Call for Papers for Special Issue on Advances in Data Analytic Methods for Evaluating Treatment Outcome and Mechanisms of Change

• June 1, 2012: deadline to submit a 1-page proposal outlining the full manuscript
• July 1, 2012: notification to authors of selected proposals
• October 1, 2012: deadline to submit full manuscript

The Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (JCCP) plans to publish a special issue or section on "Advances in Data Analytic Methods for Evaluating Treatment Outcome and Mechanisms of Change" in 2013.

Over the past decade, there has been considerable advancement in the areas of data and statistical modeling to better test hypotheses about treatment trajectory, outcomes, moderation, mediation, and the appropriate handling of missing data.

The objective of this special issue is to facilitate the dissemination of these new technologies, thereby enhancing the quality of research as it relates to topics central to JCCP.

To this end, we are calling for original manuscript submissions within this broad framework, which include, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• Applying sophisticated growth curve models to more accurately model change in outcomes over time;
• Multivariate multilevel modeling;
• Appropriate management of missing data;
• Addressing non ignorable missingness;
• Multilevel meta-analyses;
• Examining predictors and moderators of treatment outcome;
• Establishing causal inference

We intend to publish papers that introduce recent developments in data analysis and illustrate their utility for advancing knowledge about treatment efficacy and mechanisms of change, using clinically relevant examples.

Ideal manuscripts would preferably demonstrate the application of the technique(s) to an existing dataset or to simulated datasets (as in a Monte Carlo study), possibly with a comparison to other available and often employed techniques.

As such, the papers in this special issue/section can complement articles covering these topics published in other established outlets (e.g., Psychological Methods, Statistics in Medicine), which typically provide a more technical analysis of the statistical performance of various techniques and approaches.

The editors for this issue are David Rosenfield (Guest Editor), Scott N. Compton (JCCP Associate Editor), Stefan G. Hofmann (JCCP Associate Editor) and Jasper A. J. Smits (JCCP Incoming Associate Editor).

Authors interested in having a manuscript considered for this special issue/section need to first submit a 1-page proposal outlining the full manuscript by June 1, 2012. Authors of selected proposals will be notified by July 1, 2012 inviting them to submit a full paper due October 1, 2012.

All invited manuscripts will undergo the normal peer review process. Note that an initial invitation does not guarantee acceptance. All manuscripts should be prepared in strict accordance with JCCP guidelines (see the Instructions to Authors section of the JCCP homepage) and eventually submitted through the JCCP manuscript submission portal.

Questions about appropriate topics, as well as the 1-page proposals, can be sent to Dr. David Rosenfield.