A clear record.
Explicit responsibilities.

Initial manuscript deposits

The portal is for initial confidential manuscript deposits. The office first checks scope and completeness. A technical receipt does not establish entry into scientific review, acceptance for publication, or a review deadline. The AI review stage begins only once its systems, confidentiality arrangements and human checks have been disclosed to the authors.

Scope & editorial decisions

A contribution should make the explanatory target precise, state its assumptions, and show how a model connects to observables. New mathematics is not required in every paper; every paper must advance explicit models or the evidence by which they can be assessed. Competing frameworks are welcome. No single theory of consciousness defines the journal’s scope.

Scientific contribution, explicit assumptions, methodological clarity, appropriate uncertainty, and the relationship between evidence and conclusions guide assessment. The review model combines AI critique, author response, and human verification and adjudication. No nomination of reviewers or preferred editors is requested.

Authorship, ethics & conflicts

All authors must approve the submitted version and take responsibility for their contributions. Declare contributions, funding, conflicts, approvals and consent, permissions, and relevant preregistration. Identify overlapping work and related preprints. Editors must declare conflicts and recuse themselves from affected decisions.

Data, code & reproducibility

Include an availability statement and enough methodological detail to inspect the claims. Share model specifications, derivations, analysis code, and data when possible; describe ethical, legal, or practical restrictions when sharing is not possible. Sensitive participant data must not be deposited in the manuscript portal.

AI use & manuscript confidentiality

Authors disclose material AI assistance. The editorial review protocol will disclose systems used, substantive AI contributions, human verification, and ways for authors to contest findings. The submission system stores manuscripts privately and does not automatically transfer them to AI services. Any subsequent AI review must follow the disclosed confidentiality and data-use terms.

Submission privacy

Read the dedicated notice for the operator’s identity, collected data, private storage, service providers, retention, AI confidentiality and the process for rights requests.

Rights, open access & charges

The planned publication model is Gold Open Access at cost. The submission form collects no payment and creates no publication-charge commitment. A copyright agreement, reuse license, any article charge and waiver terms, and preservation arrangements must be disclosed and agreed before publication. Initial deposit does not require acceptance of an undisclosed fee. Uploading a manuscript does not transfer copyright or create a payment obligation. Authors retain their rights and authorize confidential handling for submission administration. Public dissemination requires a separate agreement.

Corrections, concerns & appeals

Contact the journal office with the relevant reference and supporting evidence to raise a factual error, ethical concern, or contested editorial decision. The final policy will distinguish corrections, expressions of concern, retractions, and appeals, and specify independent handling when an editor has a conflict. Send the concern to the journal office, identify the manuscript and disputed finding, and include the supporting evidence and requested correction. Human handling is required. If independent handling is needed and an unconflicted acting editor has not yet been appointed, the case must remain pending rather than be decided by the conflicted person. No fixed response time is promised.