Prior to submission, please carefully read and follow the submission guidelines detailed below. Manuscripts that do not conform to the submission guidelines may be returned without review.
A Guide for New Authors describing specific publication procedures for APA journals is also available.
Submission
School Psychology Quarterly® is now using a software system to screen submitted content for similarity with other published content. The system compares each submitted manuscript against a database of 25+ million scholarly publications, as well as content appearing on the open web.
This allows APA to check submissions for potential overlap with material previously published in scholarly journals (e.g., lifted or republished material). A similarity report will be generated by the system and provided to the School Psychology Quarterly Editorial office for review immediately upon submission.
Starting on January 1, 2012, the completion of the Author Manuscript and Cover Letter Checklist (PDF, 42KB) signifying that authors have read this material and agree to adhere to the guidelines is required. The checklist should follow the cover letter as part of the submission.
Manuscripts that do not conform to the author guidelines may be returned without review.
Book or test reviews are not accepted for review or publication in School Psychology Quarterly.
Special issues will be considered for publication under unusual circumstances, where each manuscript proposed will be submitted to the peer review process. Inquiries regarding special issues or special topic sections should be sent directly to the Editor, Dr. Shane R. Jimerson.
Please submit manuscripts electronically, either using Microsoft Word (.doc) or Rich Text Format (.rtf) via the Manuscript Submission Portal.
If you encounter difficulties with submission, please email Katie Weinel, SPQ's Manuscript Coordinator.
General correspondence may be directed to the Editorial Office via email.
Masked Review
This journal uses a masked reviewing system for all submissions. The first page of the manuscript should omit the authors' names and affiliations but should include the title of the manuscript and the date it is submitted.
Footnotes containing information pertaining to the authors' identities or affiliations should not be included in the manuscript but may be provided after a manuscript is accepted.
Make every effort to see that the manuscript itself contains no clues to the authors' identities.
Keep a copy of the manuscript to guard against loss.
Length and Style of Manuscripts
Full-length manuscripts should not exceed 6,000 words total (including cover page, abstract, text, references, tables, and figures), with margins of at least 1 inch on all sides and a standard font (e.g., Times New Roman) of 12 points (no smaller). The References section should immediately follow a page break. The entire paper (text, references, tables, etc.) must be double spaced.
For manuscripts that exceed 6,000 words, authors must justify the extended length in their cover letter (e.g., reporting of multiple studies), and in no case should the paper exceed 9,000 words total.
For longer works, supplementary materials may by posted online and linked to the published article in the PsycARTICLES® database.
Examples of supplementary materials that may be posted online include
- audio or video clips
- oversized tables
- lengthy appendixes
- detailed intervention protocols
- supplementary data sets
See Supplementing Your Article With Online Material for further information.
Notification of intent to use the supplementary materials option, and identification of supplemental material, should be identified in the author cover letter accompanying the submission.
Manuscripts are to comply with the APA Journal Article Reporting Standards (PDF, 98KB) (JARS; see American Psychologist, 2008, 63, 839–851 or Appendix in the APA Publication Manual).
Papers that do not conform to these guidelines and those that are not appropriate for publication in SPQ may be returned without full review.
Title of Manuscript
The title of a manuscript should be accurate, fully explanatory, and preferably no longer than 12 words. The title should reflect the content and population studied (e.g., "treatment of generalized anxiety disorders in adults"). See Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th edition) for further details in creating an optimal title.
If the paper reports a randomized clinical trial (RCT), this should be indicated in the title. Note that JARS criteria must be used for reporting purposes.
Abstract and Keywords
Starting on January 1, 2012, all manuscripts published in the School Psychology Quarterly will include a structured abstract of up to 250 words.
For studies that report randomized clinical trials or meta-analyses, the abstract also must be consistent with the guidelines set forth by JARS or MARS (Meta-Analysis Reporting Standards) guidelines (PDF, 750KB), respectively.
Thus, in preparing a manuscript, please ensure that it is consistent with the guidelines stated below.
Please include an Abstract of up to 250 words, presented in paragraph form. The Abstract should be typed on a separate page (page 2 of the manuscript), and must include each of the following sections:
- Objective: A brief statement of the purpose of the study
- Method: A detailed summary of the participants (N, age, gender, ethnicity) as well as descriptions of the study design, measures (including names of measures), and procedures
- Results: A detailed summary of the primary findings that clearly articulate comparison groups (if relevant), and that indicate significance or confidence intervals for the main findings
- Conclusions: A description of the research and clinical implications of the findings
After the abstract, please supply up to five keywords.
Participants: Description and Informed Consent
The Method section of each empirical report must contain a detailed description of the study participants, including (but not limited to) the following: age, gender, ethnicity, SES, clinical diagnoses and comorbidities (as appropriate), and any other relevant demographics.
In the Discussion section of the manuscript, authors should discuss the diversity of their study samples and the generalizability of their findings.
The Method section also must include a statement describing how informed consent was obtained from the participants (or their parents/guardians) and indicate that the study was conducted in compliance with an appropriate Internal Review Board.
Measures
The Method section of empirical reports must contain a sufficiently detailed description of the measures used so that the reader understands the item content, scoring procedures, and total scores or subscales. Evidence of reliability and validity with similar populations should be provided.
Statistical Reporting of Clinical Significance
SPQ requires the statistical reporting of measures that convey clinical significance. Authors should report means and standard deviations for all continuous study variables and the effect sizes for the primary study findings. (If effect sizes are not available for a particular test, authors should convey this in their cover letter at the time of submission.)
SPQ also requires authors to report confidence intervals for any effect sizes involving principal outcomes.
In addition, when reporting the results of interventions, authors should include indicators of clinically significant change. Authors may use one of several approaches that have been recommended for capturing clinical significance, including (but not limited to) the reliable change index (i.e., whether the amount of change displayed by an individual is large enough to be meaningful); the extent to which dysfunctional individuals show movement into the functional distribution, or other normative comparisons.
Discussion of Implications for Practice
Manuscripts must include a discussion of the implications for practice of the study findings or analytic review. The Discussion section should contain a clear statement of the extent of practical application in the school context of the current assessment, prevention, or treatment methods.
The extent of application to practice may range from suggestions that the data are too preliminary to support widespread dissemination to descriptions of existing manuals available from the authors or archived materials that would allow full implementation at present.
Randomized Clinical Trials: Use of JARS Guidelines
SPQ requires the use of JARS guidelines for randomized clinical trials, consistent with the recommendations and policies established by APA's Publications and Communications Board. JARS offers a standard way to improve the quality of such reports, and to ensure that readers have the information necessary to evaluate the quality of a clinical trial.
Manuscripts that report randomized clinical trials are required to include a flow diagram of the progress through the phases of the trial. When a study is not fully consistent with JARS guidelines, the limitations should be acknowledged and discussed in the text of the manuscript.
For follow-up studies of previously published clinical trials, authors should submit a flow diagram of the progress through the phases of the trial and follow-up. The above checklist information should be completed to the extent possible, especially for the Results and Discussion sections of the manuscript.
Authors of RCTs should also describe procedures to assess for treatment fidelity (also known as treatment integrity), including both therapist adherence and competence. Where possible, results should be reported regarding the relationship between fidelity and outcome found in the investigation.
Meta-Analyses of Randomized Clinical Trials: Use of MARS Guidelines
SPQ requires the use of the APA MARS guidelines for meta-analyses of randomized clinical trials. MARS offers a standard way to improve the quality of such reports and to ensure that readers have the information necessary to evaluate the quality of a meta-analysis.
Manuscripts that report meta-analyses of randomized clinical trials are required to include a flow diagram of the progress through the stages of the meta-analysis. When a study is not fully consistent with MARS, the limitations should be acknowledged and discussed in the text of the manuscript.
MARS guidelines are included in the JARS guidelines (PDF, 98KB)
Nonrandomized Trials
For nonrandomized designs that often are used in public health and mental-health interventions, SPQ requires compliance with JARS.
Failure to comply with JARS or MARS can result in the return of manuscripts without review.
Manuscript Preparation
Prepare manuscripts according to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th edition). Manuscripts may be copyedited for bias-free language (see Chapter 3 of the Publication Manual).
Review APA's Checklist for Manuscript Submission before submitting your article.
Double-space all copy. Other formatting instructions, as well as instructions on preparing tables, figures, references, metrics, and abstracts, appear in the Manual.
Below are additional instructions regarding the preparation of display equations, computer code, and tables.
Display Equations
We strongly encourage you to use MathType (third-party software) or Equation Editor 3.0 (built into pre-2007 versions of Word) to construct your equations, rather than the equation support that is built into Word 2007 and Word 2010. Equations composed with the built-in Word 2007/Word 2010 equation support are converted to low-resolution graphics when they enter the production process and must be rekeyed by the typesetter, which may introduce errors.
To construct your equations with MathType or Equation Editor 3.0:
- Go to the Text section of the Insert tab and select Object.
- Select MathType or Equation Editor 3.0 in the drop-down menu.
If you have an equation that has already been produced using Microsoft Word 2007 or 2010 and you have access to the full version of MathType 6.5 or later, you can convert this equation to MathType by clicking on MathType Insert Equation. Copy the equation from Microsoft Word and paste it into the MathType box. Verify that your equation is correct, click File, and then click Update. Your equation has now been inserted into your Word file as a MathType Equation.
Use Equation Editor 3.0 or MathType only for equations or for formulas that cannot be produced as Word text using the Times or Symbol font.
Computer Code
Because altering computer code in any way (e.g., indents, line spacing, line breaks, page breaks) during the typesetting process could alter its meaning, we treat computer code differently from the rest of your article in our production process. To that end, we request separate files for computer code.
In Online Supplemental Material
We request that runnable source code be included as supplemental material to the article. For more information, visit Supplementing Your Article With Online Material.
In the Text of the Article
If you would like to include code in the text of your published manuscript, please submit a separate file with your code exactly as you want it to appear, using Courier New font with a type size of 8 points. We will make an image of each segment of code in your article that exceeds 40 characters in length. (Shorter snippets of code that appear in text will be typeset in Courier New and run in with the rest of the text.) If an appendix contains a mix of code and explanatory text, please submit a file that contains the entire appendix, with the code keyed in 8-point Courier New.
Tables
Use Word's Insert Table function when you create tables. Using spaces or tabs in your table will create problems when the table is typeset and may result in errors.
Submitting Supplemental Materials
APA can place supplemental materials online, available via the published article in the PsycARTICLES® database. Please see Supplementing Your Article With Online Material for more details.
References
List references in alphabetical order. Each listed reference should be cited in text, and each text citation should be listed in the References section.
Examples of basic reference formats:
- Journal Article:
Hughes, G., Desantis, A., & Waszak, F. (2013). Mechanisms of intentional binding and sensory attenuation: The role of temporal prediction, temporal control, identity prediction, and motor prediction. Psychological Bulletin, 139, 133–151. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0028566
- Authored Book:
Rogers, T. T., & McClelland, J. L. (2004). Semantic cognition: A parallel distributed processing approach. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
- Chapter in an Edited Book:
Gill, M. J., & Sypher, B. D. (2009). Workplace incivility and organizational trust. In P. Lutgen-Sandvik & B. D. Sypher (Eds.), Destructive organizational communication: Processes, consequences, and constructive ways of organizing (pp. 53–73). New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.
Figures
Graphics files are welcome if supplied as Tiff or EPS files. Multipanel figures (i.e., figures with parts labeled a, b, c, d, etc.) should be assembled into one file.
The minimum line weight for line art is 0.5 point for optimal printing.
For more information about acceptable resolutions, fonts, sizing, and other figure issues, please see the general guidelines.
When possible, please place symbol legends below the figure instead of to the side.
APA offers authors the option to publish their figures online in color without the costs associated with print publication of color figures.
The same caption will appear on both the online (color) and print (black and white) versions. To ensure that the figure can be understood in both formats, authors should add alternative wording (e.g., "the red (dark gray) bars represent") as needed.
For authors who prefer their figures to be published in color both in print and online, original color figures can be printed in color at the editor's and publisher's discretion provided the author agrees to pay:
- $900 for one figure
- An additional $600 for the second figure
- An additional $450 for each subsequent figure
Permissions
Authors of accepted papers must obtain and provide to the editor on final acceptance all necessary permissions to reproduce in print and electronic form any copyrighted work, including test materials (or portions thereof), photographs, and other graphic images (including those used as stimuli in experiments).
On advice of counsel, APA may decline to publish any image whose copyright status is unknown.
Publication Policies
APA policy prohibits an author from submitting the same manuscript for concurrent consideration by two or more publications.
See also APA Journals® Internet Posting Guidelines.
APA requires authors to reveal any possible conflict of interest in the conduct and reporting of research (e.g., financial interests in a test or procedure, funding by pharmaceutical companies for drug research).
Authors of accepted manuscripts are required to transfer the copyright to APA.
Ethical Principles
It is a violation of APA Ethical Principles to publish "as original data, data that have been previously published" (Standard 8.13).
In addition, APA Ethical Principles specify that "after research results are published, psychologists do not withhold the data on which their conclusions are based from other competent professionals who seek to verify the substantive claims through reanalysis and who intend to use such data only for that purpose, provided that the confidentiality of the participants can be protected and unless legal rights concerning proprietary data preclude their release" (Standard 8.14).
APA expects authors to adhere to these standards. Specifically, APA expects authors to have their data available throughout the editorial review process and for at least 5 years after the date of publication.
Authors are required to state in writing that they have complied with APA ethical standards in the treatment of their sample, human or animal, or to describe the details of treatment.
The APA Ethics Office provides the full Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct electronically on its website in HTML, PDF, and Word format. You may also request a copy by emailing or calling the APA Ethics Office (202-336-5930). You may also read "Ethical Principles," December 1992, American Psychologist, Vol. 47, pp. 1597–1611.
Other Information
