For a review article, prior to submission, please contact the NNR editorial office (nnr@mednet.ucla.edu) to determine whether your review manuscript fits with the journal’s aims and scopes. If any manuscript is not consistent with the scientific rigor or themes of interest to the journal, the editor and editorial office reserve the right to return the article before peer review.
SCOPE: Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair will consider for publication manuscripts that have not been published elsewhere, except in abstract form, on any clinical or basic science topic that is relevant to understanding and rehabilitating the consequences of neural injury and disease. Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair especially promotes the translation of concepts from the basic sciences to clinical trials and the care of patients. Appropriate topics include, but are not limited to, fundamental mechanisms of motor, sensory, and cognitive changes after injury or induced by rehabilitation strategies; neural reorganization, synaptogenesis, neurogenesis, and regeneration associated with gene expression after injury, biological interventions, and training paradigms; neurotransplantation; neurophysiologic probes of activity-dependent plasticity during rehabilitation, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation; well-designed pilot studies of physical, cognitive, language, neuropsychologic, pharmacologic, neurostimulation, and other potential approaches to augment procedural or declarative learning and to lessen disability; epidemiologic and longitudinal studies of disability and rehabilitation; research designs, statistical procedures, and outcome measures for neurologic rehabilitation; controlled clinical trials of interventions; multidisciplinary approaches to lessen disability and increase participation in persons with chronic neurologic disorders; and bioengineered, assistive, and robotic devices for training or for managing impairment and disability.
Expedited review and publication is possible for suitable manuscripts at the request of the author.
CONTRIBUTIONS VIA SAGETRACK: Manuscripts should be submitted electronically to http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/nnr where authors will be required to set up an online account on the SAGETRACK system powered by ScholarOne.
FORM OF MANUSCRIPTS: All submissions should be in English in 12-point Arial, Times, or Times New Roman font. Double-space the text with a 2.5 cm (1 inch) left margin and do not justify the right margin. Refer to patients by number. Real names or initials should not be used in the text, tables, or illustrations. The title page should include
- the title of the article;
- the names, highest degrees, and full affiliations of all authors;
- the name, mailing address, email address, and telephone number of the person to whom proofs and reprint requests should be addressed;
- word count of the text and the number of figures and tables in the article; and
- a running title that should not exceed 42 letters and spaces in the upper right corner.
All accepted manuscripts will be subject to copyediting.
Full-length original research articles should have an Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. The word count of the text should not exceed 4,000. Tables and figures generally should total less than six (6). References should not exceed 60. Where relevant, the Methods must include a statement that the project was approved by an authorized institutional human research review board or institutional animal research authority.
Review articles should have an Abstract, but the organization of the body of text is flexible.The text should not exceed 4,500 words and 75 references.
Point of View: Directions for Research articles offer an opportunity for clinical and basic researchers to examine controversies in the conceptualization of a particular research problem, in a methodology, or in the interpretation of past results that continue to influence the neurorehabilitation literature. Specific suggestions must be made and justified about how to better conduct research around that particular issue. The aim is to improve the ability of clinicians to interpret the literature, translate research studies into practices, and better direct future experiments. One format would be Introduction, The Problem, The Solution, and Recommendations for strategies to try to resolve the controversy. Include an abstract. The text should not exceed 5,000 words and 75 references.
Brief communications and case reports should be labeled as such and must offer an important new observation and not simply review the literature. Theses reports must contain no more than 1500 words, 20 references, and 3 figures or tables. They should include an abstract, but subdivision into Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion is optional.
Images in neurorehabilitation: Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair will consider photographic, radiographic, or artistic images that have exceptional visual impact and have relevance to neurologic rehabilitation. These images should make up a single figure, although they may contain more than one frame. Accompanying text must be 1 page or less of double-spaced type.
Abstracts: Abstracts may contain up to 250 words and structured with the following subheadings: Background, Objective, Methods, Results, Conclusions. Up to 6 key words or terms should be included for use by referencing sources.
Acknowledgments: Acknowledgments should be made at the end of the text with a listing of grant support and limited personal acknowledgments. Disclosure of any commercial interest of the authors relevant to the subject of the manuscript should follow.
Tables: All tables must have a title, be self-explanatory, and supplement (not duplicate) the text. All abbreviations should be defined. Tables should be placed at the end of the file, following text and references, with callouts for each in the text. Elements in tables should be separated by tabs, not cells or lines.
Figure: High-resolution figures must be uploaded as separate electronic files, with callouts for each in the text. Each figure must be labeled, include a short title, and legend. All abbreviations should be defined. Acceptable file formats for figures include TIFF, EPS, and JPEG, and PDF Microsoft Application Files are acceptable for vector art (line art). Figures must be at least 300 dpi for good print quality. This will permit minor revisions to be made in press without the need for authors to remake figures. Color illustrations will be charged to authors.
DETAILS OF STYLE
General: An important goal of Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair is to foster communication between the basic and clinical research communities whose work is relevant to recovery from neural injury. Therefore, basic science articles should include sufficient explanatory information in the Introduction and elsewhere to permit reading by clinician readers, and vice versa. All abbreviations and jargon terms should be defined and kept to a minimum. The rationale and significance of the reported research should be explained in terms of its relevance to recovery of neurologic function. At the end of Discussion, a subheading Implications may be added. Slightly greater latitude to speculate on clinical implications of basic research findings will be permitted here. Clinical researchers may use this subheading to suggest what basic science advances would be needed to move the clinical research to the next level.
Drug names: Use generic names only in referring to drugs, followed in parentheses after first mention by any commonly used variant generic or brand names.
Abbreviations: Follow the American Medical Association Manual of Style (AMA). For abbreviations of journal names, refer to List of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus.
References: The reference style of the journal is the American Medical Association Manual of Style. Cite references in the text by number, and number them in the order in which they are cited. Type the reference section double-spaced at the end of the text, following the examples given below. For abbreviations, refer to List of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus [DHEW Publication No. (NIH) 83-267; ISSN 0093-3821], available from the Superintendent of Documents, US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402, USA. For each reference, provide all authors’ names when fewer than 7; when 7 or more, list the first 3 and add et al. Be sure to provide the title of each article and inclusive pages. Accuracy of reference data is the responsibility of the author.
SAMPLE REFERENCES
Journal Article:
1. Winstein C, Miller J, Blanton S, et al. Methods for a multi-site randomized trial to investigate the effect of constraint-induced movement therapy in improving upper extremity function among adults recovering from a cerebrovascular stroke. Neurorehabil Neural Repair 2003;17:137-52.
Book:
2. Dobkin BH. The clinical science of neurologic rehabilitation. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 2003.
Chapter in Book:
3. Chollet F. Plasticity of the adult human brain. In: Toga AW, Mazziotta JC, eds. Brain mapping: the systems. San Diego, CA: Academic Press; 2000:621-636.
PHOTOGRAPHIC CONSENTS: A letter of consent must accompany all photographs of patients in which the possibility of identification exists. It is not sufficient to cover the eyes to mask identity.
COVER LETTER: A cover letter must accompany the manuscript explaining any duplication or overlap in content with a previously published article, or stating, "No part of this work has been published." The letter should identify any commercial interest of the authors relevant to the subject of the manuscript, or state that no such conflict of interest exists.
RESUBMISSIONS: Resubmissions must include any highlighted changes to the manuscript. Authors must submit a detailed, point-by-point response to reviewers on a separate Word document and upload it with the revision.
PROOFS: Proofs must be returned by the deadline specified; late return may cause a delay in publication of an article. Please check text, tables, legends, and references carefully. To expedite publication, authors will receive page proofs rather than galley proofs for review; it is therefore essential that corrections be kept to an absolute minimum. Changes or additions in page proofs that exceed 10% of the article length will be charged to the author.
REPRINTS: An order form for reprints will be included with proofs. Mail proof and reprint order form to Customer Care Department, Sage Publications, 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Phone: (800) 818-7243; Fax: (805) 499-0871. E-mail: order@sagepub.com.
COPYRIGHT: Copyright on all published articles will be held by The American Society of Neurorehabilitation. To comply with United States copyright law, a copyright transfer form will be sent to the corresponding author when a manuscript is accepted for publication; a copyright transfer form from all authors must accompany the manuscript.
Authors who want to refine the use of English in their manuscripts might consider utilizing the services of SPi, a non-affiliated company that offers Professional Editing Services to authors of journal articles in the areas of science, technology, medicine or the social sciences. SPi specializes in editing and correcting English-language manuscripts written by authors with a primary language other than English. Visit http://www.prof-editing.com for more information about SPi’s Professional Editing Services, pricing, and turn-around times, or to obtain a free quote or submit a manuscript for language polishing.
Please be aware that SAGE has no affiliation with SPi and makes no endorsement of the company. An author’s use of SPi’s services in no way guarantees that his or her submission will ultimately be accepted. Any arrangement an author enters into will be exclusively between the author and SPi, and any costs incurred are the sole responsibility of the author.
