Aims and Scope

Salford Psych is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes high-quality research by undergraduate and postgraduate students across all psychology programmes at the University of Salford and partner universities where Salford Psychology programmes are delivered, such as the British University of Bahrain. The journal specialises in publishing original research reports adapted from students’ submitted dissertations. Other publications such as editorials and reviews can be submitted with prior permission from the editors.

The journal attracts a broad range of high-quality student submissions that make valuable contributions to psychology. All empirical work should meet the standards of the BPS Code of Research Ethics. Reports should be written in an accessible way and of interest to a general audience.

Instructions for authors (students and graduates)

You must have submitted and been awarded a passing grade for your dissertation (undergraduate or masters). After this, you can contact your dissertation supervisor for support with preparing a submission to Salford Psych based on your dissertation. See below for specific guidelines such as word limits and formatting. Your supervisor should be able to provide feedback on your dissertation so that you can edit the document and make any necessary improvements prior to submission. Your supervisor should approve the final manuscript before you submit it to the journal. Your supervisor will be named as a co-author of the paper (unless they prefer not to). If your supervisor is not available but you still want to submit your work, please contact the editors.

Instructions for supervisors

The supervisor’s role is to advise your dissertation student on how to improve their work so that it meets the standards of the journal. As a general rule, a dissertation with a first-class grade is probably close to being ready for submission and may just need to be shorter (see Word limits below) and have some other minor changes. A dissertation with an upper second-class grade may need more major changes, and a dissertation with a lower second-class or third-class grade may need substantial changes. Dissertations must have received a passing grade to be eligible for this journal. As the supervisor your role is a cross between collaborator and peer reviewer, and you will be named as a co-author on the paper (unless you prefer not to be).

Please complete the following supervisors’ checklist before you approve your student’s submission:

Background presented is enough to justify the study
Hypothesis / research question is clearly articulated
You have no concerns about the data and its origin (e.g. you do not suspect the data has been falsified)
The analysis is appropriate for the research question
The analysis has been performed to a satisfactory standard
The results are presented accurately
The discussion is appropriate to the study without overstating findings or making inappropriate claims (this includes an appropriate limitations section and appropriate conclusion)
The references are accurate, and all cited papers exist
The length of the work is justified by its content and fits the Salford Psych word limits
You are happy to be named as a co-author / prefer to be named in acknowledgements

If there are issues with any of the above, please provide the student with guidance on how the issues can be corrected, or if you feel the paper is not appropriate for publication.

Word limits

The word limit for single-study quantitative reports is 5,000 words and for qualitative reports is 7,000 words. If you would like to publish a multi-study report or would like to request a longer word limit, please contact the editors.

Manuscript preparation

All submissions should be prepared according to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition (2020).

Please submit a single document containing the following:

A short informative title which illustrates the study design, key variables or constructs, and population
The full names of the author(s)
An abstract of no more than 250 words which covers the background and rationale, methods, results, and conclusions
Up to five keywords (or key phrases) separated by semicolons
The main body of your report including an introduction, methods, results, discussion, and references.
If you want to include acknowledgments, these should be brief and placed after the discussion and before the references
Tables and figures can be placed in the body of the text with appropriate headings in APA style
You can provide appendices in a separate document if necessary. You do not need to include ethics documents such as consent forms or evidence of ethical approval. Just include an ethics statement in the methods section including that the study was given a favourable opinion by the ethics committee.

Submission and deadlines

Salford Psych does not have submission deadlines. Authors can submit by email to editors-salfordpsych@salford.ac.uk at any time.