Guide to Authors

• 1. Scope of Submissions

  This journal primarily publishes comprehensive review articles that reflect the emerging trends in the entire spectrum of scientific psychology with both novel content and unique insights. The types of articles include “Editor-in-chief Invited Reviews”, “Conceptual Framework”, “Meta-analysis”, “Regular Articles”, “Research Method”, etc.

  “Editor-in-chief Invited Reviews” contains summary reports of National Natural Science Funds projects or other major projects that have been concluded and have yielded a series of significant findings.

  For “Conceptual Framework” submissions:

  (1) Manuscripts should be based on the grant proposals of National Natural Science Funds or other major research projects funded in the current year or the previous year.

  (2) Research hypotheses should be clear and concise, explicitly indicating the variables involved and the relationships between them.

  (3) Authors are required to present their own theoretical framework. It is recommended to have a section titled “Theoretical Framework” towards the end, where, based on existing research and the anticipated results of the author's research, a comprehensive explanatory theory for the research question is constructed. This theory should clarify the roles and significance of each involved variable.

  (4) The theoretical framework section should also cite relevant literature and introduce the author's own theoretical construction based on prior research.

  (5) The name of the funding agency, grant number, approval date, principal investigator's name, online query address, and querying method should be provided at the beginning of the document.

  (6) The first author should be the principal investigator of the grant.

  Refer to the Download Center for detailed writing guidelines.

  Submissions to “Meta-analysis” are required to make a contribution to either filling gaps in the research or resolving contradictions in existing literature. If the submission is found to be merely quantitively integration of previous studies and summaries of potential moderator variables, but has little substantial theoretical contribution, it will not be considered for further processing.

  2. Submission Format

  Majority of articles published by the Journal are submitted by authors. In addition, the journal also publishes articles invited by the editor-in-chief or the Editorial Board.

  Invited manuscripts incorporate high-quality contributions from authors with substantial research achievements in relevant fields, invited by the Chief Editor or the Editorial Board. These contributions may include summaries of authors' years of research accomplishments, future research plans, or comments on research trends. There is no requirement for authors to provide research data, so this will not hinder the authors from publishing research reports on the same topic in other journals.

  Authors who meet the above criteria may also proactively contact the Editor or Editorial Board for writing invited manuscripts.

  3. Submission Requirements

  New submissions should be made via the portal (http://journal.psych.ac.cn). All manuscripts should be uploaded as a Word document. Printed copies are not required.

  Before submission, authors should complete a self-check report (downloadable from the Download Center) and paste the self-check results before the main text. For submissions to “Conceptual Framework”, please download and complete the “Self-Check Report for Conceptual Framework Articles”; for submissions to “Meta-analysis”, please download and complete the “Self-Check Report for Meta-analysis Articles”.

  After successful online submission, authors will receive a manuscript number assigned by the Editorial Office. Authors need to sign the submission signature confirmation form and the copyright transfer agreement (downloadable from the Download Center), scan or photograph them, and send them to the editorial office via email (jinzhan@psych.ac.cn).

  As the peer-review process is double-blind, information regarding the authors should be removed from the uploaded files, such as author names and affiliations, funding numbers, etc. Submissions to “Conceptual Framework” and “Editor-in-chief Invited Reviews” may retain author information.

  Authors bear the responsibility for the submitted content. The submitted manuscript and its content should be submitted solely to this journal and are not published, in press, or submitted elsewhere, either in whole or in substantial part, regardless of whether in English or another language.

  4. Manuscript Guidelines

  4.1 Title

  The title is limited to 20 characters. Use the scientific question as the title and avoid textbook-style writing. Do not include terms like “Research Review”, “Advances”, “Retrospect and Prospect”, “Review”, etc. in the title. English titles should also avoid these terms.

  4.2 Abstract

  The abstract should be around 200 characters. Avoid using “the article”, “we”, and other first-person pronouns. Core concepts should be defined. As a separately indexed unit in databases, substantial information should be provided. Avoid generic statements like “pointed out the shortcomings of previous research and looked ahead to future research”. For the English abstract, refer to the style used in similar English journal articles and should be proofread carefully before submission, either by a native speaker with competence in the research area and experience writing articles for scientific journals, or a professional editing service.

  4.3 Keywords

  Provide 3-5 keywords after the abstract. Keywords should be professional terms.

  4.4 Classification Number

  Use the Chinese Library Classification (CLC) number. Authors can find CLC number in the Download Center for reference, or the editorial department can fill it in.

  4.5 Title Hierarchy

  Use Arabic numerals for uniformity, with a small dot between each level, and no dot is needed at the end of the last level. For example, Level 1 uses “1”, “2”, “3”, Level 2 uses “1.1”, “1.2”, “1.3”, and Level 3 uses “1.1.1”, “1.1.2”, “1.1.3”. Titles are limited to three levels.

  4.6 Tables

  Use three-line tables, omitting vertical lines.

  4.7 Figures and Photos

  Text within figures should be in size 6 font, with high printing quality.

  4.8 References

  Use the author-date citation style. Further details can be found in the Download Center under “Reference Citation Guidelines for Advances in Psychological Science”. More information is also available in the 7th edition of the American Psychological Association (APA) Publication Manual. It is recommended to use reference management software like EndNote, NoteExpress, etc.

  In-text citations consist of the author (surname for foreigners, full Chinese name for Chinese authors) and year, which can be part of the sentence or enclosed in parentheses at the end of the citation.

  The reference list should start with Chinese citations followed by English citations. For Chinese citations, use pinyin ordering, and for English citations, use alphabetical ordering by surnames. If authors are the same, sort by publication year; if authors and year are both the same, sort by the first letter of the title followed by a, b, c...

  4.9 Formatting Sequence

  The final accepted manuscript should be formatted in the following sequence:

  Chinese title - Font size: Small Second, Font type: Bold

  Author names - Font size: Small Fourth, Font type: FangSong

  Author affiliations, city, and postal code - Font size: Small Fifth, Font type: Song

  Chinese abstract, keywords, classification number - Font size: Font size: Small Fifth, Font type: Song

  Main text - Font size: Fifth (Level 1 headings: Small Fourth Bold; Level 2 and 3 headings: Fifth Bold; Tables: Small Fifth; Figures: Six)

  References - Font size: Small Fifth

  English title - Font size: Fourth

  Author's English name - Font size: Fifth

  Author's English affiliation - Font size: Sixth

  English abstract and keywords - Font size: Fifth

  Use Times New Roman font for all numbers and English letters.

  1.5 line spacing.

  The initial submission and revised manuscripts should not contain Chinese and English author names and affiliations.

  5. Manuscript Review — Double-Editor System

  The journal adopts the three-level review system for examing manuscripts, including Handling Editors’ initial review, external peer review, Handling Editors’ re-evaluation, and final review by the Chief Editor. All stages are anonymous except for the final review by the Chief Editor.

  The initial review is conducted by two Handling Editors, primarily assessing the manuscript's innovativeness and its potential value for review.

  The external peer review involves two peer experts reviewing the manuscript, and the experts are selected either by the Handling Editors or the editorial office. If the review outcomes are conflicting, additional peer reviews might be sought. Reviewers are typically expected to complete their evaluations within 20 days. However, due to reviewers’ workload, delays might occur, necessitating automatic reminders by the system or email reminders from the editorial office.

  Handling Editors’ re-evaluation is also conducted by the two Handling Editors who did the initial review. At this stage, decisions are made based on the outcomes of the external review, including rejection, revision, or submission for Chief Editor’s final review.

  Manuscripts approved in the final review by the Chief Editor will be accepted for publication.

  At each review stage, there is possibility for manuscript rejection. Once the manuscript is rejected, appeals will not be considered.

  6. Manuscript Processing Flow

  After the manuscript is registered by the editorial office, the author will receive a manuscript number. Subsequently, the author can track the processing of the manuscript and view review comments in the “Author Inquiry” section. The general processing flow is as follows:

  Handling Editors’ Initial Review → External Peer-Review → Revision → Handling Editors’ Re-evaluation → Chief Editor's Final Review → Acceptance → Copy-editing and Typesetting → Publication

  Since some manuscripts require revisions and subsequent reviews, the “External Peer Review” and “Revision” stages may repeat.

  After the manuscript is accepted, the editorial office sends an acceptance notice to the author, requesting the author to send the final electronic version to the editorial office via email.

  Upon receiving the final draft, the editorial office proceeds with literature proofreading, layout composition, proofreading of the final proofs, and printing in sequence.

  7. Revision Requirements

  Manuscript revision may be requested after handling editors’ initial review, peer review, handling editors’ re-evaluation, and final review of the chief editor. The revised manuscript should include a revision statement, addressing each point of the review comments.

  A comprehensive revision statement should include the following information: (1) Explain how you understood the review comments. This ensures that the reviewers know whether your understanding aligns with their intent. (2) Address the issues raised by the reviewers. If there were problems with the content, explain why those issues arose and detail how you addressed them in the revised manuscript. Provide the rationale behind your revisions. (3) For issues that cannot be addressed in the revision, provide explanations and engage in a discussion with the reviewers, offering your thoughts regarding the issue(s). (4) Clearly indicate the specific pages of your modifications in the revised manuscript to facilitate the reviewers' assessment.

  If your manuscript undergoes multiple revisions, retain the revision statements from each round of revisions.

  Each revised manuscript should clearly indicate the manuscript number.

  Exclude any information related to the authors in each revision, retain the self-check report submitted during the initial submission and modify it when needed.

  The final accepted manuscript should include author names, affiliations, grant numbers, contact information for the corresponding author, acknowledgments, etc. All the letters in authors’ surnames should be capitalized, and so is the initial of the first name, e.g., ZHANG Houcan, LI Shu.

  8. Page Charges and Author Remuneration

  After the manuscript is published, the journal will charge page fees (150 yuan/page). In the case of student authors whose mentors lack funding or are unable to reimburse, they can apply for exemption from payment by sending an email request. Additionally, an author remuneration of 300 yuan per article will be paid, which includes remuneration for both the CD version and online version. Two complimentary copies of the journal will be sent to the author.

  Important Notes:

  If any of the following situations occur, please send an email inquiry to the Editorial Office to avoid delays in the manuscript processing:

  * If you have not received the receipt notice from the Editorial Office within 3 days after submission. (It is possible that your submission was not successful.)

  * If the peer review process exceeds the planned completion time by more than 10 days and you have not received communication from the editorial office. (When the peer review deadline approaches and the reviewers have not completed reviewing, the system will automatically send a reminder to the reviewers. However, since the review process takes time, you might need to wait for a week or so. If it is still not completed, you should contact the Editorial Office to request manual reminders to the reviewers. Some particularly busy reviewers might need multiple reminders.)

  * If, after submitting a revised manuscript for further review, more than 3 days have passed without the manuscript getting to the external review stage. (Once you successfully upload the revised manuscript, the editorial office should be able to see the completion marker. However, occasionally the marker is not displayed for some unknown reasons. It is also possible that the upload was not successful. If more than 3 days have passed without the manuscript being sent for external review, it might be due to an issue with the system display, and you should inform the editorial office to investigate.)

  * If you have not received an invoice after 20 days of paying the page fees. (The Editorial Office does not have independent financial management; paying fees and issuing invoices need to be processed by the Institute's financial department. This might involve queuing and can result in a longer processing time. Even with bank transfers, the financial department might not promptly notify the editorial office to claim.)

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