Archive for the Psychology of Religion

To prepare a manuscript for submission to the Archive for the Psychology of Religion/Archiv für Religionspsychologie, please read the information provided below. When you are ready, submit your manuscript through the online portal: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/aprj 

There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this Journal. Open Access options are available - see section 3.3 below.

As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere. Please see our guidelines on prior publication and note that Archive for the Psychology of Religion may accept submissions of papers that have been posted on pre-print servers; please alert the Editorial Office when submitting (contact details are at the end of these guidelines) and include the DOI for the preprint in the designated field in the manuscript submission system. Authors should not post an updated version of their paper on the preprint server while it is being peer reviewed for possible publication in the journal. If the article is accepted for publication, the author may re-use their work according to the journal's author archiving policy.

If your paper is accepted, you must include a link on your preprint to the final version of your paper.

1. What do we publish?
   1.1 Aims & Scope
   1.2 Article types
   1.3 Article Length
2. Editorial policies
   2.1 Peer review policy
   2.2 Authorship
   2.3 Acknowledgements
   2.4 Funding
   2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
3. Publishing policies
   3.1 Publication ethics
   3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
   3.3 Open access and author archiving
4. Preparing your manuscript
   4.1 Formatting
   4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
   4.3 Supplemental material
   4.4 Reference style
   4.5 English language editing services
5. Submitting your manuscript
   5.1 ORCID
   5.2 Information required for completing your submission
6. On acceptance and publication
   6.1 Sage Production
   6.2 Online First publication
   6.3 Access to your published article
   6.4 Promoting your article
7. Further information

1. What do we publish?

Editorial Statement

The Archive for the Psychology of Religion is the flagship journal for the International Association for the Psychology of Religion. It originated as the Archiv für Religionspsychologie in 1914, establishing it as the oldest periodical in the field. This English-language journal publishes three issues per year, with articles appearing online before the editors assign them to an issue. Contributions employ diverse methodologies embedded in and relevant to the advancement of psychological theory. Multiple submission types are possible within three primary sections: Theory (major reviews, conceptual or methodological development), Research (empirical theory testing, rigorous descriptive or qualitative investigations, pre-registered replications), and Pedagogy (tutorials, historical notes). The Archive contains both invited and submitted material, including occasional target articles and responses. Authors may propose Special Issues to the Editor at any time.

Submissions are judged on their potential contribution to the literature. In a cover letter, authors should clearly elucidate what is new about the content, why it is important, and how the methods help to address the research questions.

General Policies

Overlap with Previously Published Material

In the interest of promoting new contributions, Archive for the Psychology of Religion is now screening submissions for overlap with other published material.  Submissions with a high percentage of overlap (e.g., lifted or republished material) may be rejected outright. 

Concurrent Consideration for Publication

APR requests that authors not submit the same manuscript for concurrent consideration by more than one publication.

Open Science

Archive for the Psychology of Religion fully supports open data sharing and encourages authors who have pre-registered their research to include this information when submitting their manuscript.

The journal also facilitates Registered Reports: please consult our guidelines for Authors, Reviewers and general tips for full information on Registered Reports.

Open Science Badges

Starting in June 2018, articles are eligible for open science badges recognizing publicly available data, materials, and/or preregistration plans and analyses. (See http://cos.io/our-services/open-science-badges/ for additional information.) These badges are awarded on a self-disclosure basis.

At submission, authors must confirm that criteria have been fulfilled in a signed badge disclosure form (PDF, 33KB) that must be submitted as supplemental material. If all criteria are met as confirmed by the editor, the form will then be published with the article as supplemental material.

Authors should also note their eligibility for the badge(s) in their cover letter.

For all badges, items must be made available on an open-access repository with a persistent identifier in a format that is time-stamped, immutable, and permanent. For the preregistered badge, this is an institutional registration system.

Data and materials must be made available under an open license allowing others to copy, share, and use the data, with attribution and copyright as applicable.

Available badges are outlined here and additional information is available at: https://cos.io/our-services/open-science-badges-details/

1.1 Aims & Scope

Before submitting your manuscript to Archive for the Psychology of Religion, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.

1.2 Article Types

• Research Articles
• Theoretical Articles
• Tutorials
• Registered Reports (See full guidelines for Authors, for Reviewers and best practice.)

Authors are not required to pay fees to submit or publish in this journal, however, authors may choose to pay for options such as Sage Choice open access, or the reproduction of colored figures in the print issue (there are no charges for colored figures in the online version).

The Archive for the Psychology of Religion requests that authors prepare manuscripts in English according to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th edition). See the APA Style Guidelines for more information. 

Please note that accepted manuscripts will be copyedited, and this may include editing for bias-free language (see Chapter 3 of the Publication Manual).

1.3 Article Length

APR requests that manuscripts not exceed 12,000 words (approximately 40 double-spaced pages in 12-point Times New Roman font), including references, tables, figures, and appendixes.

Please double-space all submitted copy. Other formatting instructions, as well as instructions on preparing tables, figures, references, metrics, and abstracts, appear in the APA Publication Manual. 

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2. Editorial policies

2.1 Peer review policy

Masked Review Policy

The journal’s default policy is that of double-anonymize review that conceals author identities from reviewers, and conceals reviewer identities from authors.  If you choose this policy, please make every effort to ensure that the manuscript file for review contains no clues as to author identity (this includes the file label).

Unmasked review is optional. If you would like your paper to go through single-anonymize review, please ensure all author names are included on your title page.

Reviewer identities will not be disclosed to the authors unless the reviewers themselves request it (signed reviews are the option of the reviewer).

Authors are invited to suggest the names of potential reviewers during the submission process. Please keep in mind that the potential reviewer should not be familiar with the work, not be a recent collaborator with the authors, not be from the same institution.

Timing of the Review Process

At APR all submissions are initially checked by our editorial assistant for technical issues and adherence to submission policies.  The manuscript may be sent back to authors for a number of reasons before it passes this phase and is moved into the formal review process.  

The first step in the formal review process consists of and initial review by our Editor-in-Chief to assure that manuscripts fit with the mission of our journal and that they are adequate in scope and scholarship. The Editor-in-Chief has the option to reject manuscripts at this stage, electing to end with the initial review process and not send out for full review.  

If the Editor-in-Chief determines that the submission is ready for full review, it is then assigned to an Associate Editor, who also has the option to make an immediate decision regarding the fit and adequacy of the submission.  

If the handling editor chooses to send the submission through the full review process, reviewers will be invited to comment on the manuscript.  These reviewers have at least a month to read the submission and provide comments.  The handling editor then, too, has an additional month to read the comments of the reviewers and to deliberate before making a decision.  The decision of the handling editor is returned to the editor-in-chief, who reviews the decision before notifying the authors.  Thus, a full review commonly takes from 60 to 90 days.  

Appeals Process

If your manuscript is rejected, and if you believe a pertinent point was overlooked or misunderstood by the reviewers, you may appeal the editorial decision – please contact the Editorial Office: iaprarchive1@gmail.com 
 

2.2 Authorship

All parties who have made a substantive contribution to the article should be listed as authors. Principal authorship, authorship order, and other publication credits should be based on the relative scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved, regardless of their status. A student is usually listed as principal author on any multiple-authored publication that substantially derives from the student’s dissertation or thesis.

Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.

2.3 Acknowledgements

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.

Any acknowledgements should appear first at the end of your article prior to your Declaration of Conflicting Interests (if applicable), any notes and your References.

2.3.1 Third party submissions

Where an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statements must:

•    Disclose this type of editorial assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input 
•    Identify any entities that paid for this assistance 
•    Confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g. conflicting interests, funding, etc.

Where appropriate, Sage reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.
 

2.3.2 Writing assistance

Individuals who provided writing assistance, e.g. from a specialist communications company, do not qualify as authors and so should be included in the Acknowledgements section. Authors must disclose any writing assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input – and identify the entity that paid for this assistance. It is not necessary to disclose use of language polishing services.

2.4 Funding

Archive for the Psychology of Religion requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading. Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests

Archive for the Psychology of Religion encourages authors to include a declaration of any conflicting interests and recommends you review the good practice guidelines on the Sage Journal Author Gateway.

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3. Publishing Policies

3.1 Publication ethics

Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway.

3.1.1 Plagiarism

Archive for the Psychology of Religion and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarised other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.

3.1.2 Prior publication

If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.

Please outline where material has previously been published in 2-4 sentences as an Author Note accompanying your submission.

3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement

Before publication, Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Sage’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive licence agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than Sage. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information please visit the Sage Author Gateway.

3.3 Open access and author archiving

Archive for the Psychology of Religion offers optional open access publishing via the Sage Choice programme and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. For more information on Open Access publishing options at Sage please visit Sage Open Access. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines and Publishing Policies.

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4. Preparing your manuscript for submission

When writing up your paper, think about how you can make it discoverable. The title, keywords and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article through search engines such as Google. For information and guidance on how best to title your article, write your abstract and select your keywords, have a look at this page on the Gateway: How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online. The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources.  

General Standards

As part of following the APA style manual, the Archive is committed to guidelines established for the publication of both quantitative and qualitative journal articles (https://www.apastyle.org/jars/index). The suggestions included in these models provide significant assistance in formulating a very descriptive and informative article. Authors are encouraged to consult these documents prior to submission; reviewers will use these models as one part of the evaluative process.

Cover Letter 

Please provide a cover letter introducing your work. In the cover letter, verify that your manuscript is not under review elsewhere, that any primary data have not been previously published (or accepted for publication), and that the appropriate ethical guidelines were followed in the conduct of the research.  Identify into which of the three primary sections your work falls: Theory (major reviews, conceptual development), Research (theory testing, reports, or Pedagogy (tutorials, historical notes).  Authors should clearly elucidate what is new about the content, why it is important, and how the methods help to address the research questions.

Title Page and Author Note

Each manuscript must include a title page file. This page should include:

• Title (12 words or less)
• Author names
• Author note (to include the following information)
• Institutional affiliation of all authors (at the time of the study)
• Changes in affiliation, if any
• Funding acknowledgments, other acknowledgments
• Notes on special circumstances, prior dissemination, related publications, perceived conflict of interest, and adherence to ethical guidelines
• Corresponding author contact information

Abstracts and Keywords

All manuscripts must include a page that contains an abstract and keywords.  

Abstract
The abstract should contain a maximum of 250 words and will be reviewed for its suitability as a description and for purposes of document retrieval from reference databases.

Keywords
After the abstract, please supply up to six keywords or brief phrases. The Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms is available via many databases (e.g., EBSCO, PsycINFO, etc.) and provides excellent guidance when selecting terms to maximize discoverability.

4.1 Formatting

APR accepts manuscripts for review in a number of formats, but please note that we cannot use .pdf files for type-setting.  If you provide .pdf files for review, you may be asked to provide source files .docx, .rtf, etc. at a later time.  The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. LaTeX files are also accepted. Word and (La)Tex templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway.

In the interest of reducing the potential for introducing errors, please label all of your files clearly (but do not include author identifying information in the labels).  Please be sure that any table or figure files are labeled with their corresponding table or figure numbers.

4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics

For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines.

Figures supplied in colour will appear in colour online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. For specifically requested colour reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Sage after receipt of your accepted article.

4.3 Supplemental material

APR is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc) alongside the full-text of the article, including on Figshare, the industry leading open repository of research data. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplementary files.

4.4 Reference style

Archive for the Psychology of Religion adheres to the APA reference style. View the APA guidelines to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.

List references in alphabetical order. Each listed reference should be cited in text, and each text citation should be listed in the References section.  Any references listed in supplemental materials must also be listed in the reference list of the main manuscript file

4.5 Academic Writing and English language Editing Services

APR requests that all manuscripts be evaluated by a native English speaker prior to submission.  Authors who feel that their manuscript may benefit from additional academic writing or language editing support prior to submission are encouraged to seek out such services at their host institutions, to engage with colleagues and subject matter experts, or to visit Sage Language Services. Use of such a service is not mandatory for publication in APR. Use of one or more of these services does not guarantee selection for peer review, manuscript acceptance, or preference for publication.

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5. Submitting your manuscript

Before submitting your manuscript, please ensure you carefully read and adhere to all the guidelines and instructions to authors provided below. Manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.

Archive for the Psychology of Religion is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. 

Visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/aprj to login and submit your article online.

IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created.  For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.

5.1 ORCID

As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized. 

The collection of ORCID IDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID ID you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID ID will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID ID is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.

If you do not already have an ORCID ID please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.

5.2 Information required for completing your submission

You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. The affiliation listed in the manuscript should be the institution where the research was conducted. If an author has moved to a new institution since completing the research, the new affiliation can be included in a manuscript note at the end of the paper. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).

5.3 Permissions

Upon final acceptance, authors of accepted papers must obtain and provide to the editorial office any and all necessary permissions to reproduce in print and electronic form any copyrighted work.

On advice of counsel, APR may decline to publish any image whose copyright status is unknown.

For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the Sage Author Gateway.

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6. On acceptance and publication

6.1 Sage Production

Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be made available to the corresponding author via our editing portal Sage Edit or by email, and corrections should be made directly or notified to us promptly. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate. 

6.2 Online First publication

Online First allows final articles (completed and approved articles awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the Sage Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.

6.3 Access to your published article

Sage provides authors with online access to their final article.

6.4 Promoting your article

Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice. 

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7. Further information

Contact information
Kevin L. Ladd, PhD 
Department of Psychology 
Indiana University South Bend

General correspondence may be directed to the Editor's Office:
iaprarchive1@gmail.com