A New Structure for the Zeitschrift für Psychologie / Journal of Psychology

The ideal topical issue or monograph should be more than just a compilation of high-quality research papers. It should cover the broad range of aspects of the topic, including various standpoints, new developments, the activities of young or recently established research groups, as well as information on new books and papers or even relevant specialist conferences. The ideal topical issue also has to be compiled by a leading expert on the subject in question, and so generally it will be guest editors who are best qualified to do this under the “meta-guidance” of a team of editors.

It is for these reasons that we have decided to refine the structure of Zeitschrift für Psychologie/Journal of Psychology (ZfP/JoP), the second oldest psychology journal in the world, from this issue onwards. The journal will continue to consist entirely of topical issues. Each will now generally start with a Review Article or an Editorial covering the major aspects of the topic, followed by three to five high-quality Research Papers written by international experts. These “conventional” scientific papers will generally be supplemented by one or more Research Spotlight articles, allowing the guest editor to add information about promising work that is still ongoing at the time of publication, including (for instance) work that is of interest and note but that has not yet been developed to the point where a full original paper is warranted. Opinion pieces examining the pros and cons of scientific approaches, the significance of results or their consequences for society will be a further core element of the new ZfP/JoP. Finally, brief Horizons articles will inform readers about current activities related to the respective topic (i.e., conferences, meetings, new research programs, books, and announcements). The editors of the journal feel sure that this more up-to-date structure for a scientific journal will enhance its readability and, we hope, stimulate its acceptance and distribution.

To this end, the publisher is now producing the issues in a new and more attractive layout, with a more robust cover, and is giving the individual issues of Zeitschrift für Psychologie/Journal of Psychology an ISBN to make them available for purchase individually via any online or regular bookstore.

At this juncture I’d like to thank Peter Smith for doing the job of compiling the very first issue with the new features! He has put together an exciting issue about cyberbullying, containing not only a brief editorial review article about “Abusive Relationships in Cyberspace” written by himself and five original papers covering various aspects to the topic, but also using the Research Spotlight format for brief reports about the situation in Germany and the Czech Republic. Critical commentaries about measurement and definition of cyberbullying are outlined in an Opinion article. Finally, everybody who is interested in new programs and various other activities concerned with cyberbullying will be thankful for the five reports Peter Smith selected for the Horizons section.

It is the hope and the wish of the whole editorial team that the new structure for ZfP/JoP, along with the selection of topics alternating between basic research and more applied research, will help not only to contribute to scientific communication but also the transfer of scientific knowledge into society in general.