IMPULSE, an online journal for undergraduate research in the neurosciences, encourages undergraduate students from every institution to compose quality research articles. Because most research done by undergraduates, whether to fulfill a thesis or major or to aid the research of other scientists, goes unwritten and unpublished, IMPULSE is the perfect outlet for undergraduates to engage in the process of writing and publishing and to become familiar with the complete process of scientific publication.
All submissions to IMPULSE authored solely by one or more students must contain an acknowledgment to the faculty mentor who either supervised the work, in case of research reports, or who reviewed the work, in the case of reviews. In each case, the mentor(s) will be contacted so that IMPULSE can assure that all submissions follow the guidelines for student publications by their home institution.
As outlined in the Guidelines: Responsible Conduct Regarding Scientific Communication from the Society for Neuroscience, 1.14.1, "It is improper for authors to submit a manuscript describing essentially the same research simultaneously to more than one peer-reviewed research journal." The Editorial Board of IMPULSE makes every effort to be sure that all accepted reports are original. In cases where duplication is evident, the manuscript will be sent back without being accepted, and with an explanation of the editorial concerns. In cases where there is evidence that an article has been simultaneously submitted elsewhere, the IMPULSE Faculty Advisor will inform the other journal(s) immediately of the conflict.
IMPULSE strongly suggests that you follow these steps as failure to properly format or follow submission guidelines may result in rejection of your article.
Read the Principles of the IMPULSE Review Process. This will give you a basic idea of what the editorial board is looking for in an article submitted to the journal.
Format your article according to the Submission and Formatting Guidelines of IMPULSE. You may choose to use the Model Article (.DOC) and simply replace all text with your own.
Be certain to read the Author Agreement. Upon accepting the agreement, please send your cover letter and manuscript by email to [email protected] with a CC to [email protected]. Submission of an article is assumed to mean that all authors have read, understand and agree to comply with the Author Agreement.
Open-Access Statement
IMPULSE maintains an open-access publishing model. Articles that pass our peer-review process are published immediately on our site. We maintain a permanent archive of all publications. Authors retain the copyright to their work and are not charged a publication fee. Copy, distribution, use, transmission, and display of articles are permitted so long as the author and journal are cited properly.
The author(s) retain(s) copyright for articles published in IMPULSE.
Anyone may, without requesting permission, use original figures or tables published from research or review articles in IMPULSE for noncommercial and educational purposes (i.e., in a review article, in a book that is not for sale), provided that the reuse does not adapt or change the original work and maintains the integrity of the original work. Further, for any allowed reuse, the full journal reference and "Copyright (publication year year) author name(s)" must be included. Reuse of figures and tables for commercial purposes (i.e., in promotional materials, in a textbook for sale) is not allowed.
Thus, IMPULSE authors do not need to obtain permission: 1) to use their original figures or tables in their future works; 2) to make copies of their papers for their own personal use, including classroom use, or for the personal use of colleagues, provided those copies are not for sale nor distributed systematically; 3) to include their papers as part of their own future works (e.g., theses); or, 4) to use all or part of their articles in printed compilations of their own works. However, in all cases of reuse, the full journal reference must be cited.
