Online Submissions
Already have a Username/Password for Análise Psicológica?
Go to Login
Need a Username/Password?
Go to Registration
Registration and login are required to submit items online and to check the status of current submissions.
Author Guidelines
All articles must be submitted in English and must comply with APA (American Psychological Association) standards regarding the style of presentation of the manuscript and the ethical aspects of scientific work.
The article should be written in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) and not exceed 25 pages (starting on page 1 with the Abstract and including Figures, Tables, Appendices and References in addition to the body text). Authors should avoid citing their own work in a way that could reveal their identity.
Include four research highlights in bullet points after the abstract.
All submissions must include the title, abstract, keywords, and bullet points in both English and Portuguese.
Articles type (Max: 25 pages):
Análise Psicológica welcomes original and high-quality work based on thorough and systematic research, including both quantitative and qualitative manuscripts. The following submission formats are welcome:
- Systematic reviews. It includes meta-analyses, systematic reviews, scoping reviews or umbrella reviews that synthesize published research. The use of the appropriate search and report guidelines (e.g., PRISMA) are required. We encourage authors to register their systematic reviews in a suitable registry (e.g., PROSPERO). Authors who have registered their systematic review should include the registration number.
- Study protocols. It included study protocols for proposed or ongoing prospective clinical research that provide a detailed account of the study’s hypothesis, rationale, methodology, and associated ethical requirements. Protocols of randomized controlled trials should follow the SPIRIT guidelines and include a trial registration number. Protocols for systematic reviews are not accepted.
- Research Methods & Instruments. Articles should focus on issues related to instrumentation, design, or statistical analysis in Psychology, including instrument development and validation, as well as the presentation of new methodologies.
- Other formats may be accepted with prior approval from the editorial board.
General guidelines
A. Layout: A4 size. The article should not be longer than 25 pages, from the abstract to the References, including Tables, Figures and Appendices. Supplementary material may be included. Footnotes are not allowed.
B. Font: Times New Roman, size 12, throughout the text, including references, footnotes, tables, etc.
C. Margins: 2.5cm on all sides (top, bottom, left and right).
D. Spacing: Double-spaced throughout the manuscript, including the title page (not identifying the authors), Abstract, Text, References, Appendices, etc.
E. Text alignment: To the left.
F. Paragraph: 1.25cm.
G. Alignment of page numbers: In the top right-hand corner, at the level of the first line on each page.
H. Heading: The first two or three words of the title should appear 5 spaces to the left of the page number. The heading will be used to identify the manuscript during the editorial process. When using MS Word, when you insert the heading and number on one of the pages, these elements will appear on all the others.
I. Internet addresses: all “URL” addresses (links to the Internet) in the text (e.g. http://pkp.sfu.ca) must be active.
J. Order of manuscript elements: Title page, abstract, keywords, four bulletin research highlights, introduction and background, method, results, discussion, references, appendices, Tables and Figures. Each section should start on a new page.
K. Elements of the manuscript:
Title page: Maximum 15 words, with the first letter in capital letters, center aligned.
The title should be concise and state the main results of the study. Abbreviations should be avoided within the title.
Abstract with keywords: The title “Abstract” center-aligned on the first line after the heading. At the end of the Abstract list five keywords (in capital letters, separated by semicolons).
The abstract should be a paragraph with until 200 words presenting the aim of the study, its methodology and main findings. The general significance and conceptual advance of the study accessible to a broad readership should also be included. Five relevant keywords should be included.
Four bulletin highlights of the research
Text: The title of the manuscript is not necessary on this page. Sub-sections of the text should not begin on new pages and their titles should be aligned to the center, with the first letter of each word capitalized (e.g. “Results”, “Methods” and “Discussion”). The subheadings of the subsections should be in italics with the first letter of each word capitalized (for example, the subheading of the “Methods” subsection: “Subjects” or “Data Analysis”). The words “Figure”, “Table”, “Annex” appearing in the text should have the first letter capitalized followed by the number (Figures and Tables) or letter (Annexes) to which they refer. The suggested locations for the insertion of figures and tables should be indicated in the text.
Structure: Manuscripts should be compiled in the following order: title page; abstract; keywords; highlights; introduction; background; methods; results; discussion; acknowledgments; declaration of interest statement; references; appendices (as appropriate); table(s) with caption(s) (on individual pages); figures; figure captions (as a list). References according to APA 7th edition.
L. Funding: Análise Psicológica asks all authors to identify their sources of funding. The format of the text could be, for example:
Funding: This research was funded by ...
If the authors' research was not funded, they should state 'This research did not receive any specific funding from any public or private funding agency, or from any entity'.
M. Authors' contributions: Individual contributions should be specified in a 'Statement of Authors' Contribution' format. The statement should represent all authors and should be included in the submission. See an example here:
Author Contributions: Conceptualization, [name initials in caps], [name initials in caps] and [name initials in caps]; methodology, [name initials in caps] and [name initials in caps]; formal analysis, [name initials in caps]; data collection, [name initials in caps] and [name initials in caps]; writing—original draft preparation, [name initials in caps]; writing—review and editing, [name initials in caps], [name initials in caps] and [name initials in caps]. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
All contributions that do not meet the criteria for attribution of authorship must be specifically presented in a statement called Acknowledgments (optional statement).
N. Submission of manuscripts: A manuscript must be submitted in two documents, as the Journal is committed to blind peer review. The anonymization of the manuscript itself is essential and authors should prepare a separate document with the authors' details. The following should be considered
- Not blind. A document with the Title (without abbreviations); Names and surnames of all authors in the order in which they should appear in the publication; Name, institution, address and e-mail address of the author for correspondence; Affiliation of all authors; E-mail addresses and orcid numbers of all authors; Author Contributions; Reference to all funds received or research contracts (Funding); Acknowledgments (Optional statement).
- Blind. Document containing the abstracts in English and Portuguese, the keywords and the text of the manuscript itself, pointing out that the bibliographical references should be made in accordance with APA standards (7 Ed.).
O. Declaration of consent to publication: After the submission process, the author responsible for the submission must respond to the following declaration:
I declare, on behalf of all the authors, that this manuscript is original and has not been the subject of any other type of publication. I also declare, on behalf of all the authors, that I authorize the publication of the manuscript, once the review process has been completed and the status of 'Accepted for publication' has been decreed by the Editor-in-Chief
Submissions to general section
Análise Psicológica welcomes significant empirical and theoretical contributions from all the major areas of Psychology.
Recommended structure of the manuscript (maximum of 25 pages, including references and tables):
- Introduction: Present the main aim of the study and its relevance within the current state of the art. Also include some details about the methods for addressing the research question.
- Background: A theoretical rational of the study should be provided, defining key constructs, and presenting major findings and/or tensions in the literature, justifying the relevance of the current study.
- Methods: Divided in specific sub-headings: Participants; Procedures; Measures; Data Analysis. The report of the methodological section should contain sufficient detail so that when read in conjunction with cited references, all procedures can be repeated. Qualitative studies should follow APA guidelines for reporting qualitative research (i.e., APA JARS-Qual).
Studies including animal or human subject research, a statement reporting ethical details and ethics approval statement must be included.
- Results: Main findings of the study should be reported following APA guidelines for reporting scientific research. For quantitative studies include all relevant statistical data presenting them in a clear and organized manner with both numbers and words.
For qualitative research, results should include information about the codebook, themes, and findings should be illustrated with participant quotes. If authors prefer the Results and Discussion sections may be combined, as long as all necessary information is present. Please check APA guidelines for reporting qualitative research (i.e., APA JARS-Qual).
- Discussion: It should cover the key findings of the study, situating them within prior research on the topic and highlighting the novelty of the work. Potential methodological shortcomings and limitations in the interpretation of results should be properly addressed. The discussion should conclude by outlining the contributions of the findings to advancing the current state of the art and by suggesting directions for future research.
Submissions to Research and Methods section
Análise Psicológica welcomes manuscripts that translate and adapt instruments to a specific population (Portuguese or any Portuguese subpopulation), as well as articles presenting a NEW instrument and studying its metric characteristics in a specific population (Portuguese or any Portuguese subpopulation).
Recommended structure of the manuscript (maximum of 25 pages, including references and tables):
- Aim of the article: Define it on the first page as a translation, adaptation and study of the psychometric properties of a known instrument; or presenting a new measure to evaluates X (use non-conclusive language. Preferably use: “study”, “access”, “inform” about metric properties etc, and not “conclude” about metric properties);
- Background: Present a literature review that: a) defines the construct to be measured, in its convergence and divergence from other neighboring constructs; b) mentions some of the instruments developed to measure the construct; c) characterizes the instrument in focus and why it was selected (usefulness, pragmatism, relevance to certain fields of study, etc.); d) presents in detail the instrument in focus in terms of its metric qualities and the populations in which it has been studied. Define the metric consistency or inconsistency of the instrument along these approaches. For studies proposing a new measure, authors should explain why it is necessary to develop a NEW instrument, making clear why adapting an existing one would not be more advantageous.
- Discuss the definition of the construct and the form of measurement if relevant. Sometimes the definition of the construct is one-dimensional and its measurement in different and even independent dimensions. This needs to be explained.
- Define the structure of the instrument in a table, with the items associated with their dimensions, and mark the items that will have to be inverted when computing the final score.
- Define the research process to be presented in the methods section, justifying all the decisions to be made (e.g. translate with care x and y; study validity through... ; study consistency through... etc). For studies proposing a new measure authors must to justify all the decisions to be made (e.g. type of scale to be developed, Likert; semantic differential; Guttman, etc.), as well as to define the metric characteristics.
- Methods: a) define the sample in relevant detail; b) present the instrument itself (its items, should they be included in a table or annex etc); c) define how the items will be translated/retranslated in order to guarantee their validity:
- Results: the process of studying the construct validity of the scale should be carried out by a confirmatory factorial analysis that supports the theoretical and empirical conception of the instrument and not by exploratory analysis. Failure to adapt a model should be followed by the testing of existing models in the literature that are presented as alternatives. Only failure to adapt them should suggest a different analysis (e.g. exploratory). Data from confirmatory analyses should be presented without detailed explanations of the basic procedure that defines them. Only if non-standard procedures are presented should they be described in detail.
- Discussion: summarize the data; present the study's limitations; compare the study with other data; define next steps. The study’s limitations should be clearly addressed, and a conceptual reflection should be provided.
Finally, don't forget to comply with all APA recommendations.
Submission Preparation Checklist
As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
- The contribution is original and unpublished and is not under review or for publication by another journal, nor will it be submitted to other journals while it is under review.
- Files for submission are in Microsoft Word, OpenOffice or RTF format (as long as they do not exceed 2MB).
- URLs for the references have been provided where available.
The text is in English double-spaced; uses a 12-point font; uses italics instead of underlining (except in URL addresses); figures and tables are at the end of the document.
The manuscirpt's title, abstract, keywords and highlights in Portuguese was included.
- Does this submission belong to a thematic section of the journal? If so, please indicate which one ("General", "Research methods and tools", "New Insights in the Basics of Attitudes and Persuasion")
