About the Journal
Aims & Scope
Neurotechnology, Society & Governance (NSG)
Neurotechnology, Society & Governance (NSG) is an open-access, peer-reviewed interdisciplinary social science journal dedicated to the ethical, legal, societal, and governance implications of neurotechnologies.
NSG focuses on technologies that directly interact with the human nervous system, including brain–computer interfaces, brain data recording systems, and neural stimulation technologies. It does not publish research on technical development, engineering design, or biomedical experimentation. Instead, NSG examines how such technologies reconfigure social order, rights, institutions, and public governance.
Aims
Neurotechnologies challenge foundational assumptions about mental privacy, autonomy, responsibility, and human dignity. While technical innovation in this field is accelerating, societal and institutional responses remain under-regulated and theoretically underdeveloped.
NSG aims to:
- Establish neurotechnology governance as a distinct field of social science inquiry, rather than a subset of neuroscience or AI research
- Advance theoretical, legal, and normative frameworks for neurorights, cognitive liberty, and brain data governance
- Examine how neurotechnologies reshape law, ethics, public policy, social inequality, and political authority
- Provide comparative and internationally relevant analysis to inform legislation, regulation, and global governance
Through these aims, NSG seeks to contribute to the formation of institutionally actionable concepts that support responsible governance of technologies acting upon the human mind.
Scope
In Scope
NSG welcomes original research, review articles, and policy analyses that address the societal, legal, ethical, and governance dimensions of neurotechnologies, including but not limited to:
- Neurorights and cognitive liberty
Constitutional, legal, and philosophical foundations of mental privacy, mental integrity, and cognitive freedom - Brain data governance
Ownership, consent, control, and regulation of brain-generated data; limits of existing data protection frameworks - Ethics and law of neurotechnology
Informed consent, responsibility, liability, and risk allocation in clinical and non-clinical contexts - Public governance and regulatory design
National and sub-national regulatory frameworks; gaps in medical device, consumer protection, and digital governance regimes - Social and political implications
Neurotechnology and inequality, surveillance, labor, military use, and human enhancement - Public attitudes and societal legitimacy
Public perception, trust, and democratic implications of brain-interfacing technologies - International and comparative governance
Cross-jurisdictional analysis of neurotechnology regulation; global norm diffusion; the role of international and transnational governance frameworks
Out of Scope
NSG does not publish technical, biomedical, or engineering research, including:
- Neural signal processing, machine learning, or algorithmic optimization
- Hardware design, electrode materials, or device engineering
- Neuroimaging performance studies or experimental neuroscience
- Clinical efficacy studies without substantial social, legal, or ethical analysis
Technical descriptions may be included only as contextual background and must not constitute the primary contribution.
Disciplinary Orientation
NSG is a social science and humanities journal, drawing primarily from:
- Ethics and neuroethics
- Law and human rights law
- Public policy and governance
- Political theory and political science
- Science, Technology, and Society (STS)
It does not position itself as a neuroscience, biomedical engineering, or artificial intelligence methods journal.
Distinct Positioning
NSG focuses exclusively on governance challenges arising from direct interaction between technology and the human nervous system.
General research on artificial intelligence, algorithmic governance, or digital platforms falls outside the journal's scope unless explicitly linked to brain-interfacing technologies.
Vision
NSG aims to become a leading international journal in the social science of neurotechnology, supporting high-impact scholarship at the intersection of ethics, law, and public governance, and contributing to global debates on how societies should govern technologies that act upon the human mind itself.
