About the Journal
Brain Imaging and Stimulation (BIS) is published by BAHIANA - School of Medicine and Public Health and NAPeN Network (Núcleo de Assistência e Pesquisa em Neuromodulação). It is a Diamond Open Access journal with the mission to publish research on brain function and stimulation. The journal accepts original articles on empirical research; reviews; technological and methodological perspectives (new devices, and methods etc.); infographics; videos.
Peer review process
BIS applies double blind peer review, in which both the evaluator and authors remain unbeknownst to each other throughout the process. Each submitted text will be assessed by at least two ad hoc peer reviewers.
The outcomes could be a) approval for publication as presented in the submitted version, b) approval for publication after improvements required by the reviewers have been implemented; or c) rejection.
The authors will always be informed of the review outcome and will promptly receive all reviewers’ and editors’ annotations.
If the authors decide to carry out the changes suggested by the reviewers, the amended text will be redirected to the same previous evaluators for a new assessment and/or to the scientific editors for a final assessment.
Open peer review policy
To foster critical and in-depth peer review and transparency in the brain research field, outstanding peer reviews may be considered for publication after consulting with the referee who authored it and assessment by our editorial board.
To be eligible for publication, the review must be around two pages in length, it must encompass critical discussion of the reviewed text and appraisal of its evidence (or lack thereof), remarking the quality of the study, its strength and limitations and its relevance to the state of the art on that topic.
Thus, adding value to the reviewed work and constituting an independent text, the review will be deemed eligible for publication as a work in itself.
Publication frequency
Submissions accepted for publication are made available online as soon as they are copyedited and layout-edited by our editorial team and proofread by their authors. This process, for each accepted article, takes up to four weeks. Every volume is closed yearly by mid-December when the publishing cycle restarts for the next year's volume.
Research integrity
To enhance the quality of research reports, BIS follows the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) recommendations.
Open access policy
BIS does not apply article processing charges whatsoever, being a scientific vehicle with the exclusive purpose of fostering the advancement of science.
By submitting an article to this journal, the authors recognize themselves as copyright holders and authorize its free use by readers. The published content herein may be, in addition to being read, downloaded, copied, distributed and printed.
The authors retain copyrights, transferring to the journal only the right to first publication.
BIS adopts the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC), by which all are free to copy and redistribute the published content in any medium or format, to remix it, to transform it and to build knowledge from the content for any purpose, including commercial purposes. The users of the content are always required to attribute credit to the original authors.
We recommend authors to deposit the final published version of their articles in institutional repositories linking to their article in our journal.
Articles submitted for assessment and evaluation in preprint repositories may be submitted to BIS and they will be considered original nonetheless.
Textual similarity screening
In order to enforce the best practices in scientific communications and to prevent copyright infringement, submitted manuscripts are screened with the Similarity Check (iThenticate) before publication.
Screened manuscripts displaying high rates of similarity in the wording of the introduction, discussion and results sections with previously published original content in scientific communication venues with ISBN or ISSN without properly referencing or paraphrasing them will be rejected.
Deposits in institutional repositories and preprint servers do not constitute plagiarism nor self-plagiarism. Research reports developed in academic institutions such as thesis, dissertations and monographs may and should be submitted as scientific papers to journals or considered for publication as chapters in scientific books.
Authorship policy
The authors of an intellectual property are publicly responsible for its content after publication. The authors of a research report or scientific paper are understood as those that participated in the conception and planning of the project and the study design and which generated the proper enviroment and conditions for its development. All authors must approve the final draft of the text implying thereby that they are apt to defend the ideas presented in the text before the scientific community.
Authorship is not guaranteed by participation in data collection, research groups and laboratories, loan of materials and equipment and by statistical analysis. The essence of a scientific article lies in the interpretation of the reported results, in the argumentation and in the conclusions that contribute to the scientific advancement.
Each author must objectively declare their contribution to the intellectual production and conflicts of interest related to the research project in the proper submission forms. BIS adopts the ICMJE recommendations regarding the definition of authorship roles.
Versions and retraction policy
Suspected scientific misconduct will be assessed by the editorial board immediately. BIS will follow the COPE procedures to further investigate any misconduct allegations that may arise.
In case of retraction, the journal shall abide by the ICMJE recommendations.
Corrections of accidental errors - statistical, methodological or otherwise - whenever reported by the authors themselves will be published immediately. Corrections of accidental errors are encouraged and expected.
In any of the aforementioned situations, all versions will be maintained online, properly identified as recommended by the ICMJE and linked in both directions for further assessment by the readers.
Last updated January 17th, 2023
