Top Psychology Journals – What And How To Get Published

Do have a psychology research paper that you want to publish? Why not try publishing it in one of the top psychology journals?

The journals below are known worldwide for their groundbreaking publishing in the field of psychology.

You are likely to have the most impact on your paper if you publish in one of them.

#1. Annual Review of Psychology 

(You can see the scientometric data on our database here.)

The Annual Review of Top Psychology Journals first came out in 1950[1]. It is an official journal of the Annual Reviews. It comes out once every year. It is one of the top psychology journals in the world by ranking.

The journal began as a way to publish the latest research reviews on psychology. Annual Reviews board of directors created it after consultation with leading psychologists. They announced the journal for the first time in 1947.

The Top Psychology Journals covers topics ranging from human behavioral ecology, psychopathology, and more. Several citation indexes have listed it as a top scientific journal.

The journal will send you copy edited galley proofs within 16 weeks[2] of your submission. The abstract and title of your paper will appear online 7 months before publication. This will allow more people to see it online with free access for longer.

#2. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, Supplement 

(You can see the scientometric data on our database here.)

Psychological Science in the Public Interest first came out in 2000[3]. It is an official publication of the Association for Psychological Science. The SAGE Publications company publishes it. The journal comes out 3 times every year.

The journal covers comprehensive reviews of psychological sciences. It assesses the current state of the field with regard to various factors. These include the validity projected tests like the Rorschach test. The journal has open access publishing.

It is one of the top psychology journals in the world.

The journal does not publish unsolicited scripts[4]. The journal’s team vets the author and the topic before commissioning a paper. The editorial board and many other sources nominate the topics chosen for commission.

Two members of the editorial team read every submitted manuscript[5]. One provides a generalist perspective. The other provides a specialist perspective. The specialist perspective is usually from the Associate Editor. The generalist perspective is from the Senior Editor.

If the paper passes the initial review, the team sends it to 2 more external referees. Authors know within 2 weeks of submission if their submission was successful.

#3. Psychological Inquiry 

(You can see the scientometric data on our database here.)

Top Psychology Journals Inquiry is a scientific journal[6] that first came out in 1990. It comes out once every year. The Taylor & Francis company publishes the journal. The journal publishes ideas and theories which are provocative and broad[7]. The journal encourages debate and discourages only empirical, applied, or review articles.

Every journal publishes only ONE target article[8]. It also publishes peer commentaries on the paper as well as a response from the target author. Editors choose the target author every year. Psychological Inquiry is one of the top psychology journals in the world.

The Top Psychology Journals includes open access publishing.

#4. Personality and Social Psychology Review 

(You can see the scientometric data on our database here.)

Personality and Social Psychology Review (PSPR) first came out in 1997[9]. The Society for Personality and Social Psychology publishes it 4 times every year. The journal is also a member of COPE[10] (Committee on Publication and Ethics). The journal publishes papers that review current research and meta-analytical articles.

The journal focuses on topics like Attitudes and Social Cognition and Intergroup relations. It also focuses on personality and individual differences and biological and cultural differences.

It is one of the top psychology journals in the world.

#5. Social Issues and Policy Review 

(You can see the scientometric data on our database here.)

Social Issues and Policy Review is a peer reviewed academic journal[11]. It first came out in 2007. It is the official journal of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. Wiley-Blackwell publishes it once every year.

The journal focuses on subjects like social issues and public policy[12]. The journal publishes theoretical and empirical reviews on current topics and research programs. The journal’s focus is on topics relevant to understanding policy and social issues.

It is one of the top psychology journals in the world.

The journal publishes articles and papers which are relevant to its mission. The editorial team evaluates papers for effectiveness of presentation and contribution. The length of most published papers is 40-50 pages[13]. This includes all the references, figures, notes and tables. The abstract should not be more than 120-140 words long.

The purpose of these Top Psychology Journals is to make the journal accessible to the layman. Papers will need to be accessible to a broad audience rather than niche scientists alone. Works can relate to controversial current issues as well.

Leading abstracting services like PubMed and Web of Science abstract the journal. The journal ranked highest in the Social Psychology Category in Top Psychology Journals Citation Reports.

#6. Educational Psychologist 

(You can see the scientometric data on our database here.)

Educational Psychologist first came out in 1963. It is one of the top psychology journals in the world. It comes out four times a year[14]. The Top Psychology Journals publishes conceptual and reviews articles. This includes meta-analyses, rather than empirical studies. The journal is among the big five educational psychology journals in the world. The journal does publish impactful theoretical research once in a while.

It is the official journal of the American Psychological Association. The Routledge corporation publishes the journal once every 3 months. Since 1979, the journal practices double-blind peer review processes. This means that the reviewers and the authors don’t know each other.

All manuscripts need to be under 12,000 words in length in an ideal situation. The papers should be 40 pages long with double-spaced paragraphs. 12 point Times New Roman font is standard. The abstract should not be longer than 250 words.

#7. Perspectives on Psychological Science 

(You can see the scientometric data on our database here.)

Perspectives on Psychological Science first came out in 2006. SAGE Publications publishes it 6 times every year. It is the official journal of the Association of Psychological Science[15]. Members receive the journal at the time of publication as a part of their membership.

Several institutions abstract and index the journal. These include Current Contents, InfoTrac, PscyINFO, Scopus, Social Sciences Citation Index, and ESBCOhost.

It is one of the top psychology journals in the world.

The mean review time for every submission is 21 days[16]. After this, the paper will receive the first decision. After that is the final decision. It will take 90 days to online publication from the first submission date.

The journal offers membership in the form of ORCID IDs[17]. This allows submissions to link to your identity. This way, you can submit a lot of papers if need be.

#8. Educational Psychology Review

(You can see the scientometric data on our database here.)

Educational Psychology Review first came out in 1989. The Springer Science+Business Media group[18] publishes it four times every year. It is one of the big five educational psychology journals. This makes it one of the top psychology journals in the world.

The journal focuses on reviews and integrated articles. It has special thematic issues[18] which means it selects its articles carefully. It does not contain only articles and reviews, but also interviews and advice. The journal has international reach.

All articles must have double spaced paragraphs and 12 point Times New Roman font. They also must have 1 inch margins on all sides. Manuscripts should not exceed 12000 words or 40 pages. This includes all the references, abstracts, appendices, and notes.

The abstract should not be longer than 250 words. It should not contain undefined abbreviations or unspecified references.

All in all, the paper should not exceed 50 pages. The editorial team will return all manuscripts longer than 50 pages without review. The journal also has open access publishing.

#9. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 

(You can see the scientometric data on our database here.)

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology first came out in 1965[20]. It is an official journal of the American Psychological Association. The journal publishes every month.

The journal contains 3 different sections. The first is Attitudes and Social Cognition. It addresses cognition in social behavior. The second is Interpersonal Relations and Group Processes. This addresses psychological and structural features. The third is Personality Processes and Individual Differences.

It is one of the top psychology journals in the world.

The journal focuses on empirical research and specialized theoretical or methodological research. The journal’s most cited paper[21] was cited 90,000 times since its publication in 1986.

The articles in the journal usually have a lengthy introduction. The journal cites related studies which explore different aspects of a theory. That, or studies which test competing hypotheses.

#10. Journal of the Learning Sciences

(You can see the scientometric data on our database here.)

The Journal of Learning Sciences first came out in 1991. It is an official publication of the International Society of the Learning Sciences. The Routledge company publishes it 5 times every year.

The journal focuses on research in education and learning. It treats the two subjects as theoretical and design sciences. It includes articles on cognitive sciences and new technologies and learning environments. The journal does not hold you to any specific research method[22]. It does tell you to base your research on rigorous analyses.

It is one of the top psychology journals in the world.

The journal includes a diverse field of publications. It publishes on topics concerned with computer science, anthropology and educational psychology.

The journal has open access publishing enabled. The journal argues that open access articles get 6 times more downloads[23]. They also get 32% more citations. If you choose open access publishing, you will have to pay a publishing charge.

Final Word

The psychology journals listed above cover a variety of topics in many different fields. Each one possesses a high impact score. However, these journals are best suited for certain types of research. 

It is best to understand each journal’s specialty before deciding where to publish your paper. We hope the above list proves helpful in your search for the top environmental journals.

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References

[1] https://www.annualreviews.org/page/authors/author-instructions/submitting/publication-timeline

[2] https://www.annualreviews.org/page/authors/author-instructions/submitting/publication-timeline

[3] https://www.psychologicalscience.org/publications/pspi

[4] https://www.psychologicalscience.org/publications/psychological_science/ps-submissions

[5] https://www.psychologicalscience.org/publications/pspi/instructions-for-authors

[6] https://www.jstor.org/journal/psycinqu

[7] https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=hpli20

[8] https://www.tandfonline.com/action/newsAndOffers?journalCode=hpli20

[9] https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/journal/personality-and-social-psychology-review

[10] https://journals.sagepub.com/description/psr

[11] https://spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/17512409/aims-and-scope/read-full-aims-and-scope

[12] https://spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/17512409

[13] https://spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/17512409/about/author-guidelines

[14] https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=hedp20

[15] https://journals.sagepub.com/description/pps

[16] https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/journal/perspectives-psychological-science#description

[17] https://journals.sagepub.com/author-instructions/pps

[18] https://www.springer.com/journal/10648/submission-guidelines#openAccessPublishing

[19] https://www.springer.com/journal/10648

[20] https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/psp

[21] https://doi.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0022-3514.51.6.1173

[22] https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=hlns20

[23] https://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?show=instructions&journalCode=hlns20#about