Journal of Neuroendocrinology

The Journal of Neuroendocrinology is an academic journal that mainly publishes reports of original research in the field of neuroendocrinology, along with occasional review articles; it claims to provide “the principal international focus for the newest ideas in classical neuroendocrinology (vertebrate and invertebrate) and its expanding interface with the regulation of behavioural, cognitive, developmental, degenerative and metabolic processes.” [1]

History of The Journal

The Journal is owned and managed by the ‘British Society for Neuroendocrinology’ (BSN), and published on its behalf by Blackwell Science Ltd. [2]. The BSN was founded in 1985 (under the name of ‘The British Neuroendocrine Group’) with the aim of promoting research into “the interplay between the endocrine and nervous systems that control so many important body processes.” [3]. As part of that mission, the BSN launched the ‘’Journal of Neuroendocrinology’’, and the first issue appeared in 1989. Profits from the Journal are used to support the mission of the BSN, mainly by support for international conferences in Neuroendocrinology.

The first editor-in-Chief (from 1989 to 1997) was Professor Stafford Lightman of the University of Bristol. He rapidly established the Journal as fully international in coverage, by establishing an internationally diverse editorial board, of more than 30 members, with receiving offices in France, Australia, Japan and the USA. He was succeeded by Gareth Leng (from 1997 to 2004) and in turn by the present editor in Chief, Julia Buckingham of Imperial College, London. The editor-in-chief is appointed by the committee of the BSN, and reports to the committee and membership of the BSN. Reports from the Journal appear in the newsletters of the BSN which are published online (e.g. [4]).

Editorial policies

When a manuscript is submitted to The Journal, it will normally be sent out for review to two or three independent experts for review (‘referees’). These experts will often include members of the editorial board. Decisions on whether to accept the manuscript for publication are made by the Editor in Chief or her nominated Deputies in the light of the reports received from these experts. Even if a manuscript is thought to be acceptable in principle, the expert reviewers usually raise many comments or criticisms, and the author is likely to be invited to address these by revising the manuscript. The author receives copies of these reports, but the identity of the referees is not disclosed.

Review articles are usually written at the invitation of the Editor-in-Chief or the Reviews Editor, and are also peer reviewed, usually by four experts. The journal also publishes brief review articles by young investigators; these articles (‘Young Investigator Perspectives’) are also written by invitation, and are always sole author reviews by a scientist within 6 years of receiving his or her PhD.

The journal also publishes occasional “Neuroendocrine Briefings”; short articles written for a lay audience intended for use in teaching or in public understanding of science.

The Journal provides detailed guidance on style for its authors [5]

Current status of the Journal

The Journal is available by library or personal subscription, but free online access is available within institutions in the developing world through the HINARI initiative with the World Health Organization (WHO). Authors pay no page charges, but have the option of making their articles open access and freely available by paying an author fee.

The Journal is now an official journal of the ‘’European Neuroendocrine Association’’ and of the ‘’International Neuroendocrine Federation.’’ It publishes 12 issues per year, each of about 10 papers. The impact factor of the Journal is 2.974 (2005 data). About half of the papers published in the Journal are from addresses in North America, and only about 10% from addresses in the UK. Most papers are published in print within 12 weeks of final acceptance; online publishing is usually within 6 weeks. The Journal is indexed in:

• Animal Breeding Abstracts
• Biological Abstracts
• Chemical Abstracts
• Current Awareness Biological Sciences
• Current Contents Life Sciences
• EMBASE
• Index Medicus
• Research Alert
• Science Citation Index
• SciSearch
• Social Sciences Citation Index

Print ISSN: 0953-8194 Online ISSN: 1365-2826

Links

• Journal homepage [6]
• Most read articles [7]
• Most cited articles [8]
• Sample issue [9]
• International Neuroendocrine Federation [10]
• British Society for Neuroendocrinology [11]
• European Neuroendocrine Association [12]