The aim of the British Journal of Health Psychology is to provide a forum for high quality research relating to health and illness. The scope of the journal includes all areas of health psychology across the life span, ranging from experimental and clinical research on aetiology and the management of acute and chronic illness, responses to ill-health, screening and medical procedures, to research on health behaviour and psychological aspects of prevention. Research carried out at the individual, group and community levels is welcome, and submissions concerning clinical applications and interventions are particularly encouraged.
The types of paper invited are:
papers reporting original empirical investigations;
theoretical papers which may be analyses or commentaries on established theories in health psychology, or presentations of theoretical innovations;
review papers, which should aim to provide systematic overviews, evaluations and interpretations of research in a given field of health psychology; and
methodological papers dealing with methodological issues of particular relevance to health psychology.
1. Circulation
The circulation of the Journal is worldwide. Papers are invited and encouraged from authors throughout the world.
2. Length
Papers should normally be no more than 5000 words (excluding the abstract, reference list, tables and figures), although the Editor retains discretion to publish papers beyond this length in cases where the clear and concise expression of the scientific content requires greater length.
3. Editorial policy
The Journal receives a large volume of papers to review each year, and in order to make the process as efficient as possible for authors and editors alike, all papers are initially examined by the Editors to ascertain whether the article is suitable for full peer review. In order to qualify for full review, papers must meet the following criteria:
the content of the paper falls within the scope of the Journal
the methods and/or sample size are appropriate for the questions being addressed
research with student populations is appropriately justified
the word count is within the stated limit for the Journal (i.e. 5000 words)
4. Submission and reviewing
All manuscripts must be submitted via our online peer review system. The Journal operates a policy of anonymous peer review. Authors must suggest three reviewers when submitting their manuscript, who may or may not be approached by the Associate Editor dealing with the paper.
5. Manuscript requirement
Contributions must be typed in double spacing with wide margins. All sheets must be numbered.
Tables should be typed in double spacing, each on a separate page with a self-explanatory title. Tables should be comprehensible without reference to the text. They should be placed at the end of the manuscript with their approximate locations indicated in the text.
Figures can be included at the end of the document or attached as separate files, carefully labelled in initial capital/lower case lettering with symbols in a form consistent with text use. Unnecessary background patterns, lines and shading should be avoided. Captions should be listed on a separate sheet. The resolution of digital images must be at least 300 dpi.
For articles containing original scientific research, a structured abstract of up to 250 words should be included with the headings: Objectives, Design, Methods, Results, Conclusions. Review articles should use these headings: Purpose, Methods, Results, Conclusions. Please see the document below for further details:
For reference citations, please use APA style. Particular care should be taken to ensure that references are accurate and complete. Give all journal titles in full.
SI units must be used for all measurements, rounded off to practical values if appropriate, with the imperial equivalent in parentheses.
In normal circumstances, effect size should be incorporated.
Authors are requested to avoid the use of sexist language.
Authors are responsible for acquiring written permission to publish lengthy quotations, illustrations, etc. for which they do not own copyright.
For guidelines on editorial style, please consult the APA Publication Manual published by the American Psychological Association.
6. Publication ethics
All submissions should follow the ethical submission guidelines outlined the the documents below:
Supplementary data too extensive for publication may be deposited with the British Library Document Supply Centre. Such material includes numerical data, computer programs, fuller details of case studies and experimental techniques. The material should be submitted to the Editor together with the article, for simultaneous refereeing.
8. Copyright
On acceptance of a paper submitted to a journal, authors will be requested to sign an appropriate assignment of copyright form. To find out more, please see our Copyright Information for Authors.