Author Guidelines

HPlus: Journal of Transhumanism, Emerging Technologies, and Human Futures. Humanity. Technology. Beyond.

HPlus welcomes original, rigorous, scientifically significant, and conceptually innovative contributions investigating transhumanism, human enhancement, emerging technologies, directed evolutionary change, artificial intelligence, neurotechnology, biotechnology, posthumanism, post-biological intelligence, longevity, consciousness, and the long-term futures of humanity.

The journal is inherently interdisciplinary and provides a scholarly forum connecting evolutionary biology, genetics, genomics, synthetic biology, biotechnology, neuroscience, neurotechnology, artificial intelligence, computer science, robotics, cognitive science, philosophy, philosophy of mind, ethics, bioethics, sociology, anthropology, information science, complexity science, physics, astrobiology, space sciences, and futures studies.

HPlus is particularly interested in research examining how emerging technologies may augment, transform, extend, modify, disrupt, hybridize, or fundamentally redefine human biological and cognitive capacities, as well as research investigating the possibility of directed evolutionary change, human–machine integration, artificial and post-biological intelligence, and new trajectories for human civilization.

The journal does not assume that technological transformation necessarily represents progress. Human enhancement and emerging technologies may generate new capabilities and forms of intelligence, but they may also produce inequality, dependency, maladaptation, biological or cognitive divergence, unintended evolutionary consequences, social disruption, ethical dilemmas, existential risks, or other unforeseen outcomes. Research addressing these possibilities is strongly welcomed when supported by rigorous scientific reasoning, empirical evidence, theoretical analysis, or clearly identified speculative frameworks.

Article Processing Charges (APCs)

AnKa Publisher journals charge Article Processing Charges (APCs) but do not charge submission fees. Payments are required only after a manuscript has been accepted for publication. Book reviews, commentaries, and invited articles are fully exempt from APCs. Articles authored by members of the editorial board are also exempt from APCs.

APCs support the costs associated with maintaining the publication infrastructure, manuscript management, editorial evaluation, peer review, production, and long-term accessibility of published articles.

AnKa Publisher journals are fully Open Access, meaning that published articles are freely available online without subscription or pay-per-view fees. APCs are generally paid by the author's institution, research funding, or other appropriate sources. Discounted APC rates may be available for authors from low- and middle-income countries.

1. Submission of Manuscripts – Preparation of Articles

Authors are expected to carefully follow these guidelines when preparing manuscripts for submission to HPlus.

Manuscripts should present a clearly defined research problem, theoretical question, hypothesis, methodological framework, or scholarly argument. The Introduction should establish the relevant scientific or conceptual context, identify an important gap or unresolved issue, and clearly explain the contribution of the manuscript.

Because HPlus addresses an interdisciplinary audience, manuscripts should be written so that readers from related fields can understand the central argument, methodology, terminology, and significance of the work.

Mandatory Article Template

Important Notes

1. Mandatory HPlus Template

   All manuscripts must be prepared according to the official HPlus Article Template.

2. All Sections

   The title, author information, abstract, keywords, headings, main text, references, tables, figures, declarations, and other sections must follow the formatting requirements specified in the official template.

3. Submission Process

   Manuscripts should be uploaded through the online submission system in the required format and according to the journal's submission instructions.

DOWNLOAD HPlus ARTICLE TEMPLATE

Articles should provide comprehensive and appropriately documented reports of original research, theoretical contributions, methodological developments, or scholarly analysis. Manuscripts should be concise while providing sufficient information to support evaluation of the work.

Where relevant, authors are encouraged to make use of supplementary digital materials, including datasets, source code, computational models, interactive materials, high-resolution figures, video, audio, simulations, and other research resources.

Manuscripts should generally contain the following components:

Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, Background/Literature Review, Methods or Theoretical Framework, Results/Analysis, Discussion, Limitations, Conclusion, Acknowledgments, Funding, Conflict of Interest, Data Availability, and References.

The structure may be adapted according to the article type.

2. Types of Articles

HPlus accepts several types of scholarly contributions. Manuscript structure, length, methodology, and level of evidence should be appropriate to the selected article type.

Original Research Articles

Original Research Articles present novel empirical, experimental, computational, clinical, biological, technological, behavioral, social-scientific, or interdisciplinary research.

Studies may address topics including human enhancement, neurotechnology, artificial intelligence, genetics, synthetic biology, longevity, human–machine integration, evolutionary dynamics, artificial intelligence, cognition, consciousness, or emerging technologies.

Original Research Articles should contain a clearly defined research question or hypothesis, appropriate methodology, results, and scientifically supported interpretation.

Theoretical and Conceptual Articles

These articles develop new theoretical models, conceptual frameworks, interpretations, or interdisciplinary approaches concerning transhumanism, human enhancement, emerging technologies, evolution, intelligence, consciousness, posthumanism, or human futures.

Authors may integrate concepts across multiple disciplines, challenge established assumptions, or propose new frameworks for understanding emerging forms of human and technological transformation.

Hypothesis and Theory Articles

These manuscripts present scientifically grounded hypotheses, theoretical propositions, explanatory models, or research programs concerning possible future transformations of humanity.

Topics may include directed evolution, human enhancement, post-biological intelligence, artificial consciousness, human–machine symbiosis, technological evolution, long-term civilization, or other emerging phenomena.

Authors must clearly distinguish established evidence from theoretical inference and, where possible, identify testable predictions or empirical research strategies.

Review Articles

Review Articles provide critical, coherent, and comprehensive analyses of established or emerging areas relevant to HPlus.

Systematic, scoping, narrative, integrative, theoretical, and interdisciplinary reviews may be considered.

Reviews should synthesize the literature, identify contradictions and limitations, evaluate competing theoretical positions, and establish meaningful directions for future research rather than merely summarizing previously published studies.

Methods and Methodological Articles

These articles introduce, evaluate, or substantially develop research methods relevant to human enhancement, emerging technologies, evolutionary research, artificial intelligence, neurotechnology, biotechnology, computational modeling, futures studies, or interdisciplinary investigation.

Examples include:

• computational modeling;
• evolutionary simulation;
• AI evaluation;
• neurotechnology methods;
• genomic methods;
• human enhancement assessment;
• technology forecasting;
• scenario modeling;
• complexity modeling; and
• interdisciplinary research methodologies.

Perspectives

Perspective articles provide scientifically grounded and forward-looking discussions of important developments, unresolved questions, emerging concepts, technological possibilities, or future directions.

Perspectives may examine transformative technologies, changing concepts of humanity, emerging forms of intelligence, future evolutionary trajectories, posthuman futures, or long-term civilization.

Commentaries

Commentaries provide focused scholarly discussions of important scientific, theoretical, methodological, philosophical, ethical, or conceptual issues relevant to HPlus.

They may also discuss articles previously published in the journal.

Short Communications

Short Communications report concise but significant empirical, computational, methodological, theoretical, or conceptual findings that warrant rapid dissemination.

Letters to the Editor

Letters may address scientific, methodological, theoretical, ethical, philosophical, or editorial issues relevant to the journal and may provide constructive commentary on previously published work.

3. Article Preparation and Writing Style

All manuscripts must be prepared using the official HPlus Article Template.

Manuscripts should be written in clear, precise, concise, professional, and academically appropriate English.

Because HPlus serves an interdisciplinary scientific community, authors should write for readers who may not share the terminology, assumptions, or methodological conventions of their particular discipline.

Specialized terminology should be defined when necessary. Unnecessary jargon, excessive abbreviations, rhetorical language, sensationalism, and unnecessarily complex sentences should be avoided.

Authors should carefully distinguish among:

• established scientific evidence;
• empirical observations;
• theoretical interpretations;
• hypotheses;
• models;
• plausible technological scenarios; and
• speculative possibilities.

This distinction is particularly important for manuscripts concerning directed human evolution, germline modification, artificial consciousness, machine intelligence, mind uploading, post-biological existence, radical life extension, human–machine integration, and long-term human futures.

Theoretical or speculative possibilities must not be presented as established scientific facts.

Claims concerning future human evolution, species transformation, consciousness, intelligence, agency, biological enhancement, artificial sentience, or technological singularity should be supported by appropriate evidence or explicitly identified as theoretical propositions.

HPlus encourages a writing style that is:

analytical rather than promotional, scientifically rigorous rather than sensational, critical rather than technologically deterministic, and conceptually ambitious without exceeding the available evidence.

4. General Structure of Articles

The structure of each manuscript should reflect its article type.

Original Research Articles will generally include:

Title → Author Information → Abstract → Keywords → Introduction → Background/Literature Review → Methods → Results → Discussion → Limitations → Conclusion → Acknowledgments → Funding → Conflict of Interest → Data Availability → References

The structure may be adapted when required by the nature of the research.

Biological, computational, technological, philosophical, theoretical, interdisciplinary, or mixed-methods studies may require different section arrangements.

Theoretical, conceptual, review, perspective, and hypothesis articles may use a more flexible structure, provided that the argument develops logically and the major sections are clearly identified.

5. Title

The title should be concise, informative, specific, and accurately represent the central subject and contribution of the manuscript.

Authors should avoid unnecessarily long titles, unexplained abbreviations, vague terminology, sensational claims, and statements that exceed the evidence presented.

Because titles are important for indexing and information retrieval, significant scientific concepts should be included where appropriate.

For manuscripts concerning hypothetical or emerging phenomena, the title should clearly distinguish demonstrated findings from theoretical or speculative possibilities.

6. Authors and Affiliations

All authors should be listed in the order agreed upon by the authors.

Each author's institutional affiliation should include the relevant department or research unit, institution, city, and country.

The corresponding author should be clearly identified and should provide a valid professional email address.

Authors are strongly encouraged to provide an ORCID iD.

Only individuals who satisfy accepted authorship criteria should be listed as authors. Other contributors should be acknowledged separately where appropriate.

7. Abstract

Every manuscript must include an abstract.

For Original Research Articles, the abstract should generally include:

Background/Objective, Methods, Results, and Conclusion.

For theoretical, conceptual, review, hypothesis, perspective, and commentary articles, an unstructured abstract may be used.

The abstract should accurately represent the content and contribution of the manuscript and should be understandable independently of the main text.

References should generally not be included in the abstract.

Unexplained abbreviations, unsupported claims, excessive speculation, and conclusions not supported by the manuscript should be avoided.

8. Keywords

Authors should provide 4–8 keywords following the abstract.

Keywords should represent the principal concepts, phenomena, systems, technologies, or methods discussed in the manuscript.

Established scientific terminology should be preferred where possible.

Examples include:

transhumanism, human enhancement, directed evolution, emerging technologies, artificial intelligence, human–machine integration, posthumanism, post-biological intelligence, neurotechnology, synthetic biology, longevity, artificial consciousness, human futures, technological evolution.

9. Introduction

The Introduction should establish the scientific, technological, philosophical, or conceptual context of the manuscript and explain why the research problem is important.

It should identify a relevant knowledge gap, unresolved question, theoretical tension, methodological problem, or emerging research opportunity.

The Introduction should clearly state the research question, hypothesis, objective, theoretical proposition, or principal argument.

Authors should explain how the manuscript contributes to broader discussions concerning human enhancement, technological transformation, evolution, intelligence, consciousness, posthumanism, or human futures where relevant.

The Introduction should provide sufficient background without becoming an exhaustive literature review.

10. Literature Review and Background

The literature should be reviewed critically and in direct relation to the research question or central argument.

Authors should synthesize previous research rather than simply list publications.

Important theoretical disagreements, methodological limitations, contradictory findings, competing hypotheses, and unresolved questions should be identified where relevant.

Because HPlus is interdisciplinary, authors are encouraged to integrate relevant literature across disciplines rather than treating biology, genetics, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, philosophy, ethics, sociology, and futures studies as isolated domains.

When discussing concepts such as directed evolution, human enhancement, posthumanism, artificial consciousness, post-biological intelligence, technological evolution, radical longevity, or cosmic futures, authors should clearly distinguish established evidence from theoretical interpretation and speculation.

11. Methods

The Methods section should provide sufficient information for the research to be evaluated and, where feasible, reproduced.

Depending on the study, this may include:

• research design;
• participants;
• datasets;
• biological materials;
• experimental procedures;
• computational models;
• algorithms;
• software;
• model architecture;
• training procedures;
• genomic methods;
• neurotechnology;
• statistical analyses;
• simulations;
• scenario construction; and
• evaluation procedures.

For AI and computational studies, authors should report relevant information concerning datasets, preprocessing, model versions or architectures, training and validation procedures, evaluation metrics, computational environments, and relevant parameters.

For biological or biomedical studies, appropriate experimental, ethical, regulatory, and methodological information should be provided.

For studies involving human participants, clinical data, genetic information, neural recordings, reproductive materials, or other sensitive information, appropriate ethical approval, informed consent, participant protection, and institutional requirements must be reported.

12. Results

The Results section should present findings clearly, objectively, and logically.

Tables and figures should be used when they improve clarity and should complement rather than unnecessarily repeat the main text.

Statistical analyses should use appropriate methods and provide sufficient information for readers to evaluate the findings.

For computational and AI research, relevant performance measures, baseline comparisons, uncertainty estimates, validation procedures, and evaluation results should be reported where appropriate.

Interpretation of broader implications should generally be reserved for the Discussion.

13. Discussion

The Discussion should interpret findings in relation to the research question, theoretical framework, and existing literature.

Authors should explain how their findings support, modify, challenge, or contradict previous research.

Where relevant, the broader implications for:

• human evolution;
• human enhancement;
• emerging technologies;
• intelligence;
• consciousness;
• human–machine integration;
• posthumanism;
• technological adaptation;
• long-term human futures; and
• civilization

may be discussed.

Authors should clearly distinguish conclusions directly supported by the findings from broader theoretical interpretations.

Alternative explanations should be acknowledged where appropriate.

14. Limitations

Authors should explicitly discuss the principal limitations of their research.

Limitations may involve study design, sample size, datasets, methodology, measurement, computational constraints, theoretical assumptions, model limitations, uncertainty, generalizability, or the speculative nature of future scenarios.

Research concerning emerging technologies and future human transformations may involve additional uncertainty because technologies, evidence, social conditions, and theoretical frameworks may continue to evolve.

Acknowledging these limitations is an essential component of rigorous scholarly reporting.

15. Conclusion

The Conclusion should summarize the principal contribution of the manuscript and explain its broader scientific, technological, philosophical, or societal significance.

It should not simply repeat the Results.

Authors may identify unresolved questions and future research directions, particularly where findings open new questions concerning human enhancement, directed evolution, artificial intelligence, consciousness, post-biological intelligence, technological transformation, or long-term human futures.

HPlus particularly encourages conclusions that recognize uncertainty and avoid presenting speculative future scenarios as predetermined outcomes.

16. Figures and Tables

Figures and tables should be numbered consecutively and cited in the manuscript.

Each figure should have an informative caption, and each table should have a concise and descriptive title.

Figures should be submitted in an appropriate high-resolution format.

Tables should preferably remain editable and should not be submitted solely as images.

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission for copyrighted material reproduced from other sources.

17. Supplementary Materials

Supplementary materials may include:

• datasets;
• source code;
• computational notebooks;
• extended analyses;
• additional figures;
• experimental materials;
• questionnaires;
• genomic or biological datasets where ethically and legally shareable;
• model specifications;
• simulations;
• scenario models; and
• other resources supporting the manuscript.

Where appropriate, authors are strongly encouraged to make data and code available through recognized repositories.

If supporting materials cannot be shared because of privacy, ethical, legal, security, proprietary, or other legitimate restrictions, authors should clearly state the reason.

18. Research Transparency and Reproducibility

HPlus encourages transparent and reproducible research.

Authors should provide sufficient methodological information to enable independent scientific evaluation.

For computational and AI studies, transparency regarding datasets, model versions, training procedures, evaluation protocols, computational environments, and relevant parameters is strongly encouraged.

For theoretical and scenario-based studies, authors should clearly identify assumptions, analytical frameworks, models, uncertainties, and limitations.

Where complete reproducibility is not possible, authors should clearly identify the relevant limitations.

19. Ethical Considerations

Research involving human participants, clinical populations, genetic information, reproductive materials, biological samples, neural recordings, personal information, or other sensitive data must comply with applicable ethical standards and institutional requirements.

Where applicable, authors must report ethics committee or institutional review board approval and informed consent procedures.

Research involving human enhancement, genetic modification, reproductive technologies, neurotechnology, artificial intelligence, or other transformative technologies should address relevant ethical considerations where appropriate.

These may include:

• autonomy;
• informed consent;
• privacy;
• safety;
• genetic justice;
• equality;
• discrimination;
• technological access;
• human dignity;
• reproductive autonomy;
• intergenerational justice;
• environmental consequences;
• societal impact; and
• potential risks to future generations.

20. Artificial Intelligence Used in Research

When AI systems are used as research instruments, authors should clearly describe their role in the study.

Where relevant, manuscripts should identify the AI system, model, version, architecture, computational environment, or platform and provide sufficient methodological information for readers to understand how it contributed to the research.

Where AI systems are used for hypothesis generation, data analysis, simulation, modeling, writing assistance, image generation, coding, or other research activities, authors should disclose the nature and extent of such use when relevant to the integrity and reproducibility of the research.

Authors remain responsible for the scientific validity of all AI-assisted outputs.

21. Generative AI in Manuscript Preparation

Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and scholarly content of their manuscripts.

Generative AI tools may be used for limited purposes such as language assistance, translation, formatting, coding support, or other editorial tasks, provided that authors retain full responsibility for the final manuscript.

AI systems must not be listed as authors.

Where generative AI has been used substantially in the generation or modification of text, figures, code, analyses, or other scholarly content, its use should be disclosed according to the journal's applicable policy.

Authors must carefully verify AI-assisted material for:

• factual errors;
• fabricated references;
• inappropriate citations;
• unsupported claims;
• bias;
• plagiarism or unattributed similarity; and
• other inaccuracies.

AI-generated scientific content should not be treated as inherently reliable merely because it has been produced by an advanced computational system.

22. References and Citation Style

HPlus uses an author–date citation system.

In-text citations should generally follow the form:

(Smith, 2025)

For two authors:

(Smith & Jones, 2025)

For three or more authors:

(Smith et al., 2025)

Multiple references may be cited together:

(Brown, 2024; Smith et al., 2025; Williams & Lee, 2026)

Direct quotations should include page numbers where applicable.

The reference list should contain only works cited in the manuscript and should be arranged alphabetically according to the surname of the first author.

Authors should provide DOI information whenever available and should verify the accuracy and completeness of all references.

Particular care should be taken with references concerning emerging technologies and rapidly developing research areas.

3. Authorship, Funding, and Conflict of Interest

All listed authors must have made a substantial contribution to the research and must approve the final manuscript.

Funding sources should be disclosed, including grant or award numbers where applicable.

Authors must disclose financial, institutional, professional, personal, or other relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research.

If no relevant conflicts exist, an explicit statement should be provided.

24. Data Availability Statement

Manuscripts reporting empirical, biological, computational, or data-driven research should include a Data Availability Statement where applicable.

Authors should indicate whether supporting data are:

• publicly available;
• available upon reasonable request;
• subject to ethical or legal restrictions; or
• unavailable.

Where possible, datasets, source code, computational notebooks, models, and other reproducibility materials should be deposited in appropriate repositories.

25. Originality and Prior Publication

Submitted manuscripts must be original.

A manuscript must not normally have been published previously in substantially the same form and should not be under simultaneous consideration by another journal.

All sources must be appropriately cited, and authors are responsible for identifying substantial overlap with previous publications.

Preprints may be considered where consistent with journal policy, provided their existence is disclosed during submission.

26. Peer Review

HPlus uses double-anonymized peer review for manuscripts selected for external evaluation.

All submissions first undergo editorial assessment for:

• scope;
• originality;
• scientific or conceptual quality;
• methodological adequacy;
• ethical compliance;
• clarity; and
• compliance with journal policies.

Manuscripts considered appropriate for external review are evaluated by independent experts with relevant expertise.

Because of the interdisciplinary nature of HPlus, manuscripts may be reviewed by experts from multiple disciplines when appropriate.

For manuscripts involving both empirical science and philosophical or theoretical analysis, the editorial team may seek reviewers with complementary expertise.

Following peer review, the editorial team may accept the manuscript, request revision, or reject it.

A request for revision does not guarantee acceptance.

27. Revised Manuscripts

When a manuscript is returned for revision, authors should submit a revised version together with a point-by-point response to the reviewers' comments.

The response should explain clearly how each substantive comment has been addressed.

Where authors disagree with a reviewer recommendation, they should provide a reasoned scientific, methodological, or scholarly explanation.

Major revisions may be returned to the original reviewers for further evaluation.

28. Final Note to Authors

HPlus welcomes research that challenges conventional disciplinary boundaries and investigates emerging questions concerning the future of humanity.

The journal is particularly interested in work that identifies:

• new scientific questions;
• unexpected technological consequences;
• emerging biological possibilities;
• evolutionary transitions;
• conceptual boundaries;
• theoretical tensions;
• new forms of intelligence;
• previously unrecognized relationships between biology and technology; and
• alternative trajectories for humanity.

HPlus does not assume that technological development necessarily leads to human progress, enhancement, immortality, posthumanism, or technological transcendence.

Emerging technologies may enhance, transform, extend, disrupt, replace, hybridize, or fundamentally alter human capacities. They may also produce dependency, inequality, maladaptation, dysfunction, fragmentation, divergence, or unintended consequences.

The journal therefore encourages authors to examine transformative possibilities with both intellectual ambition and scientific caution.

A central concern of HPlus is the transition from humanity as a product of biological evolution toward humanity as a potential participant in shaping its own biological, technological, cognitive, and evolutionary future.

The journal encourages research examining the continuum:

Homo sapiens → Human Enhancement → Directed Evolution → Human–Machine Integration → Artificial and Hybrid Intelligence → Post-Biological Systems → Advanced Civilization → Long-Term Human Futures

This continuum is not presented as a predetermined pathway. It represents a conceptual framework for investigating possible transitions, mechanisms, constraints, uncertainties, ethical questions, and alternative futures.

Ultimately, HPlus seeks to provide a rigorous interdisciplinary forum for examining one of the defining questions of the emerging technological era:

What does it mean to be human when the boundaries of biology, intelligence, technology, evolution, and civilization are no longer fixed?

From Human Evolution to Directed Evolution.

From Biological Intelligence to Emerging Intelligence.

From Enhancement to Transformation.

From the Human Present to Human Futures.

Humanity. Technology. Beyond.