Manuscript Submission
Instructions for authors
Types of articles
JoE publishes regular length articles, brief report articles, target articles, commentaries, and book reviews. There is no word limit for regular length articles. Brief reports are limited to 3,000 words (excluding abstract, title, references, footnotes, and acknowledgements). Target articles are regular length articles, followed by commentaries and responses from the author(s) of the target article. Commentaries and book reviews are limited to 1,000 words (excluding abstract, title, references, footnotes, and acknowledgements). Book reviews are invited; proposals are also accepted.
Target articles are invited; proposals are also accepted. Proposals should be no more than 3 pages in length, and should summarize the topic and its theoretical and/or applied importance. Topics of forthcoming target articles will be posted on the JoE website, and commentary will be encouraged from a wide audience of scientists and practitioners.
Submission of manuscript
Submit your manuscript using the SUBMIT YOUR MANUSCRIPT button at the bottom of this page. Two documents are required for a submission: a cover letter and the main document. The cover letter should include a 2-3 sentence description of the work; it may also include up to 3 suggested reviewers (with no conflicts of interest) and up to 3 non-preferred reviewers. The main document should include: (1) an abstract, (2) the main text with figures and tables embedded in the text (not at the end), (3) a reference list, (4) appendices (if any), and (5) supplemental online materials (if any). Submissions to JoE should follow APA style, formatted as one column of double-spaced text, without manual hyphenation for words spanning line breaks. Create each file using any word processing program (e.g., Apple Pages, LibreOffice Writer, Microsoft Word) and submit the file along with a .pdf file.
Editorial process
Once a manuscript is received at the JoE office, the editors will assign it to an associate editor, or they will handle the manuscript themselves. Typically, the manuscript will be reviewed by one consulting editor and two ad hoc reviewers. Authors should expect an action letter within approximately 6 weeks of submission, with an editorial decision of accept, reject, or revise.
Accepted manuscripts
Accepted manuscripts may be submitted in the format of the original submission (e.g., .doc, .docx). Figures should be submitted as .eps, .tif, .jpeg, or .bmp files. The preferred format for tables is Excel (.xls). Tables can be submitted in Word, but they should be tables, not text with tabs to created columns. Please submit the code for any tables created in R.
Policy on data sharing
Authors are encouraged, but not required, to make their raw data openly available, with variable codes and descriptions if the data file is not self-explanatory. Authors may make their data file openly available by uploading it to the Open Science Framework; links will be included in JoE articles. Authors who do not make their raw data openly available through OSF are still expected to make it available to individual investigators who request it following publication, free of cost and in a timely manner. However, JoE recognizes that there may be circumstances under which authors may not want to share their data for a period of time. In such cases, authors should make the reasons for this clear in the cover letter accompanying the submission.
Statistical guidelines
JoE publishes empirical research using diverse statistical approaches, including frequentist and Bayesian. Effect size estimates and confidence intervals should always be reported. Authors should avoid misinterpreting p values and confidence intervals. A p value indicates the probability of obtaining the observed result (or a more extreme value), given the null hypothesis is true; a confidence interval provides a range of values that is likely to include a population parameter a specified percentage of the time (e.g., 95%). For empirical studies, a power analysis should generally be reported to justify sample size; whether the power analysis is a priori or post-hoc should be made explicit in the manuscript. Pre-registration is encouraged, but not mandatory.
Ethical principles
JoE follows the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles for Research and Publication. In adherence with these principles, authors may not publish “as original data, data that have been previously published” (Standard 8.13). In addition, authors must “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). (Note: Although APA standards stipulate that authors may require compensation for costs associated with data sharing, JoE authors are expected to make their data available free of charge, in the spirit of the fully open access model of the journal.) Authors are expected to follow the APA Ethical Principles, and for any researching involving human or animal participants are required to acknowledge that they have obtained Institutional Approval and have complied with APA ethical standards in the treatment of their sample. Authors are also required to disclose any financial conflicts of interest before a work may be published in JoE.