Call for Papers: “Hotspots in Psychology 2021”
A Topical Issue of the Zeitschrift für Psychologie
Focus of the Special Issue, Aims, and Scope
Research synthesis techniques such as systematic reviews and meta-analyses have become standard methods for aggregating the results from thematically related research in psychology. They can be used to describe the state of the art in a research field, to test and/or compare theories, and to derive conclusions about the effectiveness of interventions.
Ideally, research syntheses use transparent procedures to find, evaluate, and aggregate the results of relevant research. Procedures are explicitly defined in advance to ensure that all steps are transparent and replicable. This practice is designed to minimize bias and increase the trustworthiness of findings. Consequently, well-performed research syntheses may decisively contribute to shaping and/or resolving hotspot debates in psychology and beyond.
The overall aim of this topical issue is to address hotspot topics in all subfields of psychology and related areas with the aid of research synthesis methods. The topics covered may address:
- •Systematic reviews aimed at identifying hotspot topics in psychology.
- •Systematic reviews and meta-analyses on topics currently being debated in any subfield of psychology.
- •Systematic reviews and meta-analyses contributing to the recent discussion about replicability, transparency, and research integrity in psychology.
- •Meta-analytic replications and extensions of previously published syntheses, for example, by applying more recent approaches and/or by including more recent primary studies.
- •Methodological advances in research synthesis methods relevant for any subfield of psychology, such as, for instance, meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM), individual person meta-analysis (IPD), network meta-analysis, to name a few.
- •Demonstrations and tools for data extraction, analysis, visualization, and interpretation of meta-analyses.
- •Quality-appraisal approaches and instruments for primary, secondary, and meta-analytic studies.
How to Submit
There is a two-stage submissions process. Initially, interested authors are requested to submit extended abstracts of their proposed papers. Authors of the selected abstracts will then be invited to submit full papers. All papers will undergo blind peer review.
Stage 1: Structured Abstract Submission
Authors interested in this special issue must submit a structured abstract of the planned manuscript before submitting a full paper. The goal is to provide authors with prompt feedback regarding the suitability and relevance of the planned manuscript to the special issue.
The deadline for submitting structured abstracts is December 1, 2019.
Feedback on whether or not the editors encourage authors to submit a full paper will be given by December 31, 2019.
Submission Guidelines for Structured Abstracts
Structured abstracts should be within four pages and may encompass information on each of the following headings: (a) Background, (b) Objectives, (c) Research question(s) and/or hypothesis/es, (d) Method/Approach, (e) Results/Findings, (f) Conclusions and implications (expected).
Structured abstracts should be submitted by e-mail to the guest editors at [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected]
Stage 2: Full Paper Submission
For those who have been encouraged to submit a full paper,
the deadline for submission of manuscripts is April 30, 2020.
Full manuscripts will undergo a blind peer-review process.
Submission Guidelines for Full Papers
- –Only English-language submissions can be considered.
- –Contributions must be original (not published previously or currently under review for publication elsewhere).
- –Review and original articles should not exceed 45,000 characters and spaces in length, including references, figures, and tables (allowances for figures and tables should be deducted on the basis of size: approximately 1,250 characters for a quarter-page figure/table). Authors can include additional materials as electronic supplementary material, which will eventually be made available – conditional upon acceptance – via http://www.psycharchives.org/.
- –All manuscripts should adhere to the the meta-analytic reporting standards (MARS) proposed by the APA (http://www.apa.org/pubs/authors/jars.pdf).
- –Authors should include a statement in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement (http://www.prisma-statement.org) as a supplemental file for review.
- –Other submission formats (short reports, research summaries, opinion pieces, etc.) are also considered, please contact the editors for details.
- –Reference citations in the text and in the reference list should be in accordance with the principles set out in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.) – see also any recent issue of the journal.
For detailed author guidelines, please see the journal’s website at www.hogrefe.com/j/zfp/
Timeline
- •December 1, 2019: Abstract submissions due
- •December 31, 2019: Feedback to authors
- •April 30, 2020: Full paper submissions due
- •July 15, 2020: Feedback to authors of full paper submissions due
- •August 15, 2020: Revised manuscripts due
- •August 31, 2020: Editorial decision about acceptance/refusal of revised papers due
- •2021, issue 1: Publication of topical issue
About the Journal
The Zeitschrift für Psychologie, founded in 1890, is the oldest psychology journal in Europe and the second oldest in the world. One of the founding editors was Hermann Ebbinghaus. Since 2007 it is published in English and devoted to publishing topical issues that provide state-of-the-art reviews of current research in psychology.
