MCN: Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience

Edited by:
  • Greg Lemke &
  • Frank S. Walsh
Academic. 12/yr. $395 (institutional); $99 (personal)

This journal is more of a publication reborn than a new journal, because its scope and direction were revamped in early 1995 with a change in editors and a subtle shift in name from Molecular and Cellular Neurosciences (although numbering carried on from volume six).

At the time of the change, the editors set several goals to distinguish MCN from its competitors. An intriguing proposal was a promise to provide “incentives” to reviewers who quickly returned their review. On the basis of my own experience in chasing reviewers, I was interested in this strategy, but was not sure that I found the suggested reward — copies of Methods in Enzymology— all that enticing. A more alluring promise was that colour figures would be published free of charge. Now, nearly three years later, it is worthwhile to review the journal's success in the light of these incentives.

MCN has assembled an impressive and large editorial board of about 50 neuroscientists, more than half of whom are editorial board members for Journal of Neuroscience or Neuron, the best-known established journals which publish a great deal of cellular and molecular neuroscience. The papers published in MCN are generally full-length communications, with an average of six to nine figures and a format similar to that used in Neuron.

Each issue is fairly small, with six research articles and occasional topical reviews. The research articles are generally well-written and on current issues. But there is a strong bias toward developmental neurobiology, despite the editors' stated goal of publishing reports of interest in any area of molecular neuroscience. One wonders whether a more substantial change in title might help to direct interested readers to the topics actually covered in MCN.

As to the quality of the research articles, I would rate many of the papers as having less impact and general interest than similar articles in journals such as those mentioned previously. About a third of the papers could probably have been published in one of these other journals.

Articles in MCN contain many half-tone and colour plates. Although the quality of reproduction is generally excellent, I found several articles where the reproduction, particularly of electron micrographs, was fuzzy and lacking in contrast. The editors have achieved their goal of rapid publication, as most articles were accepted within a month of receipt and published within two months of acceptance.

In one remarkable case, a paper was accepted within a day of receipt — one could hardly wish for more as an author!

Overall, MCN does not really cover the area of cellular and molecular neuroscience as broadly as advertised. But it may find a home, particularly in the area of developmental neurobiology. The table of contents and abstracts are available electronically through the Academic Press site (http://www.apnet.com).