All manuscript submissions to Acta Neuropsychiatrica must be completed electronically through the Acta Neuropsychiatrica ScholarOne Manuscripts (formerly known as Manuscript Central) website.
At first submission, the author may choose to submit one word file containing everything. At a potential revision stage, each table and figure must be uploaded separately.
Peer review
All articles published in Acta Neuropsychiatrica undergo peer review. The authors should suggest five potential peer reviewers in their submission. The contact details of suggested reviewers should be institutional email addresses where possible or include the reviewers' ORCID.
Manuscript style
Consult a current issue of the Journal for style and format. The manuscript should be typed double-spaced throughout on 'Letter' or A4 paper and in Word format. Pages should be numbered sequentially beginning with the Title Page. Margins should not be less than 2.5 cm on all sides, and the font should be clearly legible and uniform throughout.
Title page (page 1)
All manuscripts should contain
• a concise, informative title of max 15 words (abbreviations, acronyms, colon, semicolon or the like are not allowed)
• the authors' names, the names in English of departments and institutions to be attributed, and their city and country of location
• A running title with a maximum of 50 characters (letters and spaces)
• Name, telephone number, e-mail address and full postal address of the corresponding author
Categories of papers
Please see the below table for the types of papers accepted and for specific requirements for each category before submitting your manuscript
| Article Type | Max Word count* | Abstract and keywords (p. 2) | Specific requirements** (p. 2-3) | Manuscript body** (From p. 3) | Eligible for Transformative Agreement Coverage |
| Original research articles Original articles report the results of original research and are intended for full-scale basic or clinical studies including large controlled trials. Translational work is encouraged, but not required. | 6500 | Up to 250 words, structured using subheadings:
|
| Structured:
For human (1) and animal (2) experimentation:
Authors are encouraged to add as supplement for animal studies | Yes |
| Short communications This category is for 'fast-breaking' new work, which is of great potential interest and can be succinctly presented. | 2500 | Up to 150 words, structured using subheadings:
|
| Structured:
For human (1) and animal (2+3) experimentation:
Authors are encouraged to add as supplement for animal studies | Yes |
| Commentaries Commentaries focus attention on scientific issues in the field of the journal, and should highlight, discuss and amplify these issues. Commentaries are invited by the Editor-in-Chief | 5000 | Up to 250 words, structured using subheadings:
|
| No specific structure | No |
| Method/Protocol articles Method/Protocol articles focus on protocols and on novel methods providing significant improvements and extensions to already established research areas. | 6000 | Up to 250 words
|
| No specific structure | Yes |
| Review articles Scholarly, comprehensive reviews that summarize and critically evaluate research in the field addressed and identify future implications. | 10000 | Up to 250 words, structured using subheadings:
|
| Authors are required to base the manuscript on the structure outlined in the PRISMA checklist and to fill in and upload the checklist: http://www.prisma-statement.org/PRISMAStatement/Checklist.aspx | Yes |
| Perspectives articles Perspective articles critically perspective research in the field addressed and describe future potentials. | 10000 | Up to 250 words, structured using subheadings:
|
| Structured:
For human (1) and animal (2+3) experimentation:
Authors are encouraged to add as supplement for animal studies | Yes |
| Debate papers Letters to the Editor are welcomed especially if they relate to ongoing debates or comment on recent publications in the Journal | 2500 | No |
| No specific structure Max 5 references | No |
| Research letters Research Letters, represent an opportunity to publish (preliminary) research findings that are of interest to the field. | 750-1000 | No |
| No specific structure Max 5 references | Yes |
| Book reviews By invitation only. | No |
*Not including references, figures and tables.
**For details see information further down under “Specific requirements” and/or “Required Statements”
***Medical Subject Headings: Please verify the keywords
Abbreviations and symbols
For abbreviations and symbols use Units, Symbols and Abbreviations for Authors and Editors in Medicine Related Sciences, Sixth Edition. Edited by D.N. Baron and M McKenzie Clarke. ISBN: 9781853156243, Paperback, April, 2008. All terms or abbreviations should be fully explained at first mention. All units should be metric. Use no Roman numerals. Abbreviations are not allowed in titles, headings and "Aims of the Study".
Neuroscience-based Nomenclature
For papers concerning neuropsychopharmacological treatments, Acta Neuropsychiatrica encourages authors to utilize the ‘Neuroscience-based Nomenclature’ developed by the ECNP Taskforce on Nomenclature. The need for such a change arose to address a longstanding concern within the neuropsychopharmacological community that the nomenclature of psychotropic drugs did not properly reflect the underlying neuroscience of these compounds, as well as being unhelpful to clinicians and confusing to patients (e.g. the prescription of ‘antipsychotics’ for depression).
More information about the nomenclature can be found on the ECNP website, and in the paper by Zohar et al. (2014). The Neuroscience-based Nomenclature (NbN) itself is available free of charge as a mobile app (for both Android and iOS devices).
Specific Requirements
Original Articles and Short Communications
Significant Outcomes
Provide up to 3 Significant Outcomes encapsulating the 'take-home messages' of the article, and identify the main issues addressed with particular emphasis on the scientific significance. The Significant Outcomes are to be presented succinctly (1 max 2 sentences each), in tabulated form, and logically emerge from the conclusions of the paper (without repeating). However, they must not be dogmatic, raise new issues or pose further questions.
Limitations In addition, each original article must cite up to 3 noteworthy Limitations. These should inform the reader about potential weaknesses, for instance in aspects of study design, methodology, analyses, the wider generalizability, or the wider application of findings. The Significant Outcomes and the Limitations are placed immediately below the Abstract/Keywords.
Review Articles
Summations
Provide up to 3 significant Summations encapsulating the 'take-home messages' of the paper, and identify the main issues addressed with particular emphasis on their clinical and/or scientific significance. The Summations should be presented succinctly (1 max 2 sentences each), in tabulated form, and logically emerge from the conclusions of the paper (without repeating). However, they must not be dogmatic, raise new issues or pose further questions.
Considerations In addition, each review article must cite up to 3 noteworthy Considerations in which authors essentially criticize the summations and include any caveats or limitations either of the review process or its conclusions. The Summations and Considerations are placed immediately below the Abstract/Keywords.
Perspectives/Method/Protocols articles
Summations
Provide up to 3 significant Summations encapsulating the 'take-home messages' of the paper, and identify the main issues addressed with particular emphasis on their clinical and/or scientific significance. The Summations should be presented succinctly (1 max 2 sentences each), in tabulated form, and logically emerge from the conclusions of the paper (without repeating). However, they must not be dogmatic, raise new issues or pose further questions.
Perspectives In addition, each perspective article must cite up to 3 noteworthy perspectives in which authors essentially criticize the summations and include any caveats or limitations either of the perspective or its conclusions. The Summations and Perspectives are placed immediately below the Abstract/Keywords.
Required Statements
Author Contributions
It is a requirement that the corresponding author submits a short description of each individual's contribution to the research and its publication. Acta Neuropsychiatrica adheres to the definition of authorship set up by The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). According to the ICMJE authorship, criteria should be based on 1) substantial contributions to conception and design of, or acquisition of data or analysis and interpretation of data, 2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content and 3) final approval of the version to be published. Authors should meet conditions 1, 2 and 3. Contributors who do not qualify as authors should be mentioned under ‘Acknowledgements’.
Acknowledgements
You may acknowledge individuals or organizations that provided advice, support (non-financial). Formal financial support and funding should be listed in the following section.
Financial support
Please provide details of the sources of financial support for all authors, including grant numbers. For example, “This work was supported by the Medical research Council (grant number XXXXXXX)”. Multiple grant numbers should be separated by a comma and space, and where research was funded by more than one agency, the different agencies should be separated by a semi-colon, with “and” before the final funder. Grants held by different authors should be identified as belonging to individual authors by the authors’ initials. For example, “This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust (A.B., grant numbers XXXX, YYYY), (C.D., grant number ZZZZ); the Natural Environment Research Council (E.F., grant number FFFF); and the National Institutes of Health (A.B., grant number GGGG), (E.F., grant number HHHH)”. Where no specific funding has been provided for research, please provide the following statement: “This research received no specific grant from any funding agency, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.”
Competing Interests
All authors must include a competing interest declaration in their main manuscript file. This declaration will be subject to editorial review and may be published in the article.
Competing interests are situations that could be perceived to exert an undue influence on the content or publication of an author’s work. They may include, but are not limited to, financial, professional, contractual or personal relationships or situations.
If the manuscript has multiple authors, the author submitting must include competing interest declarations relevant to all contributing authors.
Example wording for a declaration is as follows: “Competing interests: Author 1 is employed at organisation A, Author 2 is on the Board of company B and is a member of organisation C. Author 3 has received grants from company D.” If no competing interests exist, the declaration should state “Competing interests: The author(s) declare none”.
Animal Welfare
Authors describing studies involving animals should have consulted the ‘Animal Research: Reporting In Vivo Experiments’ (ARRIVE) 2.0 guidelines, developed by the NC3Rs to improve standards of reporting, ensuring that the data from animal experiments can be fully scrutinized and utilized. For articles reporting in vivo experiments we encourage authors to include the ARRIVE Essential 10 checklist as a minimum, and we encourage authors to use the full ARRIVE 2.0 checklist. The relevant information outlined in these guidelines should be included in the appropriate section of the article.
An Animal Welfare Ethical Statement (see Ethical standards below) must be included for all studies involving animals. Furthermore, we encourage authors to include a supplementary file containing detailed experimental information according to the ARRIVE 2.0 guidelines. Please use this journal template: ARRIVE Methods
Ethical standards
Where research involves human and/or animal experimentation, the following statements should be included (as applicable): “The authors assert that all procedures contributing to this work comply with the ethical standards of the relevant national and institutional committees on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008”, and “The authors assert that all procedures contributing to this work comply with the ethical standards of the relevant national and institutional guides on the care and use of laboratory animals.”
References
1) Start on a new page
2) The Harvard (author-date) system should be used in the text and a complete list of References cited given at the end of the article. In a text citation of a work by more than two authors, cite the first author's name followed by et al. (but the names of all of the authors should be given in the References section). Where several references are cited together they should be listed in rising date order.
3) The References section should be in alphabetical order. Examples follow:
Brown GW (1974). Meaning, measurement and stress of life events. In Stressful Life Events: Their Nature and Effects (ed. B. S. Dohrenwend and B. P. Dohrenwend), pp. 217-244. John Wiley: New York.
Brown J. (1970). Psychiatric Research. Smith: Glasgow.
Leonard, BE (2018b). Inflammation and depression: A causal or coincidental link to the pathophysiology? Acta Neuropsychiatrica 30(1), 1-16.
Note: authors' names should be in bold font; journal titles should always be given in full.
4) References to material published online should follow a similar style, with the URL included at the end of the reference, with the accession date, if known. Authors are requested to print out and keep a copy of any online-only information, in case the URL changes or is no longer maintained. Examples follow:
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. (http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/profiles/acutecare/default.htm). Accessed 7 June 2004.
British Psychological Society Research Digest, Issue 12. (http://lists.bps.org.uk/read/messages?id=1423). Accessed 17 February 2004.
Abstracts cannot be used as references unless published in an indexed scientific journal. Include manuscripts accepted, but not published; designate the abbreviated title of the journal followed by (in press). Papers published electronically, not yet hard copy publication should be identified by their DOI-number. Information from manuscripts not yet accepted should be cited in the text as personal communication. References must be verified by the authors against the original documents. Titles of journals should be abbreviated in accordance with MEDLINE (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals).
Tables and Figures
A maximum of 7 tables/figures can be included (2 for short communications). Figures are given priority. Tables and figures should be included on separate sheets and numbered in order of their mention in the text with Arabic numerals and should include a brief, self-explanatory, descriptive title. Scale bars should be added to photomicrographs and other similar images.
Legends should be provided for each Figure on a separate sheet in the manuscript. A separate image file of each figure is required. Ensure that figures will be legible and comprehensible at final size and are of sufficiently high resolution.
Figures should be supplied (permitted file formats are TIFF (.tif), JPEG (.jpg) EPS (.eps), and PDF (.pdf)) where possible at approximately the size in which they are to reproduce. Line artwork should be supplied in black and white mode at a resolution of 1200 dpi; combination artwork (line/tone) at a resolution of 800 dpi; black and white halftone artwork should be saved in ‘grayscale’ mode at a resolution of 300dpi; color halftone artwork should be saved in CMYK mode at a resolution of 400 dpi. Tables should be double-spaced, no wider than 120 typewriter characters (including spaces). Please refer to our Journals Artwork Guide for additional information on preparing and submitting artwork.
All figures/tables should clarify the text and their number be kept to a minimum and not exceed 7 in total. Avoid data overload. Details must be large enough to retain their clarity after reduction in size. Illustrations should be planned to fit the proportions of the printed page. Color illustrations are welcomed.
There will be no cost to authors for the publication of color images in the online-only edition journals.
Author support
English language editing services
Authors, particularly those whose first language is not English, may wish to have their English-language manuscripts checked by a native speaker before submission. This step is optional, but may help to ensure that the academic content of the paper is fully understood by the Editor and any reviewers.
In order to help prospective authors to prepare for submission and to reach their publication goals, Cambridge University Press offers a range of high-quality manuscript preparation services – including language editing.
Please note that the use of any of these services is voluntary, and at the author's own expense. Use of these services does not guarantee that the manuscript will be accepted for publication, nor does it restrict the author to submitting to a Cambridge-published journal.
Copyrighted material
Seeking permission for copyrighted material
If your article contains any material in which you do not own copyright, including figures, charts, tables, photographs or excerpts of text, you must obtain permission from the copyright holder to reuse that material. As the author it is your responsibility to obtain this permission and pay any related fees, and you will need to send us a copy of each permission statement at acceptance.
When do I need to request permission?
You need to request permission to reuse any material for which you are not the copyright holder. This can include anything created, published, owned, held or produced by a third party, but also other published material that you authored, as the original publisher may hold the copyright.
If you make minor changes to the original material, you still need to seek permission to use it. Cosmetic changes such as tinting, relabelling, or redrawing as is are not enough; material needs to be substantially modified to avoid needing permission to reproduce, and even then the original source still needs to be acknowledged.
Who do I send a permission request to?
Usually the publisher of the original work holds the copyright, unless explicitly stated otherwise. We recommend that you approach the original publisher first, and they will inform you if you need to contact the author.
How do I request permission?
Most publishers have forms on their websites that can be completed electronically, or use automated electronic permissions services like Rightslink® to grant permissions automatically online.
If no electronic form or service is available, you must send an email or letter to the copyright holder. A template permissions request is included below; note for emails no signature is required.
Dear <rightsholder>
<Article title>
I am writing/editing/contributing to an academic work under the provisional title above, to be published by Cambridge University Press in <title of journal>, in <month (if known) and year of publication>.
I request your permission to include the following material in this work:
Author: Title: Date of publication: <volume and issue if applicable>: ISBN <ISSN if journal>: Page no.(s): Illustration no.(s): Table no.(s):
Unless otherwise informed, permission will be assumed to grant the nonexclusive right to use the material in print and electronic editions of the work throughout the world, in all revised editions of the work and as part of a sample of the work made available online for promotional purposes only.
I further request permission for the material to be included in any reprint published under licence from Cambridge University Press.
The source of the material will be fully acknowledged in the usual way. Please indicate below if you have any special requirements: ..............................................................
..............................................................
Please indicate your agreement to this request by <way of reply to this email/signing and returning one copy of this letter>:. The duplicate is for your own records. By your countersignature, you warrant that you control these rights and are authorised to grant this permission.
If this is not the case, I would be grateful if you could let me know to whom I should apply.
Yours sincerely
<Signature lines>:
I/we hereby grant the permission detailed above.
Signed:............................. Date: ..................
When do I not need to request permission?
- Creative Commons – where third party content is published under a Creative Commons licence (CC-BY / CC-BY-NC / CC-BY-NC-ND etc.), you may not need to request permission to reuse the content as long as you fully acknowledge the original source. Please check carefully the terms of the license before reusing material. More information about Creative Commons licenses can be found at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
- Content in the public domain – material that is not under copyright is considered to be in the public domain, and you do not need to request permission to use such material. This includes works for which the copyright has expired and has not since been renewed.
My article includes third party materials and will be published Gold Open Access. What type of permissions do I need to request?
If your article is to be published Gold Open Access, you will have to make sure all of the permissions requested from third party copyright owners includes the non-exclusive right to use the third party materials in the open access version of your article and under an equivalent creative commons licence.
If your article is transformed to a Gold OA publication post-submission, you will need to review the current permissions already in place and determine whether or not the rights originally granted cover the open access version of your article. If not, then you will need to request further permissions from the copyright holder.
How do I acknowledge permission in my paper?
Even if written permission is not required, you must fully acknowledge the original source of any material where you do not hold copyright in your article. The copyright holder will inform you if there is any specific wording required for this acknowledgement. For figures or tables from other sources, you should place this acknowledgement at the end of the caption.
What permissions information do I need to provide to my journal?
You will be asked to supply copies of any emails or letters granting permission to reuse material with your transfer of copyright or license to publish form.
Patient photographs
Please note that hospitals usually hold copyright for any photographs taken during the course of work done on their premises. Permission to use the photograph in your article also needs to be obtained from the patient in the photograph if the subject of the photograph can be recognised.
Material from the internet
Please be aware that even if a copyright notice is not displayed, content on websites is still protected by copyright and so permission to reuse material will need to be obtained from the copyright holder.
Use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools
We acknowledge the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the research and writing processes. To ensure transparency, we expect any such use to be declared and described fully to readers, and to comply with our plagiarism policy and best practices regarding citation and acknowledgements. We do not consider artificial intelligence (AI) tools to meet the accountability requirements of authorship, and therefore generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and similar should not be listed as an author on any submitted content.
In particular, any use of an AI tool:
• to generate images within the manuscript should be accompanied by a full description of the process used, and declared clearly in the image caption(s)
• to generate text within the manuscript should be accompanied by a full description of the process used, include appropriate and valid references and citations, and be declared in the manuscript’s Acknowledgements.
• to analyse or extract insights from data or other materials, for example through the use of text and data mining, should be accompanied by a full description of the process used, including details and appropriate citation of any dataset(s) or other material analysed in all relevant and appropriate areas of the manuscript
• must not present ideas, words, data, or other material produced by third parties without appropriate acknowledgement or permission
Descriptions of AI processes used should include at minimum the version of the tool/algorithm used, where it can be accessed, any proprietary information relevant to the use of the tool/algorithm, any modifications of the tool made by the researchers (such as the addition of data to a tool’s public corpus), and the date(s) it was used for the purpose(s) described. Any relevant competing interests or potential bias arising as a consequence of the tool/algorithm’s use should be transparently declared and may be discussed in the article.
Open Access
Under the conditions detailed on the Journal’s Licence to Publish Form, when an article is accepted, its authors are free to post their version of the accepted manuscript on a website or repository. As such, the Journal is compliant with the ‘Open Access’ mandates of the vast majority of academic institutions and funding sources.
Authors also have the option to publish their paper under a fully ‘Open Access’ agreement, upon the payment of a one-off ‘Article Processing Charge’.
In this case, the final published ‘Version of Record’ shall be made freely available to all, in perpetuity, and will be published under a creative commons license, enabling its free re-use and redistribution for non-commercial means. Click here for the open access transfer of copyright form. The corresponding author will be able to choose between standard publication and publication under the ‘Open Access’ agreement once their paper has been accepted.
The below articles types may be covered under one of the transformative agreements that Cambridge University Press has made to support open access. If funding is unavailable for the other article types, waivers are available.
| Original Article |
| Protocol |
| Review Article |
| Perspective |
| Short Communication |
Publishing ethics
This journal publishes in accordance with Cambridge University Press’s publishing ethics guidelines, which apply to authors, peer reviewers, the editorial office and the journal as a whole. Anyone who believes that these guidelines have not been followed should raise their concern with the editor or email [email protected].
Authors should see the Instructions for authors for additional instructions regarding publishing ethics.
Author Hub
You can find guides for many aspects of publishing with Cambridge at Author Hub, our suite of resources for Cambridge authors.
ORCID
We require all corresponding authors to identify themselves using ORCID when submitting a manuscript to this journal. ORCID provides a unique identifier for researchers and, through integration with key research workflows such as manuscript submission and grant applications, provides the following benefits:
- Discoverability: ORCID increases the discoverability of your publications, by enabling smarter publisher systems and by helping readers to reliably find work that you have authored.
- Convenience: As more organisations use ORCID, providing your iD or using it to register for services will automatically link activities to your ORCID record, and will enable you to share this information with other systems and platforms you use, saving you re-keying information multiple times.
- Keeping track: Your ORCID record is a neat place to store and (if you choose) share validated information about your research activities and affiliations.
See our ORCID FAQs for more information.
If you don’t already have an iD, you will need to create one if you decide to submit a manuscript to this journal. You can register for one directly from your user account on ScholarOne, or alternatively via https://ORCID.org/register.
If you already have an iD, please use this when submitting your manuscript, either by linking it to your ScholarOne account, or by supplying it during submission using the "Associate your existing ORCID iD" button.
ORCIDs can also be used if authors wish to communicate to readers up-to-date information about how they wish to be addressed or referred to (for example, they wish to include pronouns, additional titles, honorifics, name variations, etc.) alongside their published articles. We encourage authors to make use of the ORCID profile’s “Published Name” field for this purpose. This is entirely optional for authors who wish to communicate such information in connection with their article. Please note that this method is not currently recommended for author name changes: see Cambridge’s author name change policy if you want to change your name on an already published article. See our ORCID FAQs for more information.
Authorship and contributorship
All authors listed on any papers submitted to this journal must be in agreement that the authors listed would all be considered authors according to disciplinary norms, and that no authors who would reasonably be considered an author have been excluded. For further details on this journal’s authorship policy, please see this journal's publishing ethics policies.
Author affiliations
Author affiliations should represent the institution(s) at which the research presented was conducted and/or supported and/or approved. For non-research content, any affiliations should represent the institution(s) with which each author is currently affiliated.
For more information, please see our author affiliation policy and author affiliation FAQs.
Policy on prior publication
When authors submit manuscripts to this journal, these manuscripts should not be under consideration, accepted for publication or in press within a different journal, book or similar entity, unless explicit permission or agreement has been sought from all entities involved. However, deposition of a preprint on the author’s personal website, in an institutional repository, or in a preprint archive shall not be viewed as prior or duplicate publication. Authors should follow the Cambridge University Press Preprint Policy regarding preprint archives and maintaining the version of record.
Supplementary materials
Material that is not essential to understanding or supporting a manuscript, but which may nonetheless be relevant or interesting to readers, may be submitted as supplementary material. Supplementary material will be published online alongside your article, but will not be published in the pages of the journal. Types of supplementary material may include, but are not limited to, appendices, additional tables or figures, datasets, videos, and sound files.
Supplementary materials will not be typeset or copyedited, so should be supplied exactly as they are to appear online. Please see our general guidance on supplementary materials for further information.
Where relevant we encourage authors to publish additional qualitative or quantitative research outputs in an appropriate repository, and cite these in manuscripts.