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
This journal adopts the ICMJE recommendations for the definition of authorship roles.
An author of an intellectual production takes public responsibility for its content. An author of a scientific report is someone who participated in the conception and planning of the research project, who created conditions for its development, who agrees with its final wording of the manuscript and who is able to defend its essence before the scientific community.
Authorship is not guaranteed by participation in data collection, research groups and laboratories, loan of materials and equipment, translation nor statistical analyses. The essence of a scientific article lies in the interpretation of the results, in the argumentation and in the conclusions that contribute to the scientific advancement.
Each author must declare their contributions to the research and report, and potential competing interests.
The use of Large Language Models (LLMs) at any stage of the report writing must be duly justified and explained in the Methods section. LLMs, by conceptual definition, cannot constitute scientific authorship. The journal's editors will evaluate the relevance of using the respective tool.
It is prohibited to add or remove authors after the scientific evaluation of the submission has begun.
Those institutions with which the author maintains employment ties for teaching, research activities and/or clinical practice will be considered affiliations.
For those authors who do not have an employment relationship with educational and/or research institutions, the current student relationship at the time of submission can be considered affiliation.
Authors who do not have a student or employment relationship at the time of submission must declare themselves as independent researchers.
Laboratories, research groups and institutions in which the author is a postdoctoral fellow, visiting professor, and/or consultant will not be considered affiliations for the purposes of publication in this journal.
Authorship disputes will be resolved by the journal's editorial committee in accordance with COPE recommendations.
Policy for Submissions by Editorial Board Members: Editorial board members are welcome to submit research reports to be considered for publication after review by unbiased independent peers. However, the journal may limit the number of submissions accepted per editor per year, prioritizing (i) methodologically robust and (ii) socially useful empirical reports and (iii) maintaining low editorial endogeneity.
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.
Sponsorship and Advertisement Policy
In order to prevent conflicts of interest, as policy, this journal does not accept donations nor sponsorship from other organizations. It is fully sponsored by BAHIANA - School of Medicine and Public Health, with at least one in-house dedicated editor-in-chief and so it will remain. BAHIANA is a not-for-profit private Health Sciences higher education institution based in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
Notwithstanding, the researchers who are sponsored by industry are welcome to submit their research reports as long as they are methodologically sound, comply with the scope, section policies, author guidelines and journal mission, and that the sponsorship is fully and properly disclosed according to the ICMJE recommendations on that matter.
Last updated April 19th, 2024
