APA Journals™ EDI framework in action

Ideas, written word, and research: A webinar on how to publish in a scholarly journal

In this webinar, originally presented to students and faculty from Bowie State University, Dr. Kimberly Griffin (editor-in-chief, Journal of Diversity in Higher Education) and Dr. L. Monique Ward (Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Psychology, University of Michigan) offer expert insights on the process of publishing in a scholarly journal. Dr. Griffin and Dr. Ward answer viewer questions about—among other topics—formatting, peer review, and deciding where to submit a paper.

Spotlight on student researchers of color

APA is committed to amplifying the voices and works of underrepresented scholars and researchers. In this series, students and recent graduates of historically Black colleges and universities highlight their recent research projects, share their reasons for pursuing careers in psychology, and discuss their plans for the future.

Editorial fellowships

Editorial fellowships help early-career psychologists gain firsthand experience in scholarly publishing and editorial leadership roles. Many APA journals offer editorial fellowship programs for early-career psychologists from historically excluded communities.

Reviewer mentorship programs

Most APA journals encourage reviewers to submit co-reviews with their students and trainees. A growing number of journals likewise offer a formal reviewer mentorship program where graduate students and postdoctoral fellows from historically excluded groups are matched with a senior reviewer to produce an integrated review.

Development editor assistance program

Development editor programs offer support to experts who have a promising idea for advancing the field of psychology but have little experience with academic writing and publishing. A development editor provides a structured process, feedback, and editorial guidance for creating a manuscript to be submitted to a given journal.

For example, Consulting Psychology Journal offers a formal development editor assistance program.

APA allows journal editors, authors, and reviewers to opt-in to demographic reporting measures which are used internally to examine how well journals represent the researchers and populations they serve. The demographic questionnaire used to collect this data was updated substantially at the end of 2021 to make responses more representative of a wider range of respondents. The updated questionnaire asks respondents to select their:

• highest degree earned;
• racial and ethnic identity;
• gender identity;
• transgender identity;
• sexual identity; and
• disability status.

All items in the demographic questionnaire are optional. This information is securely housed in an APA database and will only be reported on as deidentified, aggregate data. Collecting this information allows APA to better measure the journals program’s progress towards the goals outlined in APA’s resolution on psychology’s role in dismantling systemic racism (2021).

APA editors, authors, and reviewers who have not yet filled out this questionnaire or need to update their responses and would like more information on how to do so can read the instructions (PDF, 151KB).

Reference

American Psychological Association (October 29, 2021). Role of psychology and the American Psychological Association in dismantling systemic racism against people of color in the United States. https://www.apa.org/about/policy/dismantling-systemic-racism

APA is a gold-level partner to the Coalition for Diversity and Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC). In this capacity, APA has adopted C4DISC’s Joint Statement of Principles and joined C4DISC’s commitment to “curb the deeply ingrained patterns of exclusion and inequities in [scholarly communications’] practices, policies, and frameworks.” These principles align with APA’s EDI framework and strategy.

C4DISC's mission is to work with organizations and individual members of the industry to build EDI in scholarly communications. Accordingly, the Coalition envisions a socially just community that welcomes, values, and celebrates all who seek to contribute to scholarly communications.

As a C4DISC partner, APA participates in the Coalition’s working groups to advance EDI efforts and supports C4DISC’s efforts to foster a more representative, inclusive, and socially just publishing industry.

APA is committed to providing authors with the tools they need to publish inclusive, transparent, and reproducible scientific research.

Author name changes after publication

APA is pleased to announce a policy on changing authors’ names in the digital record on request. Respecting authors’ autonomy and recognizing that authors’ names may change after articles have been published, APA Publishing will update author names without publishing an accompanying correction notice. Changes will be made to the digital record for APA-published ebooks or journal articles that have already appeared in print.

This policy was suggested by APA Division 44 (Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity) and formally recommended by the Publications and Communications Board in May 2020.

ORCID reviewer recognition

Open Research and Contributor ID (ORCID) reviewer recognition provides a visible and verifiable way for journals to publicly credit reviewers without compromising the confidentiality of the peer review process. Many APA journals have implemented the ORCID reviewer recognition feature in Editorial Manager, meaning that reviewers can be recognized for their contributions to the peer review process. 

Translated abstracts 

Abstracts which are translated into multiple languages provide accessibility and discoverability for a global community of scholars. Some APA-published journals publish abstracts in Spanish, French, and/or Chinese in addition to English.  

Masked peer review

Many journals offer masked peer review (where both the authors’ and reviewers’ identities are not known to the other). Research has shown that masked peer review can help reduce implicit bias against traditionally female names or early-career scientists with smaller publication records (Budden et al., 2008; Darling, 2015).