Aim & Scope

Aim

Network Science and Complex Systems provides a peer-reviewed venue for network science and complex systems. The journal is intended for network scientists, complexity researchers, applied mathematicians, and computational social scientists. Its editorial goal is to publish articles that make the research question, method, evidence, and limitations visible enough for readers to evaluate and reuse.

Core Scope

The journal considers manuscripts in the following areas:

  • Original studies in complex networks with transparent assumptions and evaluable evidence.
  • Research on graph dynamics that explains methods, data, and interpretation limits.
  • Applied work involving resilience where practical relevance is supported by analysis rather than assertion.
  • Interdisciplinary work connecting social and technical systems to adjacent scientific, engineering, health, environmental, social, or policy questions.

Article Types Considered

The journal may consider network analyses, modelling papers, simulation studies, data notes, theory articles, and reviews. Article type should be selected according to the main contribution, not according to desired length or perceived prestige.

Method and Evidence Expectations

For this field, manuscripts should pay particular attention to:

  • network construction
  • model assumptions
  • parameter sensitivity
  • validation against empirical data
  • limits of causal interpretation

Out of Scope

The journal does not consider manuscripts that are purely promotional, lack a research question, duplicate previously published work, make unsupported clinical or policy claims, present unverifiable results, or fall outside network science and complex systems. Manuscripts that are technically sound but do not fit the journal's subject identity may be returned before peer review.

Editorial Standard

The journal does not require spectacular novelty. It requires a clear contribution, appropriate citations, transparent methods, relevant ethical approvals where needed, and a limitations section. Reviewers and editors should ask whether the work is trustworthy and useful for its intended readership.