Information for Contributors

Manuscripts are accepted for consideration by the American Journal of Psychotherapy with the understanding that they represent original material, have not been published previously, are not being considered for publication elsewhere, and have been approved by each author. (Clinical trial registration does not constitute prior publication and will not preclude consideration for publication.)

Authors submitting manuscripts containing data or clinical observations already used in published papers or used in papers that are in press, submitted for publication, or soon to be submitted should provide this information and electronic copies of those papers (or links to the online publications) to the Editor in a cover letter uploaded to ScholarOne Manuscripts. An explanation of the differences between the papers should be included.

The American Journal of Psychotherapy requires, as a condition of consideration for publication, registration of clinical trials in a public trials registry. Trials must be registered at or before the onset of patient enrollment. For this purpose, a clinical trial is defined as any research project that prospectively assigns human subjects to intervention or comparison groups to study the cause-and-effect relationship between a medical intervention and a health outcome. Studies designed for other purposes, such as to study pharmacokinetics or major toxicity (for example, phase I trials), are exempt. The journal does not advocate one particular registry but requires authors to register their trial in a registry that meets several criteria. The registry must be accessible to the public at no charge. It must be open to all prospective registrants and managed by a not-for-profit organization. There must be a mechanism to ensure the validity of the registration data, and the registry must be electronically searchable.

An acceptable registry must include at minimum the following information: a unique identifying number, a statement of the intervention (or interventions) and comparison (or comparisons) studied, a statement of the study hypothesis, definitions of the primary and secondary outcome measures, eligibility criteria, key trial dates (registration date, anticipated or actual start date, anticipated or actual date of last follow-up, planned or actual date of closure to data entry, and date trial data were considered complete), target number of subjects, funding source, and contact information for the principal investigator. To our knowledge, at present, only www.clinicaltrials.gov, sponsored by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, meets these requirements; there may be other registries, now or in the future, that meet all these requirements. Registration information must be provided in the cover letter at submission.

All persons designated as authors should qualify for authorship. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the content. The corresponding author affirms that he or she had access to all data from the study, both what is reported and what is unreported, and also that he or she had complete freedom to direct its analysis and its reporting, without influence from the sponsors. The corresponding author also affirms that there was no editorial direction or censorship from the sponsors. Preparation of drafts of manuscripts by employees of the sponsor who are not listed as authors is expressly prohibited.

Authorship credit should be based on

1. Substantial contributions to conception and design or analysis and interpretation of data.
2. Substantial contributions to drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content.
3. Final approval of the version to be published.
4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Conditions 1, 2, 3, and 4 must ALL be met. Participation solely in the acquisition of funding or the collection of data does not left authorship. General supervision of the research group is also not sufficient. Any part of an article critical to its main conclusions must be the responsibility of at least one author.

Only those with key responsibility for the material in the article should be listed as authors; others contributing to the work should be recognized in an Acknowledgment.

The American Psychiatric Association has adopted the following policies regarding the use of generative artificial/augmented intelligence (AI) in any manuscript or book submitted for potential publication:

• If a generative AI tool was used at any stage in the creation of a submitted work, both the relevant text of the submitted work and the cover letter or email accompanying the submission must fully identify all details of the AI use (including the tool used and the relevant output)
• Submitted works may not include images produced with generative AI at this time
• Only human persons can be listed as authors of a work (i.e., no AI tool may be identified as author)
• Authors are responsible for all material contained within the submitted work, including any material first produced through the use of generative AI. This comprises responsibility for the accuracy of such material (i.e., confirming that it is not incorrect, incomplete or biased) and for ensuring that all relevant material includes appropriate attribution and does not constitute plagiarism
• Material produced through a generative AI tool may not be cited as a primary source

Disclosure of financial relationships is required at the time of submission (see further information in the subsection about disclosures under Title Page below). Financial support for the study is always disclosed, whether from governmental, nonprofit, or commercial sources. Nonfinancial forms of support for the study, such as medications and other in-kind support, must also be disclosed. The authors are responsible for informing the editorial office of any additional financial relationships that may arise prior to the date of publication of the paper.

On acceptance of a manuscript, the corresponding author and all coauthors will receive an e-mail with a link to the Authorship, Disclosure, and Copyright Transfer form and instructions for online submission of the form. This form requires all authors to individually disclose all financial relationships, whether or not directly related to the subject of the paper. Reporting should encompass the previous 36 months. Such reporting must include all equity ownership, profit-sharing agreements, royalties, patents, and research or other grants from private industry or closely affiliated nonprofit funds. For income from pharmaceutical companies, the purpose must be specified—e.g., speakers’ bureau honoraria or other CME activity, travel funds, advisory panel payments, or research grants. If an author has no interests to disclose, the form requires an author to specifically state this, which will be noted in the article as “The author reports no competing interests.”

The Editor will review all author statements of financial support to determine whether there is evidence of bias from these sources. If it appears that there may be, then further review and possible rejection of the manuscript may occur. Authors are encouraged to contact the Editor at any stage in the manuscript review process if they believe that they have relationships that require review.

On acceptance of a manuscript, the corresponding author and all coauthors will receive an e-mail with a link to the Authorship, Disclosure, and Copyright Transfer form and instructions for online submission of the form. The American Journal of Psychotherapy requires transfer of copyright to the American Psychiatric Association (APA) so that the author(s) and the Association are protected from misuse of copyrighted material. Accepted manuscripts will not be scheduled for publication until a completed form has been received in the editorial office.

In addition, authors must obtain letters of permission from publishers and pay any fees for use of extensive quotations (more than 500 words) or figures that have been previously published or submitted elsewhere.

Broad access to the research literature and the rights of our authors are important to the American Psychiatric Association, the publisher of the American Journal of Psychotherapy. Read our public access policy for guidelines on deposit mandates for research funded by NIH and others and institutional repositories.

Manuscripts that report the results of experimental investigation and interviews with human subjects must include a statement that written informed consent was obtained after the procedure(s) had been fully explained. In the case of children, authors are asked to include information about whether the child’s assent was obtained. If your submission does not address written informed consent and Institutional Review Board approval, it will not be reviewed.

While recognizing the educational value of case reports, APA Publishing seeks to ensure what it publishes respects an individual’s privacy and protects personal health information. For all submissions wherein an individual is described, we ask at submission for confirmation that the individual has seen the version of the report, that the individual understands it is being submitted for publication consideration, and that the individual has been informed that if published, the report will be freely accessible to anyone 1 year after publication and thus confidentiality cannot be guaranteed despite all efforts to disguise personal details. For disguising, identifying information such as names, initials, hospital numbers, and dates must be avoided. In addition, authors should disguise information about the characteristics and personal history of patients and indicate in the text or in the article notes that they have done so, e.g.: “The authors have confirmed that details of the cases presented have been disguised to protect patient privacy.” When possible, APA Publishing prefers fictionalized composite accounts. Submissions employing this tactic should specify in the text “The case presented is a fictionalized account bringing together disguised characteristics of [number] individuals.

All manuscripts receive an initial review by the Editor of the American Journal of Psychotherapy to determine the originality, validity, and importance of content and conclusions. Manuscripts with insufficient priority for publication will be rejected promptly.

Other manuscripts are sent for peer review to at least two independent reviewers. The Journal uses a double-blind review system (authors and all reviewers remain anonymous). Separate statistical review is obtained when a reviewer requests it. Authors are informed about the Editor’s decision after the review process is completed. Authors are usually notified of a decision within three months.

Manuscripts not rejected after the first round of peer review usually require revision and re-review by one or more of the original reviewers. Authors will be sent reviewer comments that are judged to be useful to them. Revised manuscripts must conform to the general requirements listed above, including specified word limits. They are submitted online via ScholarOne Manuscripts.

The final decision is the Editor’s. Authors should contact the Editorial Office if they become concerned about a delay.

The Journal uses ScholarOne Manuscripts, a Web-based manuscript submission and tracking system. To submit your paper, please visit ScholarOne Manuscripts and either use your existing account or create an account if you don’t have one. Then follow the instructions to upload your manuscript. Because the Journal’s peer review process is double-blind, please ensure that the manuscript’s title page, acknowledgments, and disclosures do not contain any author information. Do not use authors’ initials in the text or file names.

* Write a structured abstract for empirical research, using these headings: Objective, Methods, Results, Conclusions.

The American Journal of Psychotherapy publishes regular articles, which present the results of original research. In addition, the Journal welcomes review articles, brief reports, and clinical case discussions that will guide and shape clinical practice. To determine the best category for your article, use the guidelines and summary table below.

The American Journal of Psychotherapy welcomes submissions that examine psychotherapies, techniques, and psychological modalities within the larger domain of clinical practice.

Regular articles are typically within 3,000 words, excluding a 250-word structured abstract, references, and tables and figures, although some exceptions are made by the Editor. Please do not submit articles of more than 3,000 words without first contacting the Editor or Managing Editor at [email protected]. In your e-mail, please explain why the paper should exceed the word limit. Attach the abstract of the proposed submission or the paper itself. Sample article

Brief reports should be a maximum 1,800 words (excluding a 150-word structured abstract, references, and table), plus no more than 15 references and one small table or figure. Sample article

Reviews and Overviews, including literature reviews and meta-analyses, are special articles, often solicited by the Editor, and bring together important information on a topic of general interest to psychiatry. Length can be 4,000 to 6,000 words plus a 250-word structured abstract and no more than 100 references. Literature reviews should focus on recent literature related to the topic of psychotherapy. Before submitting a review, please consult the Editor at [email protected]. In your e-mail, please provide a word count; count only the words in the text, not in the abstract, references, or tables or figures. Attach an abstract for the paper if possible. Sample article

Psychotherapy Tools are descriptions, reviews, or illustrations of the technical aspects of psychotherapy practice that can be used to improve or evaluate psychotherapeutic treatments. Examples include an overview of adherence measures employed to validate specific psychotherapies, a description of a novel intervention with case vignettes to illustrate salient clinical points, and a critique of a distance-learning strategies for psychotherapy training. Psychotherapy Tools are within 3,000 words plus a 150-word unstructured abstract and conclude with at least 5 bulleted recommendations, based on the article’s content, that can be used to directly inform psychotherapy practice, training, or evaluation. Sample article

Clinical Case Discussions are disguised accounts of psychotherapeutic treatments of actual patients who present interesting problems or opportunities for an exploration of ideas that may help to advance the practice or understanding of psychotherapy. Clinical case discussions go beyond simple case reports by using the case material to illustrate an important theoretical, clinical, or conceptual issue. Examples include case formulations of clinical material as seen through contrasting psychotherapeutic lenses or a discussion of cultural issues raised by a course of psychotherapy. Please contact the editorial office before writing a clinical case discussion for the Journal. The text of clinical case discussions is usually no more than 2,000 words; the submission should lead with the case (i.e., no abstract or introduction) and can have up to 20 references. Sample article

Viewpoints are brief opinion pieces that focus on topics relevant to the practice of psychotherapy. Format: up to 1,400 words and 10 references, no abstract or displays, and 5 or fewer headings. Sample article

The Trainee’s Perspective contributions are brief reflections from doctoral students, residents, fellows, interns, and new practitioners on their experience of learning, conducting, implementing, and evaluating psychotherapy. Authors should incorporate a scholarly integration of related literature into their personal reflections. Format: limited to 1,000 words and 5 or fewer headings; no abstract, tables, or figures; up to 10 references. Sample article

Psychotherapy Musings are brief reflective articles focused on topics related to psychotherapy. Such articles could include first-person experiences with the conduct or receipt of psychotherapy, discussions about historical trends in psychotherapy practice, or broader reflections on the evolution or practice of psychotherapy. The editors are looking for articles that create conversations and move the field forward. Poetry will not be considered. Length: Maximum length is 1,500 words. Please contact the journal in advance of submission.

Letters are limited to 500 words and may have a maximum of 3 authors and 5 references. Letters may either briefly report results of a study or comment on material published in the journal no more than 3 months prior. All letters should be uploaded to ScholarOne Manuscripts. Such letters are published at the discretion of the Editor and will be sent to the author for possible reply.

• Remember to state the purpose of the research in the last paragraph of the introduction. (If the purpose is not stated as a research question, it should be translatable into a research question.) Also indicate the type of study design, such as experiment, survey, or retrospective or prospective study.
• Include data on the sex, age, and race-ethnicity of the study participants, preferably in the Results section.
• Include the dates the original data were collected.
• Include in the Methods section a brief statement about institutional review board approval. For studies that include human subjects, also indicate whether informed consent was obtained or whether the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki were followed.
• Preferably in the Methods section, describe the data analysis procedure concisely and in a manner understandable by nonstatisticians.
• In the Results section, including tables, report only the findings related directly to the research purpose or research question. Omit other data.
• Report sample numbers for all percentages, and report SDs or SEs for all means.
• When reporting statistically significant results, report test statistic values, degrees of freedom, and probability level (not to exceed p<.001; do not use p=.000).

Research reports, reviews, and columns (exception: Viewpoints) should include a few bulleted sentences succinctly highlighting the key points of the article.

The manuscript must be double-spaced throughout. The manuscript should be arranged in the following order: title page, abstract, text, references, captions for any figures, and tables and/or figures. All pages must be numbered. Footnotes to text are not permitted.

The text of research reports and literature reviews should include four major sections after the introductory paragraphs: Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions. The last paragraph of the introduction should state the purpose of the research. The Methods section should provide a comprehensive description of the sample (including data on sex, age, and race-ethnicity), methods of recruitment, measurement and evaluation techniques (including information about reliability as appropriate), and data analysis (including the name and version of the statistical package used). The Methods section should include a clear statement regarding informed consent and institutional review board (IRB) approval. The issue of IRB approval should be addressed even if need for approval was waived. Strengths and weaknesses of the study should be presented in the Discussion. For additional detail, see General Guidelines for Research Reports.

All of the following elements should appear on the title page of the electronic file uploaded to ScholarOne Manuscripts. No author names (or initials) should appear on the title page (blind review).

Title. The title should be informative and should not exceed 115 characters plus spaces. Journal style for titles is not to use declarative sentences.

Disclosures and acknowledgments. In a separate paragraph, all potential conflicts of interest and financial support for all authors must be disclosed, whether or not directly related to the subject of the paper. (Because of blind review, use Dr. X, Dr. Y, and so forth.) Such reporting must include all equity ownership, profit-sharing agreements, royalties, patents, and research or other grants from private industry or closely affiliated nonprofit funds. Support of any kind from pharmaceutical companies must be acknowledged and the purpose must be specified, e.g., speakers’ bureau honoraria or other CME activity, travel funds, advisory panel payments, research grants. It is the author’s responsibility to disclose anything in addition to the above that might be construed as potentially affecting the reporting of the study.

Grant support should be acknowledged in a separate paragraph and should include the full name of the granting agency and grant number.

Word count. The number of words in the text (i.e., not including the abstract and references). Tables and figures are not included in the word count.

Previous presentation. If data have been presented at a meeting, give the name of the meeting, the location, and the inclusive dates.

Regular Articles and Reviews should include an abstract limited to 250 words; Brief Reports and Psychotherapy Tools should include an abstract limited to 150 words. Abstracts should be clear, concise, readable, and able to stand on their own as a description of the article. For empirical research (including systematic reviews and meta-analyses), the abstract should be structured, providing the following information in complete sentences under the headings indicated: Objective: the primary purpose of the article; Methods: data sources, sample, design, measurements, data analysis; Results: key findings; and Conclusions: implications. Please do not use “we” or “our” in the abstract. For other article types requiring abstracts, an unstructured format, without embedded headings, is appropriate.

For regular articles, include no more than 5 tables, figures, or combination of tables and figures. Include displayed material only when it presents relevant data or concepts more clearly than could be done in text. Data in short tables often can be incorporated more concisely in text. Data in simple graphs may be more appropriately presented in a table or text. Authors will be asked to delete extraneous material or will have the option of moving the material to an online-only file to supplement the article. Checklists and forms generally are not included in the main article; however, such material may be included as a supplemental file, or the text may include a note that such material is available from the author.

Also see Supplemental Material below.

The American Journal of Psychotherapy discourages the use of previously published tables or figures. Authors who use such material must obtain from the copyright owner written permission for reprinting and include it with the submission.

Tables. Tables should appear at the end of the uploaded file, after References and any figure captions. Do not embed tables within the main narrative text, and do not submit tables in a separate file.

Sample table formats

Each cell should contain only one item of data. In rows, subcategories should be in separate cells; in columns, Ns and %s or means and SDs should be in separate cells; no numerical data should be presented in parentheses within tables. In addition, to ensure proper online display, cells for the body of the table must be on a consistent grid from column to column. When percentages are presented, the appropriate sample numbers must also be given. Row headings and column headings should initial cap only the first word (“Sentence style”). All columns, including the leftmost, need a heading. Specify all units of measure clearly. Values expressed in the same unit of measurement should read down as a column, not across in a row.

Figures. Figures should contain essential information that cannot be adequately presented in text or tables. Most figures without data—for example, CONSORT diagrams—are judged nonessential to the main article. (Also see Supplemental Material below.)

Figures accepted for publication must be clear, uncluttered, two-dimensional, and without color. Line graphs should include units of measure, and labels in all figures should initial cap only the first word (“Sentence style”). Figure titles and footnotes should be provided within the text of the manuscript, after References and before any tables.

To facilitate peer review, upload the figure at the end of the Main Body file if possible. If more than one figure must be uploaded separately, use a single file if possible. If invited to revise the manuscript for further review, submit with the revision a black-and-white (noncolor), editable .tiff (text image file format) or .eps (encapsulated Postscript) file or the original Excel or PowerPoint file for each figure, separate from the file containing the text and tables; if the manuscript is accepted, separate figure files will be essential for production.

Limit references to relevant published material cited in the text, including all but widely known tests and scales. Comprehensive literature reviews are rarely necessary in a typical research article.

Only material that has been published (including online publication), accepted for publication, or presented at a major national meeting is included in the reference list. Citations of material in press must include journal or publisher name. (If unpublished material is cited, note the source and year in parentheses in the text of the paper, not in the reference list. Citation of unpublished material should be kept to a minimum.)

Arrange and number references in order of citation in text, not alphabetically. (Do not use the name-and-date style of citation in the text.) Enclose in-text citation numbers within parentheses, not square brackets or superscripts. All references must be cited in sequence within the main text; any citations necessary in tables or figures must first be included in the main text. The reference list must not contain duplicates; once a reference is cited in sequence, it may be cited again in the text using the same reference number.

In the reference list, name all authors and editors through the third; if there are more than three, list the first three, followed by et al. Sequential numbers in the reference list should be followed by a period and not enclosed within parentheses or brackets, nor should they be superscripted.

Journal articles. Include surname and initials of first three authors (followed by et al. if there are more than three), article title, journal name (spell out or use standard abbreviations), year, volume number, and first and last pages. A digital object identifier (DOI) is not necessary. Articles published online in advance of appearing in a printed issue also may be listed.

Examples:

• Wenzlow AT, Ireys HT, Mann B, et al: Effects of a discharge planning program on Medicaid coverage of state prisoners with serious mental illness. Am J Psychother 2011; 62:73–78
• Swanson JW, Van Dorn RA, Swartz MS: Alternative pathways to violence in persons with schizophrenia: the role of childhood antisocial behavior problems. Law Hum Behav 2007; 32:228–240
• Larsen C, Lange M, Jørgensen K, et al: Coteaching recovery to mental health care professionals. Psychiatric Services (Epub ahead of print, March 15, 2018)

Books and monographs (book or book chapter). Include surname and initials of first three authors (followed by et al. if there are more than three) of book chapter and book title. Also include chapter title (if applicable), book title, volume or edition, city, publisher, and year.

Example (book):

• Riba MB, Ravindranath D (eds): Clinical Manual of Emergency Psychiatry. Arlington, VA, American Psychiatric Association Publishing, 2010

Example (chapter):

• Kimmel RJ, Roy-Byrne PP: Posttraumatic stress disorder; in Evidence-Based Guide to Antidepressant Medications. Edited by Rothschild AJ. Arlington, VA, American Psychiatric Association Publishing, 2012
• Reports and other material. For gray literature—for example, reports, fact sheets, brochures, and census tables—include as many standard elements of a reference as possible, including publisher name and location.

Example:

• Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America. Pub no SMA-03-3832. Rockville, MD, Department of Health and Human Services, President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, 2003

Some gray literature is available primarily or exclusively online. In those cases, provide a DOI or a URL.

Example:

• Critical Coverage: Benzodiazepines Under Medicare Part D. New York, Medicare Rights Center, June 2005. www.medicarerights.org/pdf/Critical_Coverage.pdf

If the material seems mercurial (data or lists that seem to be updated frequently), follow the URL with an “Accessed [date]” statement.

Example:

• Compressed Mortality File: Mortality for 1999–2006. Atlanta, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. wonder.cdc.gov/cmf-icd10.html. Accessed Sept 15, 2010

If you wish to refer readers to a web site without citing a specific document, include the URL in the text but do not list the source within the reference list:

. . . in the SAMHSA registry (www.nrepp.samhsa.gov).

Legal proceedings. Follow The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, by the Harvard Law Review Association.

The American Journal of Psychotherapy allows authors to submit supplemental material to be posted online in support of the main article. To be accepted for posting, supplemental material must be essential to the scientific integrity and excellence of the manuscript. The material is subject to the same editorial standards as the journal and will be peer reviewed. The Editor’s decision to accept a manuscript may be contingent on selecting material from the final manuscript to appear as supplemental material. The main text must refer readers to the supplemental material, which will be linked on the journal’s Web site.

To facilitate review, supplemental material should be clearly labeled Online Supplement and uploaded separately from the Main Body file.

Types of supplemental data:

• Detailed tables that contain data of use to other investigators (data should be summarized in the text of the main article)
• CONSORT flowchart for clinical trials
• Figures that illustrate data from the study in alternative formats
• Extended or annotated bibliographies
• Questionnaires, tests, checklists, etc.

Supplemental material can be in any of the following formats:

• Plain text (.txt)
• HTML page (.html)
• JPEG image (.jpg)
• GIF image (.gif)
• Adobe PDF (.pdf)
• Excel spreadsheet (.xls)
• Word document (.docx)
• Tiff image (.tif)
• PowerPoint (.ppt)
• Encapsulated Postscript (.eps)
• Mp3 (.mp3)
• QuickTime video

If your document type is not listed here, please contact the Editorial Office.

Individuals interested in reviewing for the American Journal of Psychotherapy should visit ScholarOne Manuscripts and create an account.

Abstracts of articles within a reviewer’s given area of expertise are sent via e-mail to the reviewer. Within 3 days, the reviewer is asked to indicate willingness to review and availability to perform the review within a 2-week time frame.

Most competing interests, financial or otherwise, do not disqualify one from participating in the peer-review process, but the Journal requests that you indicate any conflict that you may have in reviewing any particular manuscript. You can also notify the Journal if you feel that you cannot review a manuscript because of a competing interest. This will not affect your reviewer status in any way.

Manuscripts must be reviewed with due respect for authors’ confidentiality. In submitting their manuscripts for review, authors entrust the Journal with the results of their scientific work and creative effort, on which their reputation and career may depend. Authors’ rights may be violated by disclosure of the confidential details of the review of their manuscript. Reviewers should never copy, share, or discuss a manuscript under review or the data within with anyone without expressed written permission of the Journal’s Editor and the authors.