Instructions for Authors

Fit and article type

Before formatting anything, settle two questions: whether the work is in scope, and which article type it is. The type governs the word limit, the abstract, and the reporting guideline that applies.

The journal publishes research on human psychological processes and behavior. A psychological construct, mechanism, experience or behavioral outcome must be central to the contribution; human participation, a medical dataset or a questionnaire alone does not establish fit. Aims and scope sets out the boundary with worked examples on both sides of it.

Psychological measures and instruments

Most of what the journal publishes rests on a measure, so the reporting requirements for instruments are as specific as those for the design.

• Name and version. Give the full name of each instrument, the version used, the number of items and the response format.
• Psychometric evidence. Give the evidence supporting its use in the population studied, and the internal consistency observed in this sample. A scale used outside the population it was validated in is reported as such.
• Translation and adaptation. Where an instrument has been translated or adapted, say so and describe how — forward and back translation, expert review, cognitive interviewing, and any items changed or dropped.
• Scoring. State how scores were computed, how missing items were handled, and the source of any cut-off applied.
• Permissions. Where an instrument is under copyright, confirm that permission was obtained for its use and for reproducing any items shown in the manuscript.
• Instrument development studies report item generation, the sample used for each analytic step, the factor structure with its fit indices, reliability, and any test of measurement invariance across the groups compared.

Declarations

Every manuscript carries a declarations section. Each item below is required, including where there is nothing to declare.

1. Ethical approval

   Name the approving Institutional Review Board or ethics committee and give the reference number, or state the documented basis on which your institution determined that review was not required. Research involving human participants must be conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

2. Informed consent

   Confirm that informed consent was obtained, and describe how where the circumstances made it a more demanding matter. Where an individual could be identified from the material published, written consent for publication is required and the manuscript states that it was obtained.

3. Trial registration

   Interventional clinical trials must be registered in an accepted public trial registry at or before the first participant provides consent for enrollment. The registry name, registration number, and registration date must be reported in the manuscript.

4. Data availability

   Every empirical research manuscript must include a data-availability statement. It says where the data are, on what terms they can be reached, and, where they cannot be shared, why.

5. Competing interests

   Disclose financial or personal relationships that could influence the research, including employment, consultancy, grants, patents, paid expert testimony, and relationships with organizations with an interest in the findings.

6. Funding

   Name all funding with grant numbers where they exist, and state what part the funder played in design, analysis, interpretation or the decision to publish.

7. Author contributions

   State what each author did. Authorship follows the ICMJE recommendations, and contributions that fall short of authorship are acknowledged with the contributor’s permission.

8. Use of AI

   AI tools cannot be authors. Where an AI tool has been used in preparing the manuscript, disclose its use; the authors remain accountable for the accuracy, originality and integrity of everything submitted.

Before you submit

1. The work is in scope, and you can say which psychological question it answers.
2. The article type is chosen and the manuscript is inside its word limit.
3. Structured abstract of 250 words or fewer, under Background, Methods, Results and Conclusion.
4. Five to ten keywords.
5. Title of 25 words or fewer; running head of 50 characters or fewer.
6. Sections in the required order, with tables and figures after the references.
7. Every instrument named, with its version and the psychometric evidence for the population studied.
8. The reporting checklist for your design completed and uploaded.
9. Effect sizes with confidence intervals, and every prespecified outcome reported.
10. Figures as separate TIFF or PNG files at 300 DPI or higher.
11. References numbered in order of citation, in the journal’s format.
12. All eight declarations present, including any that have nothing to declare.
13. Permissions obtained for any reproduced material, including copyrighted instruments.
14. If you are requesting double-blind review, the reviewer manuscript carries no identifying information.
15. Cover letter stating what the study adds and why it fits the journal.
16. One submission route chosen. Authors must use only one submission route for the same manuscript.

Where to submit

• Primary route. ManuscriptZone — the journal’s submission system, and the route that gives an author a record of the manuscript’s progress through review and revision.
• Alternative route. Manuscript submission form — a single page with no account to set up, suited to a straightforward manuscript. The link opens the form with Human Psychology already selected.
• Assisted route. [email protected] — for an author who cannot use either route above.

Each route leads to the same screening, the same reviewers and the same decision standards. The submit a manuscript page describes what each one suits.