Information for Contributors

Psychiatric Services is a peer-reviewed interdisciplinary journal published monthly by the American Psychiatric Association. The journal provides comprehensive coverage of all aspects of psychiatric care, treatment, and service delivery. It has a strong clinical focus but also offers in-depth coverage of administrative, legal, economic, and public policy issues.

The journal gives priority to material that is clearly applicable in everyday clinical and administrative practice or in public policy development. Wherever appropriate, practical implications should be emphasized in such a way that they lend themselves to a highlighted presentation (such as a list or table) when the article is published. Abstracts should be clear, concise, and readable and able to stand on their own as a description of the article.

To enhance readability, authors should use a minimum of jargon and abbreviations. They should use active voice, first person, and short sentences whenever possible. Language should be gender-neutral.

Submission of Manuscripts

General Requirements
Psychiatric Services reviews material for publication on condition that it has not been previously published, including electronic publication, and is not being reviewed for publication elsewhere.

For peer review, all material except tables must be double-spaced, with all margins a minimum of 1.5 inches. All pages should be numbered.

Authors must protect patient anonymity and disguise identifying information.

The journal uses a Web-based manuscript submission and tracking system called ScholarOne Manuscripts. To submit your paper, please visit ScholarOne Manuscripts and either create an account or use your existing account. Then follow the instructions to upload your manuscript. Because the journal’s peer review process is blind, please ensure that the title page of the file you upload does not contain any author information. Check the acknowledgments section and delete any author-identifying information. Do not use running heads with author names.

The tips below will help ensure problem-free submission.

Successfully Uploading Your Manuscript

• Check to see if you have an existing user account on ScholarOne Manuscripts. A user should have only one account, even if he or she has multiple roles (as a previous author, as a reviewer for any of the APA/APP journals, as an editorial board member, or as a contributing editor). Creating a second account when you already have one will delay the submission and review process.
  
  
• Ensure that your manuscript conforms to the word limitations described below. Unless the Editor’s permission is obtained, longer manuscripts will be immediately rejected. For permission, contact the editorial office.
• Submission of literature reviews requires permission from the Editor. For permission, contact the editorial office.
  
  
• Upload only one file for review. The single file should contain a title page, an abstract, text, and references. An uploaded manuscript file without the first four elements may be rejected immediately. Tables and figures should be uploaded as part of the Main Body file. Avoid uploading figures or tables as separate files.
• Upload a blind copy. Omit authors’ names and institutions from the title page and from running heads and acknowledgments. Do not use a filename that contains an author’s name or a portion of a name.
  
  
• Upload an acceptable word-processing file, not a PDF. The types of files that may be uploaded are listed on the ScholarOne Manuscripts Web site. Authors who upload other types of files will be asked to resubmit.
  
  
• Suggested reviewers must have e-mail addresses. During the upload process, you will be required to list the names and e-mail addresses of four peers who can objectively review your paper. The system will block final submission unless the e-mail addresses are entered. For a smoother upload, obtain the e-mail addresses before you begin.



• Disclosure of study support and conflicts of interest. Ensure that the title page lists funding sources and potential conflicts of interest (see Disclosure and Title Page sections below).
  
  
• Check for a confirmation e-mail. Successful submission will immediately generate an e-mail to you that will include a unique manuscript number. If you do not receive an e-mail, return to your author center and be sure that you clicked the final submit button. Use the help line number provided on the Web site if you believe you have submitted correctly and have not received an e-mail.
  
  
• Keep your user account up to date. To ensure that you receive e-mailed communications about your paper, please update your user account, especially if your e-mail address changes. Always click the “Update Information” button to ensure that the changes are saved.

ABSTRACT
All manuscripts should include a structured abstract after the title page with the following information in complete sentences under the headings indicated: Objective: the primary purpose of the article; Methods: data sources, subjects, design, measurements, data analysis; Results: key findings; and Conclusions: implications, future directions. For regular articles, the abstract should not exceed 250 words. For brief reports, the limit is 150 words.

AUTHORSHIP
Only principal researchers or writers should be identified as authors. Persons listed as authors must have made a substantial contribution to the paper (that is, to conception and design or data interpretation, and to drafting, and to final approval) and must be able to take public responsibility for it. By itself, data collection, institutional position, or supervision of the research group does not justify authorship. Other contributors can be named in the acknowledgments. Upon acceptance of the manuscript all authors will be asked to certify authorship.

For each author, enter the primary current affiliation (including specific title and department or agency). A second affiliation may be entered if desired. If an author’s affiliation when he or she did the work described is different from the current affiliation, list it also. The current and former affiliations can be identified as such when the accepted paper is being edited for publication.

COPYRIGHT
On acceptance of a manuscript, Psychiatric Services requires transfer of copyright to the American Psychiatric Association (APA) so that the rights of authors and the association can be protected from the consequences of unauthorized use (for Authorship/Disclosure/Copyright form click.

PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY
Broad access to the research literature and the rights of our authors are important to the American Psychiatric Association, the publisher of Psychiatric Services. Read our public access policy for guidelines on deposit mandates for research funded by NIH and others and institutional repositories.

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DISCLOSURE OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT AND CONFLICTS OF INTEREST OR POTENTIAL CONFLICTS

Policies
Disclosure of financial support and conflicts of interest is required for authors of regular articles, brief reports, columns, editorials, reviews, and letters to the Editor. Conflicts of interest and potential conflicts must be disclosed for the 12-month period preceding acceptance of the manuscript (for examples of sources of bias see Considerations for Disclosure below).

Financial support for the study is always disclosed, whether from governmental, nonprofit, or commercial sources. Grant and award numbers should be included if applicable. Nonfinancial forms of support, such as provision of drugs or equipment, analytic support, or other such assistance, must also be acknowledged.

Authors are responsible for informing the editorial office of any additional financial support or conflicts of interest that may arise prior to the date of publication of their paper.

Procedures for Disclosure

Upon submission. It is the corresponding author’s responsibility to ensure that disclosures are made at the time of submission. Disclosures should be made in a blinded paragraph on the title page of the manuscript. (See Title Page below.)

Upon acceptance. Upon acceptance of a manuscript, all authors are required to complete the Authorship/Disclosure/Copyright form. Part B1 of the form contains three statements on disclosure that each author must certify. Part B2 of the form requires authors to detail all potential sources of bias.

Publication of information. Information disclosed will be reviewed by the Editor. Relevant information will be published in the article. If there is evidence of bias in the conduct of the study, there may be further review and the manuscript may be rejected. Authors are encouraged to contact the Editor at any stage in the manuscript review process if they believe that they have conflicts of interest that require review.

Considerations for Disclosure
Conflicts of interest may be direct (e.g., when the study is funded by a commercial entity) or indirect (e.g., when an author has served on an advisory panel for the commercial entity). Reporting must include all arrangements that may present an appearance of bias in the conduct of the study, interpretation of data, and reporting of findings. Such reporting includes, but is not limited to, institutional or corporate affiliations, paid consultancies, research contracts, speakers’ honoraria, foundation support, stock ownership or other equity interests, patent ownership, royalties, funds for travel, and interests in patents, instruments, and technologies. For income from pharmaceutical companies, the purpose must be specified (e.g., research grant, speakers’ bureau honoraria, etc.).

Psychiatric Services will not make specific determinations as to whether a relationship requires disclosing. If there is a question as to whether a relationship is relevant, disclosure is the preferred course of action.

CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRIES
Authors should be guided by the principles outlined in the American Psychiatric Association’s “ Position Statement on the Publication of Findings from Clinical Trials. ” Research studies should be entered in a public trials registry as appropriate.

STUDY APPROVAL AND INFORMED CONSENT
Manuscripts that report the results of experimental investigation and interviews with human subjects must include a statement that written informed consent was obtained after the procedure(s) had been fully explained. In the case of children, authors are asked to include information about whether the child’s assent was obtained. If your submission does not contain information about written informed consent and Institutional Review Board approval, it will not be reviewed.

TEXT
The text should include four major sections after the introductory paragraphs: Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions. The last paragraph of the introduction should state the purpose of the research. The Methods section should provide a comprehensive description of the sample (including data on sex, age, and race-ethnicity), methods of recruitment, measurement and evaluation techniques (including information about reliability as appropriate), and data analysis (including the name and version of the statistical package used). At the end of the section describing the sample, it should be clearly stated that “After complete description of the study to the participants, written informed consent was obtained.” The issue of institutional review board approval should be addressed even if need for approval was waived. Strengths and weaknesses of the study should be presented in the Discussion. (For additional detail, see the list of guidelines for research reports below.)

TYPES OF ARTICLES
When you submit the manuscript, you will be asked what type of article it is and the word count (excluding abstract, references, and tables).

Regular Articles, Including Research Reports
In general, articles should not exceed 3,000 words excluding abstract, references, and tables, although some exceptions are made by the Editor. Please do not submit articles of more than 3,000 words without first contacting the Editor or Managing Editor at psjournal@psych.org. In your e-mail, please explain why the paper should exceed the word limit. Attach the abstract of the proposed submission or the paper itself.

Research reports must include a structured abstract (maximum 250 words) with the following headings and information, provided in complete sentences: Objective, the study purpose or research question; Methods, including study design, setting, subjects, intervention(s) if any, and main outcome measure(s); Results, the main results of the study; and Conclusions directly supported by the data. For articles not reporting research, include an unstructured abstract of 100 to 150 words.

Research reports should follow these guidelines:

• Use the standard format of an introductory section followed by Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions. The Conclusions section should be separate from the Discussion; all conclusions should be related to the data presented.
  
  
• In the last paragraph of the introduction, state the purpose of the research. (If the purpose is not stated as a research question, it should be translatable into a research question.) Also indicate the type of study design, such as experiment, survey, or retrospective or prospective study.
  
  
• Include data on the sex, age, and race-ethnicity of the study subjects.
  
  
• Include the dates the original data were collected.
  
  
• Indicate whether informed consent and institutional review board approval were obtained, or whether the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki were followed.
  
  
• Preferably in the Methods section, describe the data analysis procedure concisely and in a manner understandable by nonstatisticians.
  
  
• In the Results section, including tables, report only the findings related directly to the research purpose or research question. Omit other data.
  
  
• Report numbers for all percentages and SDs or SEs for all means.
  
  
• When reporting statistically significant results, report test statistic values, degrees of freedom, and probability level (not to exceed p<.001; do not use p=.000) .
  
  

Psychiatric Services welcomes submissions that examine new applications of established clinical or research instruments with populations receiving or providing mental health services. Basic psychometric work on the development of new scales should not be submitted.

The journal considers publication of randomized trials with negative findings if they are accompanied by analysis with adequate statistical power and a discussion of what was learned from the research.

Literature Reviews and Special Articles
Literature reviews and special articles generally are solicited by the Editor and are 4,000 to 7,000 words plus no more than 100 references. Reviews should focus on recent literature. Before submitting a review, please consult the Editor at psjournal@psych.org. In your e-mail, please provide a word count; count only the words in the text, not in the abstract, references, or tables. Attach an abstract for the paper if possible.

Literature reviews must include a structured abstract (maximum 250 words) with the following headings and information: Objective, the primary purpose of the review; Methods, the data sources searched, how studies were selected or excluded, and (if applicable) how data were abstracted; and Results and Conclusions, the main findings or conclusions from the review and their applicability.

Brief Reports
Maximum length is 1,200 words (excluding abstract, references, and table), plus no more than 15 references and one table or figure. Include a structured abstract of 150 words maximum. When reporting research in a brief report, follow the guidelines for research reports, above.

Commentaries
Provocative commentaries of 425 words maximum are invited for Taking Issue. Authors may also submit commentaries of 1,200 to 1,600 words and up to ten references for the Open Forum section. Authors may be asked for source material to support factual statements in opinion pieces.

Letters
Letters should not exceed 500 words and may have a maximum of three authors and five references. Letters reporting results of a study should be uploaded to ScholarOne Manuscripts for peer review. Letters commenting on material published in Psychiatric Services should be sent directly to the Editor (contact information is available here). They must be received within three months of publication of the article to which they refer. Such letters are published at the discretion of the Editor and will be sent to the author for possible reply.

Columns
Material for columns is solicited by the column editors. Authors of possible submissions should contact the column editor directly.

Book Reviews
Books to be considered for review should be sent to the book review editor, Jeffrey L. Geller, M.D., M.P.H., Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 55 Lake Avenue North, Worcester, Massachusetts 01655 (e-mail: Jeffrey.Geller{at}UMassMed.edu ). Potential reviewers should contact Dr. Geller.

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Arranging the Manuscript

TITLE PAGE
Psychiatric Services uses a double-blind review. When submitting your paper online at ScholarOne Manuscripts, do not include author information on the title page (Main Body file) or on any supporting files for peer review. (Author information entered during the submission process is internally linked to the manuscript and is not required in the manuscript itself.)

Title
The title should be informative about the content of the manuscript and as brief as possible (no more than 115 characters, including word spaces).

Acknowledgments
List all financial support received for the study in an Acknowledgments section on the title page. For grants, include the grant number and the full name of the granting agency. Because the journal uses a blind review process, no author’s name or initials should be listed in this section. (Names of principal investigators or awardees can be added when the manuscript is being edited for publication.) Acknowledgment of individuals is limited to those who contributed to the paper’s intellectual or technical content. The journal discourages acknowledgment of anonymous groups (e.g., “staff of the mental health center,” “participants in this study”). If the paper was presented at a meeting in the last three years, give the meeting name, city and state, and full meeting dates.

Disclosures of Conflicts of Interest
As described above it is the corresponding author’s responsibility to disclose for each author commercial or financial involvements within the past 12 months that may present an appearance of bias. Upon submission of the manuscript, such information is listed in a blinded paragraph on the title page formatted as follows. Note that if there are no interests to disclose, that should be stated:

“Disclosure of Interests: Dr. XX: speaker’s honorarium [with name of company]; Dr. XX: stock ownership [with name of company]. The remaining authors have no interests to disclose.”

or

“Disclosures: None for any author”

TABLES AND FIGURES
For regular articles, include no more than five tables. Include tables only when they present relevant numerical data more clearly than could be done in text; data in short tables often can be incorporated more concisely in text. Authors will be asked to delete extraneous tables. Follow the table formats used in recent issues of the journal. Specify all units of measure clearly. Tables will be edited to conform to journal style. Tables should appear at the end of the uploaded file. Do not submit them in a separate file.

Figures are published only when they contain essential information that cannot be adequately presented in text or tables. Most figures without data, especially flow charts, are judged nonessential. (Also see Supplemental Data below.)

Figures accepted for publication must be clear, uncluttered, and two-dimensional. Color should not be used. To facilitate peer review, upload the figure as part of the Main Body file if possible. If more than one figure must be uploaded separately, use a single file if possible.

Psychiatric Services discourages the use of previously published tables or figures. Authors who use such material must obtain written permission for reprinting from the copyright owner and include it when they submit the paper.

Checklists and forms generally are not published. A note that such material is available from the author may be included in the paper. (Also see Supplemental Data below.)

REFERENCES
Limit references to relevant published material cited in the text, including all but widely known tests and scales. Comprehensive literature reviews are rarely necessary.

Only material that has been published, accepted for publication, or presented at a major national meeting is included in the reference list. Citations of material in press must include journal or publisher name. (If unpublished material is cited, note the source and year in parentheses in the text of the paper. Citation of unpublished material should be kept to a minimum.)

Double-space all references. Arrange and number them in order of appearance in text, not alphabetically. (Do not use the name-and-date style of citation in the text.)

In the reference list, name all authors and editors through the third; if there are more than three, list the first three, followed by et al. Spell out journal names; do not underline or use italic or boldface. Follow Psychiatric Services style for reference punctuation.

Journal Articles
Include authors, title, full journal name, volume number, first and last pages, and year.

Example:
Wenzlow AT, Ireys HT, Mann B, et al: Effects of a discharge planning program on Medicaid coverage of state prisoners with serious mental illness. Psychiatric Services 62:73–78, 2011

Books or Monographs
Include authors or editors, book title (not underlined), volume or edition (for federal government publications, any series designation), city, publisher, year, and, if pertinent, page numbers of the material cited.

Example:
Riba MB, Ravindranath D (eds): Clinical Manual of Emergency Psychiatry. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Publishing, 2010

Chapters in Books
Include chapter authors, chapter title, book title (not underlined), volume or edition, book editors, city, publisher, and year.

Example:
Simon RI: Clinically-based risk management of potentially violent patients; in Textbook of Violence Assessment and Management. Edited by Simon RI, Tardiff K. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Publishing, 2008

Legal Proceedings
Follow The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, by the Harvard Law Review Association.

SUPPLEMENTAL DATA
Psychiatric Services allows authors to submit supplemental data to be posted in online form in support of printed articles. To be accepted for posting, supplemental material must be essential to the scientific integrity and excellence of the manuscript. The material is subject to the same editorial standards as the printed journal and will be peer reviewed. The Editor may select material submitted for publication in the print version to be posted online only. For material posted online, a sentence is added to the text referring readers to the journal’s Web site.

To facilitate review, supplemental material should be clearly labeled Appendix or Online Supplement and included at the end of the Main Body file on upload. For certain types of files, this may not be possible, and files should be uploaded separately as described below. Color is permitted in all supplemental files.

Types of supplemental data include:

• Detailed tables that contain data of use to other investigators. Data should be summarized in the text of the print version.
  
  
• The CONSORT figure for clinical trials is also appropriate for online publication only.
  
  
• Figures that illustrate data from the study in alternative formats.
  
  
• Extended or annotated bibliographies.
  
  
• Appendices. Questionnaires, tests, checklists, etc., should be submitted as supplemental data.
  
  

For supplemental material that cannot be uploaded in the Main Body file, the following formats can be accepted:

• Plain Text (.txt)
  
  
• HTML Page (.html)
  
  
• JPEG Image (.jpg)
  
  
• GIF Image (.gif)
  
  
• Adobe PDF (.pdf)
  
  
• Excel Spreadsheet (.xls)
  
  
• ZIP Compressed File (.zip)
  
  
• Word Document (.docx)
  
  
• Tiff Image (.tif)
  
  
• PowerPoint (.ppt)
  
  
• Encapsulated Postscript (.eps)
  
  
• Mp3 (.mp3)
  
  
• QuickTime Video
  
  

If your document type is not listed here, please contact the editorial office.

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Review Process

Manuscripts submitted for publication (including invited papers) are sent for blind review to at least three independent reviewers. Separate statistical review is obtained when a reviewer requests it. The final decision is the Editor’s. Authors are usually notified of a decision within three months, although some delays are unavoidable.

REVISED MANUSCRIPTS
Authors may be asked whether they wish to make suggested revisions in a paper and resubmit it. If substantial revisions are requested, the paper will be sent again for outside review. Every effort will be made to expedite such review.

Revised manuscripts must conform to the general requirements listed above, including minimum 1.5-inch margins, full double-spacing, and word count. They are submitted online via ScholarOne Manuscripts.

Processing of Manuscripts

Manuscripts (including revised manuscripts) are accepted with the understanding that they will be edited for clarity, elimination of redundancy, and conformity with Psychiatric Services style. Generally, manuscripts are edited for publication within three to six months from the date of acceptance.

The corresponding author receives an electronic file of the edited paper for approval before publication. He or she will be asked to check the edited version carefully to make sure the editing did not introduce any inaccuracies and to make any necessary changes, answer editorial queries, and contact the editorial office by a specified date. After the paper is typeset, galley proofs are sent electronically to the author.

All authors of a paper receive one complimentary copy of the issue, which are mailed to the corresponding author.

Indexes and Databases

Psychiatric Services is covered in Index Medicus, MEDLINE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Current Contents, Excerpta Medica, HealthSTAR, Psychological Abstracts, PsycINFO, Social Science Citation Index, and other indexes and databases. The journal is available online to subscribers at ps.psychiatryonline.org. The journal publishes an annual author index each December.

Reprints & Permissions
Contact the Journal Editorial Office

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