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:

   • • • 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.