Article Types
Research Article
The majority of the articles published in the journal Clinical Psychology in Europe are research articles. These should aim to present new methods, data, study protocols, concepts or theory. Research articles should follow basic APA format (ensuring the layout as stated above in Manuscript Submission is followed) and ideally not be longer in length than 4,500 words (excluding references and appendices (where applicable)). The Editors retain discretion to publish papers beyond this length in cases where the clear and concise expression of the scientific content requires greater length. In such a case, the authors are requested to contact the Editors before submission of the paper.
Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses
The journal Clinical Psychology in Europe also publishes Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses. These papers address a specific question with importance to the respective field and must be based on scientifically sound empirical studies. The review presents a synthesis of relevant studies based on a strict protocol in which methods for identification, categorization, analysis and aggregation of evidence are clearly defined. The manuscripts should comply with standard reporting guidelines (e.g., PRISMA-statement) and should ideally not exceed a maximum of 4,500 words (excluding references, author contribution pages and cover page).
Scientific Update and Overview
Scientific Updates present clear and concise accounts of recent empirical findings covering a wide scope of research. They are written with the aim of aiding specialists in psychology in keeping up to date in the vastly expanding volume of research that is continually published in the field of clinical psychology. In general, in this short review article authors present developments in recent topics as reflected in the literature. This can include a description of recent trends as well as a provision of their own opinion, providing this does not result in any conclusions to be construed as biased. The Scientific Update should be largely based on recently published articles (ideally during the past 18-24 months) so that it may represent a current standing of the area and introduce the most recent updates. It should not exceed a maximum of 3,000 words (excluding references, author contribution pages and cover page).
State-of-the-Art Overviews reflect a broader view including history, development and present state of scientific development. These papers consider not only the most current research on a given topic, but also literature from the past decade(s). The overview aims to provide a synthesis of previous research, current thinking and perspectives for future research. We also encourage authors to share their current knowledge and summaries of a specific field with the readers of Clinical Psychology in Europe. For example, we welcome the publication of inaugural speeches or keynote lectures, which are characterized by thorough preparation but often remain unpublished. The State-of-the-Art-Overview should ideally not exceed a maximum of 4,000 words (excluding references, author contribution pages and cover page).
Latest Developments
These are intended to provide readers with the latest news in clinical psychological science at a brief glance and bring to the attention of the reader some helpful developments in the field. Authors may want to include short reports on the latest developments that could be deemed useful to the field of clinical psychology and should provide a short description of the tool. These may include (but are not limited to):
- Reports about open-access questionnaires
- Insights into new internet platforms
- Insights into new applications.
Questionnaires introduced within these publications can be uploaded to the Electronic Test Archive (provided by the Leibniz Institute for Psychology), which is a collection of psychological assessments that are freely available for research and education. All inventories are published under a Creative Commons License (CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0), meaning that authors retain ownership of the copyright for their assessment, but grant others permission to use and distribute the unmodified questionnaire for non-commercial purposes provided that the original work is properly cited.
The Latest Developments should not exceed a maximum of 2,500 words (excluding references, author contribution pages and cover page).
Politics and Education
This format shall be used to inform about relevant and recent models in research and occupational politics. Submissions are invited on topics such as models of implementation of clinical psychological work in health care settings, formats of education in clinical psychology/psychotherapy, specific funding schemes, and other societal structures relevant for the field. In addition, also latest political developments of relevance for clinical psychology and psychotherapy are welcome. Please contact one of the editors before submission. The Politics and Education Updates should not exceed a maximum of 2,500 words (excluding references, author contribution pages and cover page).
Letter to the Editor, Commentary
Short letters or commentaries referring to a specific article or other recent developments are widely welcomed. Ideally these should not exceed 400 words.
Editorial
Editorials are discussions related to a specific article or issue written by an editor or other member of the publication staff or invited experts.
Registered Report
Registered Reports are a form of empirical journal article in which methods and proposed analyses are pre-registered and peer-reviewed prior to research being conducted. This format of article is designed to minimize bias and to reward best practice in adhering to the deductive science. It eliminates a variety of questionable research practices, including low statistical power, selective reporting of results, and publication bias, while allowing complete flexibility to conduct exploratory (unregistered) analyses and report serendipitous findings. Most important with Registered Reports is that a significant part of the manuscript will be assessed prior to data collection. Highest quality submissions will then provisionally be accepted for publication.
Authors of Registered Reports initially submit a Stage 1 manuscript including a description of the key research question and background literature, hypotheses, experimental procedures, analysis pipeline, a statistical power analysis (or Bayesian equivalent), and the results of any pilot experiments (where applicable) that motivate the research proposal. Following assessment of the protocol by editors and reviewers, the manuscript will then be either offered in-principle acceptance (IPA) or rejected. With IPA in hand, authors conduct the experiment adhering exactly to the peer-reviewed procedures. Authors of Registered Reports are expected to register their accepted protocols in a recognized repository at the point of Stage 1 acceptance, either publicly or under temporary private embargo until submission of the Stage 2 manuscript. We recommend to register on PsychArchives, the public and freely accessible ZPID repository for psychological science. The Stage 2 manuscript, when submitted, must state the publicly accessible URL of the registered protocol. After completion of the study, the authors will submit their finalized Stage 2 manuscript that includes the Introduction and Methods from the original submission plus the Results and Discussion. The Results section includes the outcome of the pre-registered analyses together with any additional unregistered analyses in a separate section titled "Exploratory Analyses". Authors are encouraged to share their data and data analysis scripts on PsychArchives. Pending quality checks and a sensible interpretation of the findings, the final manuscript will be published regardless of the results. A published Registered Report will thus appear very similar to a standard research report but will give readers confidence that the hypotheses and main analyses are free of questionable research practices.