Submissions

Author Guidelines

Author guidelines for the preparation of manuscripts

Thank you for considering to submit your manuscript to PRECS. PRECS is an open access working paper series publishing original research of early career scientists (e.g. undergraduate, or graduate students) in psychology and related fields. Papers in PRECS do not undergo a formal peer review process, but must pass through a handling editor review (see below). Please read and follow these guidelines as closely as possible before submitting your manuscript. They ensure that your paper matches the journal’s requirements for publication.

Article types

PRECS publishes the following article types:

• Original Research Articles: These articles report studies that are empirical in nature. They follow the structure: abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion (see below).
• Review Articles. These articles should focus on a specific question, summarize the available literature and provide a new perspective on the topic.
• Letter to the Editor. This is a respone to a previously published article in PRECS. They are open format and typically restricted to one or two pages.

Handling editor review

After your paper has been submitted, it will be checked for format and content suitability by the editorial board. Should there be omissions or issues with format or content, the paper could be sent back to the authors for revision. This process is however not a formal peer review.

Ethical considerations

Studies published in PRECS should be approved by an institutional review board and be performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki prior to performing the research. Please explicitly state this in the methods section. Certification of such approval may be requested. Studies without ethical approval will not be published.

Structure of original research articles 

Please structure your manuscript for original research articles as follows (please also refer to the template):

• Title page
  • Title: stating the main focus/outcome of the study
  • Author names: first, (middle) and last name of the authors
  • Affiliations: a list of affiliations of all the authors (department, university, city, country)
  • Corresponding author: correspondence details (name and email address)
• Abstract (limited to 250 words)
  • printed on a single page with a maximum of six keywords
  • should give an overall idea of what was done, what was was found and what are the main conclusions
  • contains the rationale of the study, the methods used, the main result, the interpretation of the results and implications for the field
  • abbreviations should be definded at first use
• Introduction (limited to 1500 words)
  • state the backgroud and the purpose of your study including your hypotheses
  • abbreviations should be definded at first use (even if they have already been introduced in the abstract)
• Methods
  • Describe the design, the methods, and the procedures detailed enough to allow a replication of the study
  • Describe the statistical methods detailed enough to allow the verification of the results with the original data
  • Please confirm that the subjects gave written consent
  • Please confirm that the study was approved by an institutional review board and was performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki
• Results
  • Please present your results precisely
  • Report statistical values rounded to the second decimal place (exception: p values should be reported to the third decimal place)
• Discussion (limited to 3000 words)
  • state the main findings of the study and discuss them with reference to other relevant findings in the field
  • discuss limitations and strength of your approach
  • highlight implications of the findings for future research
  • abbreviations should be definded at first use (even if they have already been introduced in the abstract and the main text)
• Acknowledgments
• Declaration of interest statement
  • e.g. any financial interest
  • if not relevant, state „The authors report no conflicts of interest.“
• References
  • Alphabetically listed by last name of first author
  • including Digital Object Identifier (DOI) numbers is recommended
  • the format of the citations should adhere to the latest APA style

• Appendices and/or supplemental material
  • we encourage the supply of original datasets and statistical analysis scripts either as supplemental material, or on a open repository.

Figures and Tables

Figures and tables should be integrated directly into the text at high quality. They should be interpretable independent of the full text, thus, please define abbreviations at first use (even if they have already been introduced in the abstract, the main text, or the discussion).

Format

Manuscripts should be submitted in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, or Latex format. We accept submissions of manuscripts in open format.

Language

PRECS publishes articles in English. Manuscripts failing to meet standards for proficiency of written English will not be considered for publication.

Platinum open access

PRECS articles are free to publish and free to read. PRECS is and will not charge fees for publication or readership.