Following is an outline describing the policies of Bioelectronic Medicine. 

Editorial Policies

Authorship
Bioelectronic Medicine is a member journal of International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and follows their recommendations for authorship. All four of the following criteria must be met for authorship:

  • Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
  • Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
  • Final approval of the version to be published; AND
  • Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
Contributors who meet fewer than all four of the above criteria for authorship should not be listed as authors, but rather, they should be acknowledged. Should authors request removal or addition of an author after manuscript submission or publication, a signed statement of agreement for the requested change from all listed authors and from the author to be removed or added should be sent to the editorial office.

Pre-submission
If authors are unsure as to whether or not their manuscript comes within the scope of Bioelectronic Medicine, they may request advice prior to full submission. An abstract or a summary highlighting the originality and significance of the study should be submitted to the Editorial Office via the online submission system: mc.manuscriptcentral.com/bioelecmed . When asked for “Manuscript type,” be sure to select “Pre-submission Enquiry.” Pre-submission inquiries sent by email will not be considered. The pre-submission enquiry service is a courtesy and is not required prior to full submission. Pre-submission enquiries can be difficult to assess reliably and Bioelectronic Medicine Editors cannot make an absolute commitment to have a contribution refereed before seeing the entire paper. Entire papers should not be sent as pre-submission enquiries and will not be read in their entirety.

Submission
Manuscripts should be submitted to Bioelectronic Medicine via our online submission system mc.manuscriptcentral.com/bioelecmed. Postal submissions will not be considered. If you do not already have an account, you will need to create one. Click on 'create account' in the upper right hand corner of the screen. Once you have completed the profile information, click the Main Menu and icon for "Corresponding Author Center." Begin a manuscript submission, fill in the required fields and upload any necessary files. While online submission can accommodate a variety of file types, authors are urged to provide their manuscripts as original Microsoft Word documents and figures as original files (figures may also be submitted as Microsoft Powerpoint slides). Click here for assistance with submission. Confirm your work has been successfully converted to both a PDF and an HTML file. Please confirm your images are readable in the PDF and HTML files (additional information is available in Instructions for Authors). Incomplete submissions and unreadable figures may delay the review process. Click 'submit' to send your manuscript to the Editorial Office. Should you have difficulty with this process, please contact the Editorial Office at: [email protected].

The status of your manuscript can be viewed by logging in to this submission system. A description of status updates are below.
  • Awaiting Admin Processing – The manuscript is being considered for the peer-review process.
  • Under Consideration – The manuscript has been sent for peer-review.
  • Awaiting AE Preliminary Decision – Peer-review reports have been received.
  • Awaiting EDB Decision Approval – The manuscript is in the queue for Editorial Board Review and decision.

Non-Native English Authors
The European Association of Science Editors (EASE) has published multilingual guidelines for non-native English authors and translators. These guidelines are aimed at making scientific communication more efficient worldwide and preventing scientific misconduct. To view the multilingual guidelines please see this website: http://www.ease.org.uk/guidelines/index.shtml

Fees
At this time, authors will not be charged article processing fees to submit or publish a manuscript. If the work is accepted, there will be no charges for color pages, excess pages or word count.

Author Acknowledgement and Disclosure
Upon acceptance, all authors are required to complete an Open Access Authorization form as well as a Conflict of Interest - Disclosure form. These must be submitted electronically. All forms from all authors must be completed and submitted prior to the release of a final typeset-author approved galley. 

Production
After acceptance, the manuscript is published online at www.bioelecmed.org as an uncorrected proof (generally within one week of acceptance). Should an author wish to embargo their own work they must notify the editorial office immediately upon notification of manuscript acceptance at: [email protected].  The production staff then copyedits and typesets the manuscript. This ensures the work conforms to Bioelectronic Medicine’s house style and figures and tables are of publication quality, clarity and size. Authors will then receive a proof, which may include queries to be addressed. The corresponding author is responsible for completing this work with the production staff. The corresponding author is responsible for the accuracy of content, spelling of names and affiliations of all co-authors.

Publication
After acceptance, the manuscript is published online at www.bioelecmed.org as an uncorrected proof (generally within one week of acceptance). Once the final galley is author approved it is placed into the queue for final posting. If all authors have signed both the Open Access Authorization form and Conflict of Interest-Disclosure form, the final author-approved PDF paper will replace the uncorrected proofs on the journal’s website. Submission to Crossref, PubMed, PubMed Central and other indices will be sought in accordance with their requirements.

 

Peer Review Policies

Publication Decisions
Bioelectronic Medicine's Editors, not its reviewers, judge which submissions will appeal to our broad audience. Reviewers contribute constructive reports and comments, and suggest preliminary decisions. Publication is informed by prominence, significance, and timeliness of the findings, as well as general appeal of the work to a broad audience.

Peer-Review
Once submitted, a manuscript will be reviewed by the Editors who consider whether to send the work for peer-review. The manuscript deemed suitable for the journal will be assigned to an Associate or Contributing Editor who has agreed to undertake its rapid review, soliciting the opinions of independent reviewers. While authors are required to submit three potential reviewers, Editors are free to decide whom to invite for a review. Editors generally honor requests that a manuscript not be sent to competing groups for review. Most manuscripts receive two or three reviews, however, some receive more, and occasionally some receive just one.

Reviewer Selection
Reviewers are generally chosen based on their independence from the authors, ability to evaluate technical aspects of the paper fairly, availability to return a review within the required timeframe, and quality of previous reviews (if applicable). Reviewers are asked to submit a Conflict of Interest – Disclosure statement at the time of their review. If upon selection the reviewer identifies a conflict of interest, the reviewer should contact the editorial office immediately [email protected]. Reviewers are required to keep all material related to the manuscript strictly confidential.

Reviewer Reports
Reviewers generally report on: whether the manuscript promotes the understanding of disease pathogenesis of neural circuits at the anatomical, functional or molecular signaling level; whether the work includes a tool that could be used in disease diagnosis, treatment or prevention; what audience the work will appeal to and why; and any technical issues that may need to be addressed. Reviewers then make a recommendation on whether to accept, defer a decision, or reject the work.

Decisions
Once a manuscript has undergone a round of review the Editorial Board will generally assess the referee reports, the manuscript itself, and any other related materials in preparation for adjudication. Authors will receive one of the following decisions:

  • Accept – the manuscript is accepted for publication, no further changes required;
  • Accept, Minor – the manuscript is accepted for publication in principle, once the authors have made revisions requested by reviewers;
  • Decision Deferred – a final decision on publication is deferred, pending the authors' response to the reviewers' comments;
  • Reject – the paper is rejected with no offer to reconsider a resubmitted version.

Appeals
Authors have the right to appeal editorial decisions. The appeals process is time intensive and Bioelectronic Medicine's Editors may be delayed in responding while reviewing individual cases. Manuscripts must not be submitted for publication elsewhere during this time. Appeals must be made in writing ([email protected]) and should be restricted to the scientific case for publication. Once received, the scientific argument will be considered by members of the Editorial Board and/or the Scientific Advisory Committee. In some cases the work may be sent back to the original reviewers (for example, if new data is supplied in the appeal) or entered into a new external peer review process. Once adjudicated, the decision of the Editorial Board is final.

 

Advertising Policies for Web Publication

Bioelectronic Medicine generally does not participate in electronic advertising on it’s website.
 

Statements Concerning Conflict of Interest 

While authors are required to submit three potential reviewers, Editors are free to decide whom to invite for a review. Editors generally honor requests that a manuscript not be sent to competing groups for review. Reviewers are asked to submit a Conflict of Interest – Disclosure statement at the time of their review. If upon selection the reviewer identifies a conflict of interest, the individual should contact the editorial office immediately [email protected].
 

Statements Concerning Human Rights and Informed Consent

Clinical studies should include pertinent details about human subjects, including methods of recruitment and relevant physical characteristics. Reports of human studies must include a statement that the protocol was approved by the appropriate institutional committee (national or international) or that it complied with the Helsinki Declaration as revised in 2013 - http://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3/index.html. Informed consent should be obtained for all subjects. As per ICMJE, all clinical trials must be registered in a WHO-approved public trials registry. The trial registry name, URL, and registration number must be included at the end of the abstract. When preparing reports of randomized clinical trials, authors should refer to the checklist published in the CONSORT Statement and should include a trial profile summarizing participant flow (http://equator-network.org). For additional information, please see the NIH resource: Responsible Conduct of Research - http://bioethics.od.nih.gov/.
 

Statements Concerning Animal Rights

Research on animals should include a statement that the protocol was approved by the appropriate institutional committee and complied with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Descriptions should include information regarding:

  • The animal: n, age, sex, weight, and life stage, source (supplier), genetic nomenclature, microbial/pathogen status, and information related to preparation and assignment to treatment groups (including control groups);
  • The environment: micro and macroenvironments, diet, water, housing;
  • The method: Include aspects of animal care that can affect research outcomes, experimental effects, administration of substances, use of infectious agents, sample acquisition, and euthanasia. 


Additional resources:

Additional Policies

Additional policies may be found in the Terms of Service, Privacy, Community Guidelines, and Notice of Takedown.

Updated 30.October.2015

ISSN: 2332-8886 (online)