TOPICS — Journal of The Cognitive Science Society

The inaugural issue of topiCS was published in January, 2009. [Publisher's site >]

topiCS is a forum for:

• New communities of researchers
• New controversies in established areas
• Debates and commentaries
• Reflection and integration

The following are the types of topiCS submissions. (This outline reflects the structure of our online submission site, see http://www.editorialmanager.com/topics/):

1. Proposal for a new Topic:
   
   
1. WHO: one or a small group of researchers working together to propose a particular topic in a particular format
   
   
2. FORMAT (click on link to go to the FAQ for more information);

1. Multiple (4–10) papers on one topic
2. Debate — 2 to 3 central papers with commentaries
3. Target article with commentaries
4. Does not fit into one of the above categories, but seems like a good match to topiCS anyway.

2. Sketches, papers, introductions to an accepted Topic or responses to a published topic:
   
   
1. Sketches (i.e., immediate responses to a Call-for-Papers on a given topic):
   WHO: researchers who are interested in contributing to a topic and wish to have their contribution vetted by the editors before writing a full paper. Please note that “vetting” does not imply “acceptance”, it merely implies that your proposed contribution fits with the Editors vision of their topic.

2. Article submission:
   
   WHO: researchers whose proposals (B.1) have been accepted by the topiCS Editor or have been otherwise invited to submit a paper on the topic

3. Topic introduction:
   
   WHO: typically an introduction is written by the topiCS Editors for the entire topic

4. Topic commentary, report, rebuttal, or letter-to-editor on an already published topic:
   
   WHO: anyone may submit a commentary, report, or rebuttal to a published topic or paper. These will be vetted by the Editor-in-Chief in consultation with the topiCS Editors. 

topiCS is a different journal. Its differences will be felt by its authors, reviewers, editors, and readers.

• Authors: there will be no such thing as an unsolicited topiCS paper. If you have an idea for a topic then submit a proposal for a topic via the topiCS Editorial Manager website.
  
  Note that although all authors will be invited to submit, this does not mean that all submissions will be accepted. Although we expect topiCS to have a higher than normal acceptance rate, this higher rate will be due to soliciting papers that we know fit the charter of the journal from researchers who we know have something to say. However, papers will be rejected and papers that are assigned a "revise and resubmit" review category will not have the luxury of time needed to make it back into the pool of papers published on that topic.
  
  
• Associate Editors: topiCS Associate Editors are charged with soliciting new topics, preparing a call for papers on that topic, recruiting authors, recruiting reviewers, and in general guiding one topic through the process from inspiration to publication. In addition to these duties all Associate Editors advise the Executive Editor on topiCS policy including the development of new topics and the recruitment of new Associate Editors.
  
  If you have organized an exciting and successful symposium, or if you have an idea for a topic whose time has come and that has not yet found an outlet, you are a potential topiCS Editor and you should Prepare a Proposal for a New Topic.
  
  
• Reviewers: Although all topiCS papers will be solicited, no paper will be accepted for publication until it receives three peer reviews. All topiCS authors should consider themselves as potential topiCS reviewers. The field of Cognitive Science can only flourish if our best researchers devote some of their time and energy to shaping the literature. Once a topic has been posted on the topiCS Home (http://cognitivesciencesociety.org/journal_topics.html) you may volunteer as a reviewer by clicking on that topic and filling in the requested information. All reviewers will be vetted by the topiCS Editors.
  
  For a multiple paper topic, an ideal distribution of three reviewers would be: an author of one of the other submissions (an inside reviewer), a reviewer with expertise in the topic (a subject matter reviewer), and a reviewer with expertise in cognitive science but not in the topic (an outside reviewer).
  
  
• Readers: if you are interested in leading edge Cognitive Science then you should be a topic reader. It is our intention that many topiCS topics could form the core of a graduate seminar. Hence, your graduate students and colleagues may be topiCS readers as well. There is no requirement that topiCS readers must be cognitive researchers; however, it is our intention to create a journal so fresh and exciting that if you are not a cognitive researcher when you begin your subscription then you will wish you were one before your subscription ends.

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