Jeff Zimmerman, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, cofounder of The Practice Institute, LLC, and editor-in-chief of the journal Practice Innovations. He is committed to delivering high-quality, practical research to mental health clinicians and professionals who provide mental health services to the public.
In the following interview, Zimmerman addresses questions from potential authors about publishing their work in Practice Innovations.
Practice Innovations serves mental health professionals in practice by publishing clinical, practical, and research articles on current and evolving standards, practices, and methods in professional mental health practice. Designed as a cross-disciplinary publication with a multitheoretical scope, the journal supports innovation and the highest standards of care in mental health practice.
Our readers are looking for manuscripts that provide useful information, guidelines, and discussion that not only furthers science but also has immediate relevance to their clinical work. For example, one of our manuscripts was the top downloaded APA journal article for 2019. "The Therapeutic Relationship in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: Essential Features and Common Challenges" by Okamoto et al. clearly was of great interest not only to our subscribers but to mental health professionals and researchers around the world.
As a relatively new journal, we are actively getting the word out that we are different and provide a unique blend of science and practice as we look to increase the readership among all mental health professionals. Our special issues focus on clinical areas and often are timed to launch around the APA convention so that they can get good exposure. This year's special issue will be on gender challenges. Also, stay tuned for a special section later this year titled "Recent Innovations and Challenges in Practice."
Reach out to me. I'm happy to discuss ideas for manuscripts. You don't have to conduct a landmark study. Rather, we are looking for a wide range of submissions on:
First, I look for a manuscript to be accessible and not dense. It has to be readable. It also must be relevant to our readers and have a sound theoretical or scientific base. It should provide something new or offer a new viewpoint. Most importantly, I'm looking for manuscripts that provide useful input to the reader. The reader should be able to say, "Wow, that's something I can use when I walk into my office tomorrow."
In a word, I would say applicability. In psychology it is often difficult to know what happened behind the closed door in a treatment session or what the intervention consisted of. For example, a pharmacological study might find that dosage X of medication Y yielded a certain effect for patients with diagnosis Z. The reader knows exactly what the treatment was for that diagnosis and can be certain that administering the same dosage of medication for the same diagnosis will ideally yield the same or a similar outcome.
In our field, however, it is often very difficult to know what the specific treatment was; "10 sessions of a particular treatment" is a very nonspecific description. We can't assume that 10 sessions of a particular form of psychotherapy were administered with consistency across multiple providers and multiple patients.
Thus, understanding the common factors, best practices, and guidelines that lead to positive change is very important for our readers.
In my experience, there has too often been a divide between research and practice. We need to recognize and value the interdependent relationship between research and practice. The needs of practice should inform future research, and the results of research should inform practice. When this occurs, we are truly working collaboratively in our quest to make a difference for the public.
Current editors of APA Journals highlight their priorities and share their experiences in publishing.
APA Journals produces an array of scholarly journals that cover the spectrum of modern psychology and feature the latest research in the field.
Practice Innovations publishes clinical, practical, and research articles on current and evolving standards, practices, and methods in professional mental health practice.