Frequently Asked Questions

What is Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging?
Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging (BP:CNNI) is a peer-reviewed, rapid-publication, international journal that was launched in 2016, created by the Society of Biological Psychiatry from the successes of Biological Psychiatry. It is published as an online-only journal.

Is Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging indexed in PubMed/MEDLINE?
Yes, our journal is fully indexed in PubMed/MEDLINE.

Where can I find information about submitting to Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging?
Our Guide for Authors is available here. We also have optional checklists available to help authors adhere to our submission guidelines. The checklist for new submissions is available here. The checklist for revised submissions is available here.

How can I submit to Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging?
Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging is pleased to accept direct submissions in addition to referrals from the parent journal. We invite you to submit at https://www.editorialmanager.com/bpsc/default.aspx.

Can I have my paper transferred from Biological Psychiatry?
Transfer offers are made by the editors when issuing a decision at Biological Psychiatry. If your paper was rejected at Biological Psychiatry and you did not receive a transfer offer, you may still submit directly to BP:CNNI through our website at https://www.editorialmanager.com/bpsc/default.aspx.

I received an offer to transfer my paper from Biological Psychiatry. What do I do now?
If you received an offer to transfer from the editors, follow the link in the decision letter to "Accept Transfer Offer". Clicking that link will immediately transfer your submission to the Editorial Office at BP:CNNI.

Does Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging have an Impact Factor?
Yes! Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging received its first Impact Factor in the 2020 Journal Citation Reports by Clarivate Analytics. Our 2019 Impact Factor is 5.335.

I am considering submitting a manuscript to Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, but would like to ensure it is of potential interest to the journal. Do you accept pre-submission inquiries?
Yes, we are pleased to respond to pre-submission inquiries, which should be sent by email to [email protected]. Please include/attach the abstract if possible. Note that we can never guarantee acceptance even if we confirm potential interest in the paper.

I am considering submitting a manuscript to Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, but it exceeds the maximum word limit. Must I reduce it prior to initial submission?
No, you may proceed with submission. We do not require articles to meet our length requirements until the first revision is prepared and submitted. You may receive some suggestions from the reviewers and/or editors about areas of your manuscript that are unnecessarily lengthy or that are better suited for classification as Supplemental Information, and you can work to reduce it at the revision stage.

My revised manuscript is over the word limit after addressing all of the reviewer concerns. What can I do?
Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging strictly enforces its word limits when a revised manuscript is submitted. Needing to address the reviewers’ concerns is not a sufficient reason for exceeding the journal’s maximum word limits. We advise you to take a critical look at your manuscript to ensure that it is written as concisely and clearly as possible. Additionally, we strongly encourage the use of Supplemental Information. This can be text, tables, and/or figures that are relevant to the work but not critical to support the findings. Supplemental Information is published online, but does not appear in print and therefore, does not count against the word limits.

I want to appeal the rejection decision on my paper. How do I proceed?
All appeals must be submitted in writing to [email protected], and should include justification for overturning the original rejection decision. Appeals should not be submitted directly to the handling editor. Appeals are taken seriously and carefully evaluated by the editorial team.

My paper was rejected by Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, but I have revised it and/or added new data. Can I submit it as a new paper?
No. Unsolicited revisions (i.e., submitting a revised paper as a new paper) are generally not allowed. If you wish to challenge the original rejection decision, you should submit an appeal to [email protected].

Does the journal permit shared/joint authorship?
Yes, the journal permits shared/joint authorship in either the first or senior positions. This is considered separate from the person designated as the corresponding author. Simply denote on the title page which authors contributed equally and, should the article be accepted for publication, a notation will be included in the published paper.

Can we assign one corresponding author to handle the submission process, but designate a different one upon acceptance?
We require that only a single person be responsible for the manuscript from submission through publication. The corresponding author should not be changed after submission without a valid reason. If the corresponding author wants to ensure that another author also receives communications about a manuscript, please contact the Editorial Office.

Can we name two corresponding authors in the final, published version of the paper?
Yes. We require that only a single person be responsible for the manuscript from submission through acceptance. However, we do permit two individuals to be named in the final, published version of the paper. Authors may denote this on the title page of their paper, and if the paper is accepted for publication, this information will be included in the published paper. Note that the Editorial Office will continue to communicate solely with the “primary” corresponding author.

A preprint of my paper is posted on bioRxiv. Can I still submit to Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging?
Yes, the Journal permits the submission of manuscripts that have been posted on preprint servers, including bioRxiv. This information should be disclosed in the Acknowledgments/Disclosures section of the paper. If the article is accepted for publication, authors must be able to transfer copyright to the Society of Biological Psychiatry, or agree to the terms of and pay the associated fee for an open-access license.

My NIH-funded manuscript has been accepted by Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging. How do I comply with the NIH Public Access Policy?
As a service to our authors, our publisher, Elsevier, will deposit manuscripts to PubMed Central that have reported NIH-funded research. The full Elsevier policy is available here. To initiate this process, the corresponding author must indicate that the study received NIH funding when completing the Publishing Agreement Form, which is sent to the corresponding author via email after acceptance.

My manuscript has been accepted by Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, and the study’s funding body has manuscript archiving requirements. What do I need to do?
Our publisher, Elsevier, has established agreements and policies with multiple funding bodies in the U.S. and U.K. Please see the full details here.

How soon will my accepted article be published?
Accepted articles are published online, prior to copyediting, within one week of final acceptance. They become immediately citable, with an assigned digital object identifier (DOI) number. The corrected proof then replaces the accepted-article version when it is published online, which takes an average of 28 business days. Articles are published in their final paginated form 6-8 months after acceptance, on average. Please ensure you respond to all proof inquiries as quickly as possible to prevent any delays in this process.

How fast will my manuscript be evaluated?
The average time from submission to first decision is less than 20 days, with an editorial rejection (reject without peer review) decision issued within 5 days. Please keep in mind that if your manuscript has been sent out for peer review, it may take longer than 20 days to receive enough reviews for an editor to reach a decision.

I want to use material from an article published in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging. How do I obtain permission?
All permissions are handled through our publisher, Elsevier, using RightsLink. Simply locate the desired article on either ScienceDirect or the journal website. From ScienceDirect, select “Get Rights and Content” from the right-hand side of the page. From the journal website, select “Rights/Permissions” from the right-hand toolbox. Then, complete the request form that opens in your browser. Authors do not need to request permission to reuse portions or extracts from their own article in other works. Complete instructions are also available here.

I am interested in submitting special cover art for Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging. How can I do so?
We are happy to accept scientifically and visually interesting images that would be suitable for cover art. At the “Attach Files” screen during the submission process, you may upload additional images for consideration as cover art. You may also email the files to the Editorial Office. Please note that all images that appear in the paper are automatically considered.

Thank you for your interest in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact the Editorial Office by phone at +1 254-522-9700 or by e-mail at [email protected].