Journal aims and scope

Personality Neuroscience is a fully Open Access journal that publishes work on all aspects of the neuroscience of personality, including temperament, emotionality and related individual differences. The focus is on the causal basis of personality. Cross-sectional and largely correlational studies will be considered only if they are highly robust and well-powered, and add innovative insights. Purely psychometric studies will also be considered if they advance knowledge on the underlying basis of personality.

All methodologies are welcomed, including, but are not limited to, neuroimaging, transcranial stimulation, pharmacological manipulation, experimental, longitudinal, genetic, genomic, gene expression and epigenetic, and also evolutionary theory and computational modelling. Developmental and clinical applications, including patient data, will be considered, as will studies linking systematic individual differences in neural systems to differential life outcomes. Non-human primate and animal studies are invited as a valuable form of translational research. We also welcome studies on the interplay of neural systems and environmental processes: the journal seeks to encourage a greater integration of these two, often separated, perspectives.

Through its focus on the equal importance of personality and neuroscience, Personality Neuroscience enables the work of personality neuroscientists who no longer have to trade-off one side of this scientific coin for the other in the search for a suitable high-quality publication outlet. The journal credits work at this specific scientific interface and exists to encourage its development.

Editorial Policy

Empirical studies are the mainstay of the journal’s publications. However, we value more theoretical, even speculative, work that identifies and clarifies conceptual, theoretical, and methodological problems. There are a variety of article types to accommodate such work. We also recognise the value of hypothesis-driven research, as a supplement to the confirmatory, as they have the potential to explore by observation, and to generate new theories. We believe that science advances only through unexpected results, so we encourage submissions that disrupt the status quo, and even upend the applecart of conventional scientific wisdom.

We especially encourage younger researchers to submit their best work. We can assist them to get their papers into proper shape for publication, and while quality must be protected, we prefer not to adopt a ‘judge and jury’ approach to editorial decisions which can, so often, be disheartening to the early career researcher. Our ambition is to make the journal inclusive to all researchers with the desire to advance the field of personality neuroscience. As described in our open access policies, we offer a policy of never restricting access to publication for a genuine lack of funds – there are no financial barriers to publishing high-quality work at Personality Neuroscience.

Article types

The journal offers a variety of article types to accommodate different forms of submission. Authors are invited to contact the Editor if they are not sure which of the article types is most appropriate for their work. All submissions must be made via the online submission system.

Empirical Papers* report original data-driven studies, between 4,000–6,000 words (excluding abstract, references, tables/figures, which should be uploaded as separate files). Longer articles will also be considered if the extra word length is justified.

Review Papers* entail systematic reviews and meta-analyses. These should not exceed 10,000 words (excluding abstract, references, tables/figures, which should be uploaded as separate files), We invite papers focussing on theoretical, methodological, and applied issues.

Short Communications* need to be on a topic of high importance requiring rapid dissemination. These should not exceed 1,500 words (excluding abstract, references, tables/figures, which should be uploaded as separate files).

Letters are considered on issues of high interest and importance.

Special Issues are valuable as a source of concentrated science on a specific theme. The journal aims to publish two special issues per year, with fees waived for editors and contributors (if authors are not covered by a transformative agreement, and have no funds available for open access publication). We encourage a team of senior and junior editors. The Editor should be contacted to discuss ideas for a special issue, which may combine Empirical and Review Papers. Each Special Issue is accommodated by an Editorial to tie together the articles under a unifying theme.