About the Journal

FOCUS AND SCOPE OF THE JOURNAL 

The Journal publishes empirical research, research notes and short letters to the Editor. All submissions need to be in English. Research based submissions submitted to the JSPR for publication need to be original (i.e., not published/or submitted for publication elsewhere), provide a significant contribution to the field and be underpinned by a highly rigorous methodology.

 

Empirical research (6,000 to 8,000 max)

The Journal welcomes a range of empirical work including (though not restricted to):

·      Experimental research (quantitative and qualitative)

·      Field investigations

·      Case collections

·      Theoretical contributions

·      Review articles

·      Historical perspectives

 

Research notes (4,000 to 6,000 words max)

Research Notes refer to short reports of interesting and important issues and/or relate to specific or current research carried out in the field.

 

Letters to the Editor (1,000 words max)

The Journal welcomes letters to the Editor that comment on or otherwise develop ideas introduced by the material published in the Journal.

 

PEER REVIEW POLICY

All submissions (i.e., both empirical research and research notes) will initially be assessed by the Editorial team for suitability for the Journal and appropriate formatting (e.g., APA). All submissions deemed suitable and correctly formatted will then typically be sent for anonymous peer review. The Editor will be responsible for collating the Reviewer’s comments and the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of the submission. The Editor’s decision is final.

 

OPEN DATA / PRE-REGISTRATION  

To foster transparency the Journal strongly supports and encourages the sharing of data at appropriate data repository sites (e.g., Psi open data). This may be a requirement of your funding body or institution. Research data refers to the results of observations or experimentation that validate research findings. In the submission you will need to note that your data are available to access from a particular site. Where possible the Journal encourages researchers to adopt the Gold Standard of methodological rigour and utilise study pre-registration sites (e.g., Koestler Parapsychology Unit) to pre-register details pertaining to proposed research and upload any research data to this site upon study completion.    

 

ETHICAL PRACTICE

JSPR expects all submitting Authors to respect the rights and dignity of any individuals participating in their research and the legitimate interests of stakeholders such as funders, institutions, sponsors and society at large.  See details on the JSPR Publication Ethics & Publication Malpractice Statement.

JSPR also expects all submitting Authors to abide by the principles of ethical conduct and procedures as outlined by the British Psychological Society’s Code of Human Research Ethics.

This code provides clear guidance on the following key principles:

  • Respect for autonomy, privacy and dignity of individuals and communities
  • Scientific integrity
  • Social responsibility
  • Maximising benefit and minimising harm

Those researchers conducting internet-based research should ensure that they abide by the British Psychological Society’s Ethics Guidelines for Internet-mediated Research.

JSPR expects all submitting Authors to adhere to these standards. Specifically, when relevant, JSPR requires all submitting Authors to state in writing that they have complied with BPS ethical standards in the treatment of their sample, human or animal.

 

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION 

For all accepted submissions Authors will retain copyright to their work and take responsibility for the views expressed. However, the SPR reserves the right to reproduce material published in the JSPR as part of another journal, and/or to make it available in electronic and/or print format.

Once a submission has been accepted for publication in the JSPR it must NOT appear anywhere else (including an Internet Website) until the Journal has been published. After publication in the JSPR authors may use the material as they wish but should make appropriate reference to its prior publication in the JSPR: for example, ‘This paper (material) first appeared in the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, vol…, pp…., and is reproduced here with permission.'

 

Permissions

Corresponding Authors are responsible for securing any/all written permission to reproduce any previously published or unpublished material for which copyright is currently held.