Call for papers: Bridging the gap between emotion and clinical science

• Letter of intent deadline: August 31, 2026
• Invitation to submit will be sent out: September 30, 2026
• Manuscript submission deadline: January 31, 2027

• Karin Coifman (Kent State University)
• Ben Mitchell (Baylor College of Medicine)
• Stanley Seah (Miami University)
• Vera Vine (Queen’s University)

Emotion-related disruptions are a dominant feature of psychiatric disorders and are increasingly implicated mechanistically in the development, maintenance, and treatment of psychopathology. However, clinical models of psychopathology and psychotherapy often rely heavily on older tools and/or frameworks from emotion research that do not adequately reflect the current state of emotion science. For instance, clinical research involving emotion has arguably, predominantly focused on a specific set of explicit emotion regulation strategies, often measured using self-report. Emotion regulation itself has been conceptualized largely in terms of the downregulation or control of negative emotion.

In the meantime, emotion science has innovated rapidly, recognizing emotions as multi-modal, multilevel and dynamic, contextually and developmentally situated processes more fully captured by a wide array of implicit and explicit measures. In this special issue, we aim to shine a light on the important advances underway in clinical emotion science, to take stock of what is known and to set an agenda for the next stage of this important area of work.

In this special issue, we wish to bring together cutting-edge research that sits at the intersection of emotion and clinical science. Our goal is to build a collection of articles stimulating insight into all aspects of clinically relevant emotion disruptions that is reflective of the leading edge of clinical emotion science across the translational spectrum. This includes emotion-linked processes that 1) confer vulnerability or risk for psychopathology; 2) explain psychopathology course and maintenance; or 3) can serve as novel targets or inform methods for precision intervention.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• Studies that measure or decompose affect or emotion in novel, innovative, or multimodal ways. For instance, considering many units or levels of analysis, varying timescales, blended or mixed states in the context of psychopathology and/or treatment
• The role of discrete emotions in motivating specific clinical disruptions in cognition, learning, and behavior relevant to understanding and treating psychopathology.
• The role of emotion knowledge and perception involving self and other (e.g., alexithymia, emotion clarity, emotion recognition), as well as cognitive or conceptual emotion processes (e.g., emotion-linked beliefs or patterns of appraisal) in clinically relevant psychological processes.
• Studies on the nature or mechanisms of atypical development of emotions, with a strong grounding in emotion science
• Within-person dynamical processes that drive and maintain emotion-linked behaviors often targeted in treatment (e.g., social avoidance, substance use, tech reliance, etc).
• Emotion-specific interventions that can be applied to clinical problems, ideally with emphasis on emotion-related mechanisms and/or demonstrating changes in target emotion processes.
• Contextual or cultural factors that interact with emotion processes to shape vulnerability and/or resilience.

We particularly encourage empirical submissions that can make a significant contribution not only to the clinical science field but also to the field of emotion science. Authors are encouraged to articulate conceptual impacts of their work across both disciplines. Priority will be placed on studies that rely on indices of emotion that move beyond self-report methodology alone. We also will prioritize well-powered studies with clear methodological rigor. Finally, clinical samples are not required, but studies must have clear relevance to psychopathology and fit the above description.

Note: Although we primarily seek empirical research contributions, we may consider proposals for novel, well-defined theoretical or quantitative review papers strongly aligned with the aims of the special issue.

Authors interested in contributing to this special issue must first submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) for editorial review by August 31, 2026.

Letters of Intent (500 words maximum) should include:

• Proposed title and author team
• Brief abstract (150 words)
• Description of how the paper represents the leading edge of clinical and emotion science
• Methods overview (e.g., justification of design, measures, analytic approach, sample size/power) and statement on the project’s approach to open science practices.
• Primary findings or planned analysis (e.g. pre-registered analytic plan).

Letters of intent should be sent via email to Karin Coifmanopens in new window in response to this call. Please use "Special Issue: Clinical Emotion Science" in your subject line when submitting your letter of intent.

We will invite full submissions following a review of these proposals by September 30, 2026. Invited, full-length submissions will be due January 31, 2027. All submissions for this special section will go through the normal peer-review process, with no guarantee of acceptance. All submissions must comply with regular journal and APA policies as detailed on the journal website, including transparency and openness standards.

Accepted papers will be published online in advance of the full special issue.