About the Journal

AIMS AND SCOPE

The Journal of Anomalous Experience and Cognition (JAEX) is a no-fee, open-access, university-based multidisciplinary journal. It is maintained by Lund University and sponsored by the Center for Research on Consciousness and Anomalous Psychology (CERCAP) and the Parapsychology Foundation. JAEX, published twice a year (Spring and Winter), provides a forum for the rigorous study of anomalous experience and cognition. Anomalous experience refers to unusual but not necessarily pathological experiences, such as mystical and out-of-body experiences. They can be spontaneous or induced and have life-changing effects. Anomalous cognition refers to rigorous multidisciplinary research  that seeks to improve our understanding of psycho-physical interrelations, including the hypothesis that organisms can be affected by spatially or temporally distant stimuli -unmediated by the senses or reason-  and that intentions can directly affect physical systems, as well as attitudes, beliefs, and other variables related to such claims.

There are niche journals covering some of these areas but not a journal in which scholars can get a sense of the links across them, along with the important theoretical, practical, and even clinical implications. JAEX does not take an a-priori stance for or against anomalous cognition and welcomes quality papers regardless of the authors’ stance. Academic contributions from any related discipline, including the humanities, are welcome.

JAEX welcomes submission of the following types of papers:

  1. Research, whether quantitative, qualitative, or mixed, presenting original data, replication of studies, and re-analyses of collected data. This category includes experiments and correlational studies,  as well as systematic single or multiple case studies, field research, historical analyses, and other forms of systematic inquiry.
  2. Registered reports, in which authors send a full study design for peer review before collecting data (see https://www.cos.io/initiatives/registered-reports).
  3. Theoretical, including implications of the theory and fit to the extant data.
  4. Methodological/analytical new proposals.
  5. Invited summaries of important new books or reviews of a topic.
  6. Invited debates on contentious issues.
  7. Book reviews.
  8. Letters to the editor about current issues or papers recently published in JAEX.

OPEN ACCESS

All articles published in JAEX are open access, freely and universally accessible online, and archived in the open journal’s Lund University website (https://journals.lub.lu.se). Articles in JAEX can be distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License CCBY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, with appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, a link to the Creative Commons license, and an indication if changes were made. The authors retain the copyright and full unrestricted publishing rights.

There are no charges for article submission or processing. JAEX uses the Open Journals System at Lund University (OJS), supported by Lund University’s Library. JAEX’s publisher is the Parapsychology Foundation (PF). JAEX is archived through PKP PN.

DOI AND INDEXING

Online and printed issues have ISSNs, and all published items have a Crossref DOI (digital object identifier), are archived in PKP PN, and are indexed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Google Scholar , and Researchgate from the journal’s inception. Applications to other indexing organizations will follow as JAEX matures.

REVIEW PROCESS

Submissions may be analyzed with a computerized plagiarism software. If there is no indication of plagiarism they will be reviewed using a double-masked (blind) procedures,  with empirical and theoretical papers reviewed by at least two reviewers and book reviews by at least one. Accepted submissions are copyedited for grammar and style. The copyedited version will be sent to the author(s) for any required changes and approval. A prompt response is required. Substantive revisions are generally not allowed after the manuscript has been accepted.

CORRECTIONS AND RETRACTIONS
The policy of the JAEX is that all published articles (including invited papers and book reviews) shall undergo a thorough review process, so that they can be relied to be accurate, fair, complete, and citable. This does not preclude the possibility that errors may occur. Important errors (i. e., not just a minor typo) will be mentioned in an errata section later on a numbered page that will contain the original article's citation. Cases where such corrections are insufficient to address will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis by the Editor in Chief.

Statement on Ethics and Publication Standards

JAEX adheres to the COPE Best Practice Guidelines described here http://publicationethics.org/files/Code_of_conduct_for_journal_editors_Mar11.pdf. 

Its Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement is mostly based on PsychOpen (https://www.psychopen.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/documents/

guidelines/publication_ethics_and_publication_malpractice_statement.pdf):

EDITOR'S RESPONSIBILITIES

Publication decisions

The Editor-in-Chief  has final responsibility for deciding paper publication. S/he will evaluate manuscripts without regard to the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, political philosophy, or scientific stance. The decision will be based on the paper’s importance, clarity, and thoroughness, the study’s validity,and its relevance to the journal's scope. Lgal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism willalso be considered.

Confidentiality

The editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted paper will not be used by the editor or the members of the editorial board for their own research purposes without the author's explicit written consent.

REVIEWERS' RESPONSABILITIES

Contribution to editorial decisions

The peer-reviewing process assists the editor and the editorial board in making editorial decisions and may also serve the author in improving the paper.

Promptness

Any selected referee who feels unqualified for reasons of competence or conflict of interest to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and withdraw from the review process.

Standards of objectivity

Reviews should be conducted impartially. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

Acknowledgement of sources

Reviewers should identify cases in which relevant published work referred to in the paper has not been cited in the reference section. They should point out whether observations or arguments derived from other publications are accompanied by the respective source. Reviewers will notify the editor of any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

Disclosure and conflict of interest

Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions associated with the papers.

ONLINE ISSN: 2004-1969

PRINT ISSN: 2004-1977