Author Guidelines

Article Types

To review the types of articles we accept and the focus of the journal, please visit our Aims and Scope page.

Manuscript Submission

This journal follows a double-masked reviewing procedure. Authors are therefore requested to submit:

1. A cover letter that includes (a) a statement that the article, review, or information contained in the submission has not been published elsewhere and is not currently being considered for publication; (b) a statement that all ethical guidelines were followed as required for conducting human research; (c) a statement that indicates coauthors listed in the byline have agreed to the byline order and to submission of the manuscript its current form; (d) a statement that the corresponding author will keep coauthors informed of progress through the editorial review process, the content of the reviews, and any revisions made; and, (e) a statement that the corresponding author understands that, if accepted for publication, a certification of authorship form will be required that all coauthors will sign and return, prior to publication.

2. A de-identified line-numbered manuscript without any author names and affiliations in the text or on the title page. Self-identifying citations and references in the article text should be avoided. Please see Manuscript Preparation for details.

3. A complete manuscript with author information, including (a) a title page, containing title, all author names, affiliations, and the contact information of the corresponding author - any acknowledgments, disclosures, or funding information should also be included on this page; and (b) author bios at the end of the manuscript. This version should not have any line numbers.

Manuscripts that do not follow the Manuscript Preparation guidelines will be returned to the corresponding author for correction, prior to peer review. Submission of a manuscript implies: that the work described has not been published before; that it is not under consideration for publication anywhere else; that its publication has been approved by all co-authors, if any, as well as by the responsible authorities – tacitly or explicitly – at the institute where the work has been carried out.

Research Involving Human Subjects: Authors must follow national and international procedures that govern the ethics of experimentation on humans. Research reported in the paper must be conducted in an ethical and responsible manner, in full compliance with all relevant codes of experimentation and legislation. All papers which report in vivo experiments or studies using human subjects must include a written statement in the Methods section that such work was conducted with the formal approval of their institutional human subjects review board.

Peer review process: All contributions will be initially assessed by the editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable will be sent to a minimum of three independent expert reviewers to assess the quality of the paper. Both the reviewers and the author(s) will remain anonymous. Therefore, the authors should take care to avoid language that could identify themselves as the authors. Authors should redact their names when citing and referencing their own work, and should take care not to use phrases that identify themselves as the author (e.g., “Previously Author (masked for review) examined…”). The Editor will report the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles to the author. Please allow for an average of three (3) months for the review process. Manuscripts accepted for final publication may be edited for correctness and consistency of grammar, spelling, and punctuation. In some cases, portions of manuscripts are edited for conciseness and clarity of expression. Changes at this stage are limited to correcting inaccuracies and typographical errors. Edited manuscripts are sent to the first author. Authors must bear responsibility for the accuracy of references, tables, and figures. 

Policy on multiple, redundant, or duplicate publication and text recycling, data mining, and concurrent publication: SPTP will only accept original, previously unpublished manuscripts that are not being concurrently considered for publication elsewhere. We will not accept manuscripts describing research articles that have been published elsewhere. This includes:

• expanded or detailed descriptions of methodology, samples, treatments, interventions, assessments, data of previously published content

• similar overall communicated content

• greater than 30% overlap describing previous research, results, and/or recommendations, 

• lack of new contributing data and data analyses

SPTP does not view an academic thesis/dissertation as a prior publication.

Manuscript Preparation

When submitting manuscripts for consideration in SPTP please use the following guidelines:  

1. Length: Manuscripts should strive to be clear and concise; no more than 50 pages in length (inclusive of tables, figures, and references) is recommended, although the length may vary with the importance of the article.

2. Format: Review APA's Journal Manuscript Preparation Guidelines before submitting your article. Manuscripts must have 1-inch margins and be double spaced, size 12, Times New Roman font,

3. Title Page:  A title page file, separate from the manuscript file, must be included. The title page should include:

   • 1. • A concise and informative title

        • each author's name, university/professional affiliation, and email address

        • the email, mailing address, and telephone number of the corresponding author

        • a brief biography for each author, listing accreditation, current affiliation(s), and current research interests.

        • If available, the 16-digit ORCID of the author(s)

Do not identify the authors in the manuscript text or footnotes.

4. Abstract and Keywords: Please provide an abstract of 150 to 250 words. The abstract should not contain any undefined abbreviations or unspecified references. After the abstract, please supply three to five keywords for indexing purposes.

5. Implications for Training: All submitted manuscript MUST contain a section titled : “Implication for Trainers of School Psychologists” or “Recommendations for Trainers of School Psychologists “or “Implications for School Psychology Training Programs” or “Recommendations for School Psychology Training Programs” that provides clearly articulated implications or recommendations pertinent to the training of school psychologists. Manuscripts lacking this section will not be sent out for review and will be returned to the author(s).

6. Tables and Figures: All tables/figures should appear after the Reference section. Approximate table/figure location within text should be indicated by the author as follows: <insert table 1. here> . Authors bear responsibility for the accuracy of tables and figures.

7. Text: Manuscripts should be prepared according to the 7th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association and follow APA Style and Grammar Guidelines. All manuscripts must:

   • include a title

   • include a running head (limit 50 characters)

   • use a normal, plain font (e.g., 12-point Times Roman) for text

   • use the automatic page numbering function to number the pages

   • not use field functions

   • use tab stops or other commands for indents, not the space bar

   • use table function, not spreadsheets, to make tables

   • Use the equation editor or MathType for equations.

   • Save your file in docx format.

8. Headings: Please use no more than four levels of displayed headings.

9. Acknowledgments: Acknowledgments of people, grants, funds, etc. should be placed in a separate section on the title page. The names of funding organizations should be written in full. Financial conflicts of interest must be disclosed.

10. Citations and Reference list: Citations and references are styled according to the 7th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. References should be typed double-spaced, in alphabetical order starting on a separate page following the manuscript. References should refer only to material listed within the text. Authors should review for accuracy and completeness and verify references before manuscripts are submitted for consideration. Material that is not retrievable, such as papers presented at meetings and symposia, unpublished works, personal communications, and reports available from the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), should be limited to material absolutely essential to the article. Quotations 300 or more words in length require the written permission of the copyright holder for reproduction.

Special Issue Guidelines

Special issues should align closely with the mission of Trainers of School Psychologists (TSP) by advancing scholarly “innovation and excellence in graduate training programs for specialist and doctoral school psychologists.” Articles published in special issues may be either data-driven or conceptual; however, they must not solely comprise overviews of contributors’ previous work and should be written to the same standards of quality and significance as articles published in general issues. There are two mechanisms for generating special issues:

• Invited Special Issues are initiated by the Senior Editorial Board based upon topics identified as timely and relevant to the readership of SPTP. In this case, a member of the Senior Editorial Board will identify a Guest Editor(s) with expertise in the selected topic and invite him/her to submit a special issue proposal.

• Unsolicited Special Issues are initiated by prospective Guest Editors based upon a topic deemed relevant to the readership of SPTP. Individuals interested in guest editing a special issue of SPTP are encouraged to contact the Editor prior to submitting a proposal. 

Special Issue proposals must be reviewed and approved by the Editors before papers are solicited or submitted. 

Proposals should be submitted via the SPTP proposal form. All proposal should include the following information: 

• Title of the Special Issue

• Proposed Guest Editor(s), their titles, affiliations, and contact information. Usually no more than three guest editors will be identified per special issue 

• A statement of the significance of the Special Issue topic to the readership of SPTP, and the alignment of the topic with the mission of TSP 

• Proposed topic areas and types of contributions

  • List of potential topics for articles to be solicited

  • Populations that will be addressed

  • Types of contributions that will be considered

• Timetable for completion and publication of the special issue 

General Information

• Length: Four to six articles comprise a Special Issue. Proposals may include 8-10 potential topics or contributors, to allow for rejections or withdrawals.

• Timetable: Authors should work closely with the Editorial Liaison to identify and adhere to a workable timetable. When the Special Issue is accepted, the Guest Editor(s) will be informed of the tentative publication date for the Issue. Typically, from the acceptance of the Special Issue to publication will be no more than one year. As SPTP is currently published twice annually, it is particularly important that submissions, reviews, and revisions are completed in a timely manner. 

Special Issue Development and Review

1. The Senior Editorial Board will consider whether the initial proposal is of interest to the readership of SPTP and will inform the proposed Guest Editor(s) whether or not the proposal will be accepted as submitted, accepted with revision, or not accepted. It should be noted that the Editor can reject individual manuscripts or, in consultation with the Senior Editorial Board, the Special Issue as a whole, if it does not meet quality and significance standards. If fewer articles than anticipated are accepted, the Senior Editorial Board may opt to publish a partial special issue or group of articles with or without an introductory article.

2. Once a Special Issue proposal is accepted, one member of the Senior Editorial Board will be assigned to work with the Guest Editor(s) as an Editorial Liaison to facilitate the solicitation, review, revision, and publication of articles in the Special Issue.

3. Guest Editors are responsible for distributing a call for papers, soliciting and identifying articles to be included in the special issue, and working with prospective contributors to ensure submissions meet the standards of quality and significance appropriate to publication in SPTP. Guest Editors should clearly communicate to prospective authors that submission of a manuscript does not guarantee acceptance for publication.

4. The Guest Editor will submit a list of names of possible peer-reviewers to the Editor. Guest Editors should submit two (2) reviewer names per issue article. No recommended reviewers may be a current author of a manuscript being submitted to the Special Issue.

5. Submissions for the Special Issue should be submitted directly to the Guest Editor(s) who will determine if manuscripts are suitable for, and within the scope of, the Special Issue. The Editorial Liaison is available for consultation if there is uncertainty regarding the most appropriate course of action. The Guest Editor(s) will also make sure the submissions have met all the Manuscript Preparation guidelines

   1. • Manuscripts selected for inclusion in the Special Issue by the Guest Editor(s) will be forwarded to the Editor of the SPTP to be sent out for a double-masked peer review.

      • Manuscripts not selected for further review by the Guest Editor(s) will be returned to the author. The Guest Editor may elect to notify the manuscript author(s) that they may choose to forward their manuscript to the Senior Editorial Board for consideration in a future general issue of SPTP.

      • Double-masked peer reviews will be completed using the same procedure as manuscripts submitted for general issues. However, given that the purpose of the Special Issue, double-masked review is only to ensure a manuscript meets the publication quality standards of SPTP; therefore, reviewers will not be asked for a publication recommendation (i.e., accept/reject). The Editor will forward manuscript reviewer feedback to the Guest Editor(s) after removing all identifiable reviewer information. The Guest Editor(s) will forward the reviewer feedback – verbatim – to the manuscript author(s) for revision. Manuscript revisions will be returned to the Guest Editor(s) who will forward the revision to the Editor; the Editor will send the revised manuscript to the reviewers for comment and then communicate their response to the Guest Editor(s). The Guest Editor will consider the reviewer remarks and communicate to the Special Issues Editor and the Editor whether the manuscript is ready for publication or if it needs further revision. If deemed ready, the Special Issues Editor and the Editor will conduct a final review of the manuscript. The purpose of that review will be twofold: (a) to check for heading format continuity and (b) ensure the section on “implications for school psychologists” has strong, well-articulated, specific, feasible implications that can be implemented by those who train school psychologists at all levels of training. If the Special Issues Editor and the Editor feel the implications/recommendations are weak, too broad, too generic, or too impractical, they will notify the Guest Editor(s) who will ask the author(s) to revise this section.

      • If a Guest Editor, or one of the Special Issues Guest Editors, authors a manuscript for inclusion in the Special Issue, the Editor of the SPTP will conduct the double-masked review process, communicate reviewer feedback, monitor the revision process, and determine whether the manuscript is ready for publication as noted above. If the Guest Editor(s) disagrees with the decision of the Editor, an appeal to the full Senior Editorial Board may be made at any time.

6. As manuscripts are accepted for inclusion in the Special Issue, the Guest Editors are responsible for preparing an original introductory article that provides the context and rationale for the Special Issue and references the articles included in the Special Issue. The introductory article should be submitted within two weeks of acceptance of the final article in the Special Issue. Review and feedback on the introductory article will be provided by the Senior Editorial Board