The journal publishes papers which advance professional and scientific knowledge in the field of legal and criminological psychology, defined broadly as the application of psychology to law or interdisciplinary enquiry in legal and psychological fields. Theoretical, review and empirical studies in any of the following areas are welcomed: new legislation; management of offenders; crime prevention; victimology; mental health and the law; impact of law on behaviour; public attitudes to crime and the law; policing and crime detection; child and family issues; legal decision making; civil law procedures; interviewing; interrogation and testimony; court processes; disputes and litigation; legal development and policy; role of the expert witness; sentencing and penology; ethical issues; assessment and treatment of criminal behaviour; and professional training.
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. Submission and reviewing
All manuscripts must be submitted via our online peer review system. The Journal operates a policy of anonymous peer review.
4. Manuscript requirements
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.
All papers must include a structured abstract of up to 250 words with the following 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.
5. 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.
7. 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.