate.

Articles must follow the IMRaD structure: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion, and must include a structured abstract (maximum 250 words) in English, and optionally in Spanish or Portuguese.

Maximum word count: 4,500 words (excluding abstract, tables, figures, and references).

Tables/Figures: Maximum of 6 combined.

Reporting standards: Authors must follow relevant EQUATOR Network guidelines (e.g., STROBE, CONSORT, etc.).

     c. Review articles

Review articles include systematic reviews (without meta-analysis), methodological reviews, scoping reviews, or narrative reviews. These articles aim to synthesize and critically appraise existing literature or methodological advances in the field.

No structured abstract is required, but a narrative abstract (maximum 250 words) in English, and optionally in Spanish or Portuguese, must be provided.

Maximum word count: 6,000 words (excluding abstract, tables, figures, and references).

Tables/Figures: Maximum of 8 combined.

Reporting standards: Authors must follow PRISMA guidelines and Equator or Cochrane recommendations for systematic reviews, and SANRA guideline for narrative reviews.

Registration: Registration in PROSPERO is highly recommended for systematic or scoping reviews.

     d. Case reports or case series

Case reports or series will be considered only in exceptional cases where they present original, high-impact clinical findings that are novel in relation to global, national, or regional scientific evidence.

A structured abstract (maximum 250 words) in English, and optionally in Spanish or Portuguese, must be included.

Maximum word count: 2,000 words (excluding abstract, tables, figures, and references).

Tables/Figures: Maximum of 4 combined.

Reporting standards: Authors must adhere to appropriate EQUATOR guidelines (e.g., CARE).

     e. Perspectives

Perspective articles are short, evidence-based pieces or reflections grounded in the author’s own data or substantiated opinion. These articles aim to offer insights, challenge assumptions, or raise new questions of relevance to the neuroscience community.

No abstract required.

Maximum word count: 1,500 words (excluding references).

Tables/Figures: Maximum of 2 combined.

Language and translation requirements

Manuscripts may be submitted in English, Spanish, or Portuguese. Regardless of the primary language, all submissions must include abstracts and keywords in English and in one additional language (Spanish or Portuguese).

If the article is written in English, the abstract and keywords must be translated into Spanish.

If the article is written in Spanish or Portuguese, the abstract and keywords must be translated into English.

Authors are responsible for ensuring the quality and accuracy of translations.

Manuscript structure

     a. Title

The title must be concise, informative, and original, accurately reflecting the article's focus. Titles must not exceed 20 words, and should avoid unnecessary jargon or abbreviations. Titles should be submitted in Title Case, not in all caps.

If applicable, authors must include a footnote indicating the research project from which the article derives, the affiliated research group, and the funding institution.

     b. Author Information

All authors must include:

Full names (given name and surname)

Institutional affiliation (department, institution, city, country)

Research group membership (if applicable)

Contact email address

ORCID iD (mandatory)

For multi-author submissions, a corresponding author must be designated. This author will be responsible for communication during submission, peer review, and post-publication.

Each author must clearly state their scientific contribution to the article using the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) system (mandatory).

     c. Abstract

Structured abstracts are required for Original Articles and Case Reports. The abstract must not exceed 250 words, and must summarize the core elements of the manuscript using the following structure:

Introduction: Brief background or problem statement

Methods: Brief description of the methodological design

Results: Main findings and relevance

Conclusions: Final considerations and relevance to the objective

Abstracts must be submitted in two languages, as per the journal’s language policy.

     d. Keywords

Provide a maximum of six keywords, separated by semicolons, that reflect the key themes of the article and align with the abstract. All keywords must be selected from standardized vocabularies: DeCS (Health Sciences Descriptors) or MeSH (Medical Subject Headings). Keywords must be provided in two languages, according to the language policy.

     e. Figures, Tables, and Illustrations

Only high-quality tables, figures, and illustrations will be considered for publication. Authors are encouraged to use graphic design software or statistical tools capable of exporting visuals in high resolution.

Accepted formats include: .SVG, .TIFF, .PDF, .PNG, or .JPEG.

-Tables

Must be numbered sequentially using Arabic numerals (e.g., Table 1).

Include a clear and concise title in italics, placed below the table.

Use horizontal lines only (no vertical lines).

Column headers must be clearly identified.

Use 12-point font for table content.

A note in italics (left-aligned, no indent, 10-point font, double spaced) must be included below the table to describe the source (if adapted).

-Figures

Figures include graphs, diagrams, photos, maps, drawings, etc.

Figures should not include titles within the image.

Each figure must be accompanied by a figure legend numbered in Arabic numerals and written in italics (e.g., Figure 1), followed by a short descriptive caption.

Captions should be placed below the figure, left-aligned, in 10-point font, double spaced.

Include the source if the figure is adapted, as per table instructions.

References

All references cited in the manuscript must appear in the reference list and vice versa. Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of all citations. References cited in the abstract must be provided in full.

We discourage citing unpublished results and personal communications in the reference list. If included, these must follow the journal’s style and be clearly labeled as "unpublished results" or "personal communication" in place of the publication date. Items cited as “in press” must already be accepted for publication.

Before submission, ensure that all reference data are correct, as incorrect metadata (e.g., misspelled names, incorrect pagination, or journal titles) may prevent proper indexing in databases such as Scopus, Crossref, and PubMed.

We strongly encourage the inclusion of Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) to increase the visibility, accessibility, and permanence of cited works.

Reference style

• References must be numbered in the order they appear in the manuscript.


• Reference numbers must appear in parentheses, not in brackets.


• Example: "... as demonstrated (3,6). Barnaby and Jones (8) obtained different results..."


• The reference list must be numbered accordingly, with full citation details.


• For references with more than six authors, list the first six followed by et al.


• Abbreviate journal names following the List of Title Word Abbreviations (LTWA).


• Use shortened page ranges (e.g., 51–9).


• Follow the style recommended in the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (JAMA. 1997;277:927–34): https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html

Examples of reference formats

Journal Article

(1) Van der Geer J, Hanraads JAJ, Lupton RA. The art of writing a scientific article. J Sci Commun. 2020;163:51–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sc.2020.00372

Journal Article with Article Number

(2) Van der Geer J, Hanraads JAJ, Lupton RA. The art of writing a scientific article. Heliyon. 2022;19:e00205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e00205

Book

(3) Strunk Jr W, White EB. The elements of style. 4th ed. New York: Longman; 2000.

Book Chapter

(4) Mettam GR, Adams LB. How to prepare an electronic version of your article. In: Jones BS, Smith RZ, editors. Introduction to the electronic age. New York: E-Publishing Inc; 2023. p. 281–304.

Website

(5) Cancer Research UK. Cancer statistics reports for the UK. http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/aboutcancer/statistics/cancerstatsreport/; 2023 [accessed 13 March 2023].

Dataset

(6) Oguro M, Imahiro S, Saito S, Nakashizuka T. Mortality data for Japanese oak wilt disease and surrounding forest compositions [dataset]. Mendeley Data. 2015. https://doi.org/10.17632/xwj98nb39r.1

Software

(7) Coon E, Berndt M, Jan A, Svyatsky D, Atchley A, Kikinzon E, et al. Advanced Terrestrial Simulator (ATS). Version 0.88 [software]. Zenodo; 2020 Mar 25. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3727209

Web references

Web references must include the full URL and the date of access. When available, please include additional metadata such as the author, title, publication year, and DOI. Web references may be included in the main reference list or under a separate heading.

Data references

We encourage authors to cite underlying datasets used or referenced in the article. Data citations should include:

• Author(s)


• Dataset title


• Repository name


• Version (if applicable)


• Year


• Persistent identifier (e.g., DOI)

Prefix the reference with [dataset] (this tag will not appear in the final publication but is useful for processing and indexing).

Preprints

Preprints may be cited if no peer-reviewed version is available. Clearly mark such citations by including “preprint” or the name of the preprint server, along with the DOI. If the preprint has since been formally published, cite the final published version instead.

Submission Details and Templates

Articles must be submitted electronically through our OJS system, using the template model. In addition to the document, you must send the copyright assignment, duly completed and signed.

Steps to upload a document to the OJS System

-Enter the journal's website (https://revistascientificas.cuc.edu.co/JACN/issue/current)

-Register

-Enter the option "make a new submission"

-Confirm that the document meets the submission requirements (see submissions)

-Upload the submission. In this step you must upload the original article with all the tables and graphs in place and taking into account the steps to guarantee an anonymous review (See below), and an assignment of rights agreement.

-Enter the requested metadata in the system (name of the authors, article title, abstract, keywords and references)

-Confirm and finalize the submission.

Steps to ensure an anonymous review

To ensure the integrity of anonymous peer reviews of submissions to this publisher, every effort will be made to prevent authors from knowing the identity of the reviewers and vice versa. To do this, authors, editors and reviewers (who upload documents as part of the review) must verify that the following steps related to the text and the file properties have been followed:

-The authors of the document have deleted their names from the text, and have used "Author" and the year used in the references and footnotes, instead of the name of the author, the title of the article, etc.

-In the case of Microsoft Office documents, the author's identification must also be removed from the file's properties (see the File option in Word), by clicking on the options indicated below. Start with File in the main menu of the Microsoft application: File> Save As> Tools (or Options on Mac)> Security> Remove personal information from file properties when saving> Save.

-In the case of PDF files, it is also necessary to remove the names of the authors from the Document Properties, which can be found in the File option in the main menu of Adobe Acrobat.

Assignment of rights

In accordance with the provisions of the copyright laws currently in force, publishers must have the explicit authorization of the authors.

Copyright Notice

JACN has licence Creative Commons — Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International — CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.

In accordance with the Statutory Law 1581 of 2012 on Data Protection and concordant regulations, the Titular is informed that, by voluntarily providing and registering their data in the channels enabled on the Website, they authorise their inclusion in a database under the responsibility of EDUCOSTA and the Universidad de la Costa CUC, which will be processed for missionary purposes.