Established in 1891, JCN is the oldest continually published basic neuroscience journal. Historically, as the name suggests, the journal focused on a comparison among species to uncover the intricacies of how the brain functions. In modern times, this research is called systems neuroscience where animal models are used to mimic core cognitive processes with the ultimate goal of understanding neural circuits and connections that give rise to behavioral patterns and different neural states.

Research published in JCN covers all species from invertebrates to humans, and the reports inform the readers about the function and organization of nervous systems in species with an emphasis on the way that species adaptations inform about the function or organization of the nervous systems, rather than on their evolution per se.

JCN publishes primary research articles and critical commentaries and review-type articles offering expert insight in to cutting edge research in the field of systems neuroscience; a complete list of contribution types is given in the Author Guidelines. For primary research contributions, only full-length investigative reports are desired; the journal does not accept short communications.