A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them

Ecclesiastes 3:5

Natural Systems of Mind

Article types and length

The NaSoM has the following Article Type: Editor’s Material, Reviews, Empirical Articles, Brief Reports, Case Studies, Book Reviews, Comments, Meeting Abstracts, and Learning from the Past.

The NaSoM recommends authors to carefully select the appropriate article type for their manuscript and to comply with the article type. Please pay close attention to the word count limits. Please indicate the number of words and the number of figures and tables included in your manuscript in the Cover Letter.

4.1. Review

These papers are typically in the 5000–10000-word range and provide a critical analysis of important topics related to the journal. Longer papers can be submitted and will be considered at the discretion of the editors; in your Cover letter, please justify why you are requesting greater than 10000 words.

The essence of the review is a detailed study and systems analysis of a huge mass of literature (approximately 100 original research articles). These Articles should provide a comprehensive summary of research on a chosen topic, and describe perspectives on the research in the given field.

The most common types of reviews are:

  • A theoretical/methodological review presents the newest theories or substantiation of new research methods.
  • A qualitative review summarizes the results of relevant studies without using statistics.
  • A quantitative review uses statistical methods to combine the results of two or more studies.
  • A meta-analysis review uses statistical methods to integrate estimates of effects from relevant studies that are independent but similar and summarizes them.

The structure of the review article includes following mandatory sections: a Title, Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and References.

4.1.1. The Introduction briefly outlines the topic and explains why the review was undertaken. The main element of the Introduction is the formulation of a research issue/problem.

4.1.2. The Method section is the most crucial part of a review article which should present clearly and logically the search strategy, namely, it following components: keyword combinations and terms employed in the search, databases (PubMed, Scopus, and et. al), inclusion and exclusion criteria, the ways of identification of studies, study selection, data extraction, quality assessment, and data analysis.

4.1.3. The description of the results obtained and their systems analysis are respectively placed in the Results section.

4.1.4. Interpretation of the results obtained, description of the gaps or limitations of the works, and putting forward new hypotheses and goals for future research projects are presented in the Discussion section.

It should be emphasized that a good review begins with a protocol that defines the study design, objectives, and expected outcomes. We recommend you to familiarize with the PRISMA Statement that consists of a 27-item checklist (http://prisma-statement.org/PRISMAStatement/Checklist) and a flow diagram (http://prisma-statement.org/PRISMAStatement/FlowDiagram). These tools help you to develop a review protocol and understand what to include when writing the review.

 4.2. Empirical article

Single study research articles should not exceed 5000 words. Research articles reporting multiple (two or more) studies should not exceed 10000 words in total. The structure of the Empirical article includes the following mandatory sections: Title, Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and References (see 3.1-3.5). 

4.3.  Book review

Book review (up to 2500 words) should contain a critical analysis in which both the merits and shortcoming of the book must be noted. Mandatory sections of the book review:

  • general information (author’s name, title of the book, information about the author, main theme of the book, and the book author’s purpose).
  • brief description of the book contents;
  • critical analysis of the book;
  • perspectives of the reviewed book.

The editors request the authors to submit a copy of the reviewed monograph along with the review. A book review should be sent to the editor no later than one year after the book publication. Book reviewers are invited predominantly by the editorial board.

4.4. Case study

Case study highlights unique cases: unexpected facts, unusual diagnoses, and treatment outcomes, extraordinary clinical course, and etc. Case study has a maximum word count of 3000 and may contain no more than four figures, tables, or videos.

Case study should have the following format (see https://www.care-statement.org/checklist):

  • abstract;
  • introduction (explanation what is unique about the case);
  • case description;
  • a figure or table with relevant data from the episode;
  • diagnostic assessment;
  • discussion (strengths and limitations of the approach to the case, discussion of the relevant literature (similar and contrasting to the cases), conclusions from the case);

4.5. Brief Report

Brief Report is an original study in a more succinct way, and with fewer details, than Original Research article. The NaSoM encourages Brief Reports of negative results and the non-reproducibility of previously published results. These articles should not exceed a total of 2500 words (including tables, figures, and references). Additional tables or figures can be included in Supplementary Material. Brief Research Report article has the following format:

  • abstract;
  • introduction;
  • method;
  • results;
  • discussion;
  • supplementary material.

4.6. Comments

Comments provide critical discussion on a previous publication in the NaSoM Natural Systems of Mind. Author should provide the complete citation of the article being commented on. Comments are peer-reviewed, have a maximum word count of 1000 words. They must not contain unpublished or original data.  Comments articles should have the following format:

  • title: “Comments: Title of the original article”;
  • introduction;
  • subsections relevant for the topic;

4.7. Meeting Abstract

Meeting abstract (up to) informs Readers about scientific congresses, conferences, and symposiums. It must contain no more than 3000 words and must be received by the editors of Natural Systems of Mind no later than one month after holding the event.