About the Journal

Focus and Scope

Brain Matters discusses all things neuroscience, psychology, and biology and features articles written by UIUC’s very own students. Our authors come from diverse backgrounds, such as computer science and engineering, but still have a passion for neurobiology. This diversity allows volumes to have a wide range of articles from neurotechnology to disease biology. The journal is mainly written for the college community yet is accessible to anyone as Brain Matters is uploaded as an Open Access Journal format by the University Library. 

Peer Review Process

The editorial board is responsible for reviewing and judging topic submissions and drafts from the writers. The Brain Matters Chief-Editor recruits editors based on their application and past writing and editing experience. Each outline, upon submission by the writer, is reviewed by the Brain Matters editor board, comprising of the Chief-Editor, Assistant Chief-Editor, and other current editors of the journal (6-8 members total). The editor board votes on whether to accept or reject topic(s) within each submission. Criteria by which reviewers judge submissions include the topic’s relevance to neuroscience, level of niche, and supporting evidence and credibility. After voting, the editor board notifies the writer of their decision along with feedback for each accepted and rejected topic. If the writer receives approval for more than one of their topics, they may choose either of the two or three and must inform the Chief-Editor or Assistant Chief-Editor of their decision. If the writer receives approval for none of their topics, they must follow the feedback of the editor board before proceeding to the writing stage. After an initial draft has been written about an approved topic, it’s sent to the editing board for review. Approximately two editors will review each article for grammar and style of writing. It will also be reviewed for scientific accuracy and factuality which is also done by the editorial board. This is now a review in progress and proceeds until the writer’s final draft.

Publication Frequency

The minimum amount of volumes published each semester is one. However, there may be future volumes that take longer than a single semester to publish due a larger selection of authors.

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

Sponsors

The Undergraduate Neuroscience Society (UNS) is a UIUC registered student organization that is dedicated to establishing and growing the Neuroscience community on campus.

Faculty Sponsor, Dr. Mark Hauber

Journal History

Brain Matters was created in 2018 by Thomas Romancheck.

Graduates

2022
Laura Kilikevicius, MCB major, Chief-Editor
Fiza Bukhari, MCB major, Assistant Chief-Editor
Julia Gainski, IB major, Public Relations Chair
Reilly Ruzella, MCB and Brain and Cognitive Science major, Editor
Carolyn Oh, MCB major, Editor
Sarah Matatov, Biochemistry major, Editor
Samantha Beil, Editor
Eva Cornman, Editor
 

All individual articles are archived in IDEALS.