Health Psychology

Editor

Anne E. Kazak
The University of Pennsylvania and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Associate Editors

Belinda Borrelli
Brown University Medical School

Jos A. Bosch
University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Annmarie Cano
Wayne State University

Edith Chen
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Paul A. Estabrooks
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Elizabeth A. Klonoff
San Diego State University

Frank J. Penedo
University of Miami

Keith J. Petrie
University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Lee M. Ritterband
University of Virginia

David B. Sarwer
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Timothy Smith
University of Utah

Ric G. Steele
University of Kansas

Consulting Editors

Leona Aiken
Arizona State University

Melissa A. Alderfer
The University of Pennsylvania and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Mark Aloia
National Jewish Health

Christopher J. Armitage
University of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom

Jamie Ardnt
University of Missouri

Maru Barrera
The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Mark R. Beauchamp
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Gary G. Bennett
Duke University

Maureen M. Black
University of Maryland

Beth Bock
Brown University

Thomas H. Brandon
University of South Florida Moffitt Cancer Center

Bethany C. Bray
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Ronald T. Brown
Wayne State University

Cindy L. Carmack
MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Cynthia Castro
Stanford Prevention Research Center

Marianne Celano
Emory University

Victor G. Cicirelli
Purdue University

James C. Coyne
The University of Pennsylvania

Janet A. Deatrick
The University of Pennsylvania

Anita DeLongis
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Sally S. Dickerson
University of California, Irvine

David A. Dzewaltowski
Kansas State University

Christopher G. Engeland
University of Illinois at Chicago

Angela Fagerlin
University of Michigan

Carolyn Y. Fang
Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA

Richard Fielding
The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

Barbara Fiese
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

Eric Finkelstein
Duke University

Melissa M. Franks
Purdue University

Linda C. Gallo
San Diego State University

Mary A. Gerend
Florida State University College of Medicine

Liesbet Goubert
University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium

Martha A. Grootenhuis
Academic Medical Centre, University Hospital of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Mariët Hagedoorn
University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

Peter A. Hall
University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada

Yaniv Hanoch
University of Plymouth, Plymouth, United Kingdom

Bernadette Davantes Heckman
The Ohio University

Grayson N. Holmbeck
Loyola University Chicago

Suzi Hong
University of California, San Diego

Christiane Hoppmann
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Wei-Ting Hwang
The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Richard F. Ittenbach
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

Elissa Jelalian
Brown Medical School

Christopher W. Kahler
Brown University

Justin A. Kenardy
University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia

Robert D. Kerns
VA Connecticut Healthcare System

Britt Klein
Swinburne University, Melbourne, Australia

James L. Klosky
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Annette M. La Greca
University of Miami

Kevin T. Larkin
West Virginia University

Rebecca Lee
University of Houston

Marci Lobel
Stony Brook University

Mark A. Lumley
Wayne State University

Susan K. Lutgendorf
University of Iowa

Traci Mann
University of Minnesota

Anna L. Marsland
University of Pittsburgh

Kathleen A. Martin Ginis
McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Lynn M. Martire
The Pennsylvania State University

Lance M. McCracken
King's College London, United Kingdom

Susan H.McDaniel
University of Rochester Medical Center

Elizabeth L. McQuaid
Brown Medical School

Lisa J. Meltzer
National Jewish Health, Denver, CO

Paul J. Mills
University of California, San Diego

Shelagh A. Mulvaney
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Arie Nouwen
University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Scott Novak
RTI International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina

Ronan O'Carroll
University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland, United Kingdom

Ahna L.H. Pai
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

Tonya M. Palermo
University of Washington

George Dennis Papandonatos
Brown University

Kenneth A. Perkins
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Tracey A. Revenson
Graduate Center, City University of New York

Ryan E. Rhodes
University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada

Michael C. Roberts
University of Kansas

Ted Robles
University of California, Los Angeles

Thomas R. Rutledge
Psychology Service, VA San Diego

Steven A. Safren
Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School

Ralf Schwarzer
Free University Berlin, Berlin, Germany

William G. Shadel
RAND Corporation

Paschal Sheeran
University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom

Tamara Goldman Sher
Northwestern University

Richard B. Slatcher
Wayne State University

Joshua M. Smyth
Pennsylvania State University

Annette L. Stanton
University of California, Los Angeles

Cinnamon Stetler
Furman University

Randi Streisand
Children's National Medical Center

Kenneth P. Tercyak
Georgetown University

Beverly E. Thorn
University of Alabama

Jodie B. Ullman
California State University, San Bernadino

Mark W. Vander Weg
University of Iowa

Kavita Vedhara
University of Nottingham,Nottingham, United Kingdom

Ken Wallston
Vanderbilt University

Baldwin M. Way
The Ohio State University

John A. Weinman
Kings College London, London, United Kingdom

Dawn K. Wilson
University of South Carolina

Richard A. Winett
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Petra H. Wirtz
University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

Tim Wysocki
Nemours Children's Clinic, Jacksonville FL

Gregory D. Zimet
Indiana University School of Medicine

Manuscript Coordinator

Jessica Karp
American Psychological Association

Abstracting and indexing services providing coverage of Health Psychology

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• TOC Premier
• Wilson OmniFile Full Text Mega Edition

Prior to submission, please carefully read and follow the submission guidelines detailed below. Manuscripts that do not conform to the submission guidelines may be returned without review.

Submission

The main emphasis of Health Psychology is on original research in health psychology. Analytical reviews of research and brief scientific reports are also considered for publication. Submissions are welcomed from authors in psychology and other health-related disciplines.

Submit manuscripts electronically (.rtf, PDF, or .doc) to

Anne E. Kazak
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
34th and Civic Center Blvd.
Room 1486 CHOP North
Philadelphia, PA 19104-4399

Keep a copy of the manuscript to guard against loss. Do not submit manuscripts via mail or email.

In recognition of the reality that institutional spam filters may capture files from the APA and the Journals Back Office, please take the following steps to facilitate communication with our editorial office:

• Provide an alternative email address which we can use to contact you in the event of technical difficulties with email communication using your primary address;
• Add "apa.org" to your list of "safe" addresses and consider asking your IT administrators to add it to their "white list;" and
• Contact Jessica Karp if you do not receive confirmation of your submission within three business days or an editorial decision letter within three months.

General correspondence may be directed to the Editor's Office.

Information About Submissions

The page limit for research manuscripts is 25–30 pages. The page limit is inclusive of all parts of the manuscript, including the cover page, abstract, text, references, tables and figures.

Authors may request consideration of longer papers, in advance of submission, when there is clear justification for additional length (e.g., the paper reports on two or more studies or has an unusual or complex methodology).

Scholarly reviews and meta-analyses should not exceed 25 pages, but tables and references may be outside this page limit.

Brief reports are encouraged for innovative work that may be premature for publication as a full research report because of small sample size, novel methodologies, etc. Brief reports should be designated as such and should not exceed a total of 12 pages, inclusive of all parts of the manuscript, including the cover page, abstract, text, references, tables and figures.

All manuscripts should be double-spaced, with margins of at least 1 inch on all sides and a standard font (e.g., Times New Roman) of 12 points (no smaller).

Health Psychology considers letters concerning previously published articles. Letters should be no more than 500 words and have a maximum of five references.

Authors also have the option of placing supplemental materials online.

Submissions that exceed the page limits will be returned to the author for shortening prior to the initiation of peer review.

Submission Letter

The cover letter should indicate that the authors have read and followed the Health Psychology Instructions for Authors. It should also include a statement indicating that the paper has been seen and approved by all authors. The cover letter should describe how the paper advances research in health psychology, referring to the journal mission to assure that the submission fits with the types of papers published in Health Psychology.

The full mailing address, telephone, fax, and email address for the corresponding author should be included in the cover letter, along with the names and affiliations of all co-authors.

The cover letter must confirm that the manuscript has not been published, is not currently submitted elsewhere, and that it does not contain data that is currently submitted or published elsewhere.

When a manuscript contains data that is part of a larger study, authors should describe the larger study and provide references for other study papers. Authors must be prepared to provide copies of related manuscripts when requested as part of the editorial review process. Authors should clarify the relationship between their paper, including detailed specification of the overlap in participants, measures, and analysis, and others from the study. The value-added scientific contribution of their study must be clearly stated in the cover letter.

Authors of brief reports should indicate in the cover letter that the full report is not under consideration for publication elsewhere and similarly address potential overlap with other papers.

Manuscripts

The manuscript title should be accurate, fully explanatory, and no longer than 12 words. The title should reflect the content and population studied. If the paper reports a randomized clinical trial, this should be indicated in the title. The title of brief reports should start with the words "Brief Report".

The title page should include the names of all authors and their affiliations at the time the research was done. This information will be masked to ensure a blind peer review process by the editorial office. Authors should make sure that all other identifying information in the text of the paper is masked/removed prior to submission.

All manuscripts must include a structured abstract containing a maximum of 250 words with the following sections:

• Objective (brief statement of the purpose of the study);
• Methods (summary of the participants, design, measures, procedure);
• Results (primary findings); and
• Conclusions (specific statement of the implications of the data).

Please supply up to five keywords or brief phrases after the abstract. The Introduction should typically not exceed 3-4 pages in length. The paper should be referenced appropriately but excessive citations should be avoided.

All research involving human participants must describe oversight of the research process by the relevant Institutional Review Boards and should describe consent and assent procedures briefly in the Methods section.

All statistical tests should include effect size whenever possible.

First person language (“I”, “we”) should be avoided. Terminology should be sensitive to the individual who has a disease or disability. The journal endorses the concept of "people first, not their disability." Terminology should reflect the "person with a disability" (e.g., children with diabetes, persons with HIV infection, families of people with cancer) rather than the condition as an adjective (e.g., diabetic children, HIV patients, cancer families). Nonsexist language should be used.

It is important to highlight the significance and novel contribution of the work. The translation of research into practice must be evidenced in all manuscripts. Authors should incorporate a meaningful discussion of the clinical and/or policy implications of their work throughout the manuscript, rather than simply providing a separate section for this material.

Health Psychology publishes a broad array of types of papers. Authors of qualitative and measure development papers should read the guidelines for these types of papers, noted below.

Qualitative Research

Research papers that utilize qualitative methods should follow the general instructions to authors for style and format. We ask that authors of qualitative papers review the additional guidance below to assure that papers meet the following criteria utilized by Health Psychology.

The introduction should make a compelling case for the significance of the study and clearly identify if the study is a stand-alone study or if it fits into a larger study. For example, qualitative manuscripts may inform the development of a survey, use small-incident samples, or establish feasibility. The specific qualitative paradigm should be specified (e.g., grounded theory, qualitative descriptive approach, interpretive phenomenology) with a rationale as to why it was selected to address the research question.

At the same time, authors are encouraged to avoid methodological tutorials and cite appropriate references for the methodology. Describe your sampling frame clearly and how the sample was selected, justifying the type and size of your sample using appropriate language for qualitative studies.

While many qualitative studies may not use a conceptual model, if you have done so, explain how the model may have shaped the design, data collection, analysis and interpretation. Explain carefully how you strengthened and insured rigor in your study e.g., data analysis protocols (including how coders were trained), audit procedures, and demonstration of data saturation. Describe the data analysis and how it relates to your overall approach or paradigm. Present rich and compelling results with data that have been analyzed and interpreted appropriately for your method (e.g., discourse analytic results would be presented differently than those of a grounded theory).

The paper should convey how this research fills an important gap in the science and promises to change the way we approach future studies.

Scale Development

Empirical papers related to the development of new instruments related to health psychology should follow the general guidelines for style and format of this journal. Authors should make a convincing case for the need and rationale for the new instrument, particularly with respect to new and innovative constructs. Included in this rationale should be the theoretical foundation on which their new instrument rests along with presentation of other, related scales currently in use.

It is important that the research have a degree of generalizability across populations and settings. Instruments that are more narrow in scope or of limited clinical utility may be better suited for subspeciality journals.

Authors should clearly articulate the specifics of the study design and of the analytical techniques used. There should be strong consistency among the purpose statements, methods, and the manner in which findings are presented.

An increasing number of studies are incorporating mixed-methods designs in their research. The specifics of these designs should be equally well-detailed without being excessive. Attention should be given to the nature of the items, the basis for their creation, and the rationale for the response options.

The underlying theoretical structure of the approach should be evident, for example, whether one is premising their study on classical or modern theory (IRT, Rasch) techniques. The characteristics of the research will be in part dictated by the nature of the scale. For instance, large, nationally-normed tests may have a much different make-up than that of small, more narrowly-defined measures. Research involving both types of instruments will be considered.

Finally, all instrument development papers should convey how the literature base will be strengthened with the addition of the particular instrument along with a clear and convincing case for the clinical relevance of the information that it provides.

Letters to the Editor

Health Psychology will, at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief, publish Letters to the Editor on the journal website.

Letters should be prepared in direct response to articles published in the journal, should include reference to the published paper in the letter, and should be received through the Manuscript Submission portal within 60 days of the date when the relevant article is published in hard copy.

The text of the letter, excluding the title, references and author(s) name, title, affiliation and email, may not exceed 400 words.

In a separate cover letter, the author should indicate that the submission is a Letter to the Editor for consideration of posting on the Health Psychology website and provide the full citation of the original article to which the letter refers. The cover letter should also indicate if the letter writer(s) have any conflicts of interest related to the article or correspondence.

Masked Review Policy

Masked review is used. Do not include author information (addresses, phone numbers, electronic mail addresses, and fax numbers) in the manuscript.

Please ensure that the final version for production includes a byline and full author note for typesetting.

Use of CONSORT Reporting Standards

All randomized controlled trials must include a diagram indicating participant flow into the study and a completed CONSORT checklist. CONSORT diagrams (and adaptations) should be included whenever possible to clarify the flow of participants through a study.

Manuscript Preparation

Prepare manuscripts according to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6^th edition). Manuscripts may be copyedited for bias-free language (see Chapter 3 of the Publication Manual).

Review APA's Checklist for Manuscript Submission before submitting your article.

Double-space all copy. Other formatting instructions, as well as instructions on preparing tables, figures, references, metrics, and abstracts, appear in the Manual.

Below are additional instructions regarding the preparation of display equations and tables.

Display Equations

We strongly encourage you to use MathType (third-party software) or Equation Editor 3.0 (built into pre-2007 versions of Word) to construct your equations, rather than the equation support that is built into Word 2007 and Word 2010. Equations composed with the built-in Word 2007/Word 2010 equation support are converted to low resolution graphics when they enter the production process and must be rekeyed by the typesetter, which may introduce errors.

To construct your equations with MathType or Equation Editor 3.0:

• Go to the Text section of the Insert tab and select Object.
• Select MathType or Equation Editor 3.0 in the drop-down menu.

If you have an equation that has already been produced using Microsoft Word 2007 or 2010 and you have access to the full version of MathType 6.5 or later, you can convert this equation to MathType by clicking on MathType Insert Equation. Copy the equation from Microsoft Word and paste it into the MathType box. Verify that your equation is correct, click File, and then click Update. Your equation has now been inserted into your Word file as a MathType Equation.

Use Equation Editor 3.0 or MathType only for equations or for formulas that cannot be produced as Word text using the Times or Symbol font.

Tables

Use Word's Insert Table function when you create tables. Using spaces or tabs in your table will create problems when the table is typeset and may result in errors.

Submitting Supplemental Materials

APA can now place supplementary materials online, available via the published article in the PsycARTICLES^® database. Please see Supplementing Your Article With Online Material for more details.

References

List references in alphabetical order. Each listed reference should be cited in text, and each text citation should be listed in the References section.

Examples of basic reference formats:

Journal Article:
Herbst-Damm, K. L., & Kulik, J. A. (2005). Volunteer support, marital status, and the survival times of terminally ill patients. Health Psychology, 24, 225–229. doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.24.2.225

Authored Book:
Mitchell, T. R., & Larson, J. R., Jr. (1987). People in organizations: An introduction to organizational behavior (3rd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Chapter in an Edited Book:
Bjork, R. A. (1989). Retrieval inhibition as an adaptive mechanism in human memory. In H. L. Roediger III & F. I. M. Craik (Eds.), Varieties of memory & consciousness (pp. 309–330). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Figures

Graphics files are welcome if supplied as Tiff, EPS, or PowerPoint files. The minimum line weight for line art is 0.5 point for optimal printing.

When possible, please place symbol legends below the figure instead of to the side.

Original color figures can be printed in color at the editor's and publisher's discretion provided the author agrees to pay

• $255 for one figure
• $425 for two figures
• $575 for three figures
• $675 for four figures
• $55 for each additional figure

Permissions

Authors of accepted papers must obtain and provide to the editor on final acceptance all necessary permissions to reproduce in print and electronic form any copyrighted work, including, for example, test materials (or portions thereof) and photographs of people.

Download Permissions Alert Form (PDF, 47KB)

Publication Policies

APA policy prohibits an author from submitting the same manuscript for concurrent consideration by two or more publications.

See also APA Journals^® Internet Posting Guidelines.

APA requires authors to reveal any possible conflict of interest in the conduct and reporting of research (e.g., financial interests in a test or procedure, funding by pharmaceutical companies for drug research).

Download Disclosure of Interests Form (PDF, 38KB)

Authors of accepted manuscripts are required to transfer the copyright to APA.

Download Publication Rights (Copyright Transfer) Form (PDF, 83KB)

Ethical Principles

It is a violation of APA Ethical Principles to publish "as original data, data that have been previously published" (Standard 8.13).

In addition, APA Ethical Principles specify that "after research results are published, psychologists do not withhold the data on which their conclusions are based from other competent professionals who seek to verify the substantive claims through reanalysis and who intend to use such data only for that purpose, provided that the confidentiality of the participants can be protected and unless legal rights concerning proprietary data preclude their release" (Standard 8.14).

APA expects authors to adhere to these standards. Specifically, APA expects authors to have their data available throughout the editorial review process and for at least 5 years after the date of publication.

Authors are required to state in writing that they have complied with APA ethical standards in the treatment of their sample, human or animal, or to describe the details of treatment.

Download Certification of Compliance With APA Ethical Principles Form (PDF, 26KB)

The APA Ethics Office provides the full Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct electronically on their website in HTML, PDF, and Word format. You may also request a copy by emailing or calling the APA Ethics Office (202-336-5930). You may also read "Ethical Principles," December 1992, American Psychologist, Vol. 47, pp. 1597–1611.

Other Information

• Appeals Process for Manuscript Submissions
• Preparing Auxiliary Files for Production
• Document Deposit Procedures for APA Journals