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Behavioral and Brain Sciences

journal

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 28, 2025
Entity authorityQ814445
Source-derived summary

Behavioral and Brain Sciences is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal of Open Peer Commentary established in 1978 by Stevan Harnad and published by Cambridge University Press. According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2022 impact factor of 29.3.

History and structure of publications

Behavioral and Brain Sciences is modeled on the journal Current Anthropology (which was established in 1959 by the University of Chicago anthropologist, Sol Tax).

The journal publishes "target articles" followed by 10 to 30 or more peer commentaries and the response of the authors of the target article. The journal covers all areas of the biobehavioral and cognitive sciences (psychology, neuroscience, behavioral biology, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, linguistics, philosophy) and articles are judged by four or more referees to be of sufficient importance and interdisciplinary scope to merit Open Peer Commentary. Volume 1 appeared in 1978 and issues appeared quarterly; as its popularity grew it switched to a bimonthly schedule in 1997.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Behavioral and Brain Sciences” as journal. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Behavioral, Brain and Sciences.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1978, 2022, 1959, 1997—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1978-01-01. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Behavioral, Brain and Sciences providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Behavioral and Brain Sciences”, the useful work is to connect “journal” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 28, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q814445. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1978, 2022, 1959 and 1997.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Behavioral and Brain Sciences”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Behavioral and Brain Sciences primary sources, Behavioral and Brain Sciences archive and Behavioral research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Behavioral and Brain Sciences”?
  2. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
  3. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Behavioral and Brain Sciences” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.