About the Journal

Focus and Scope

Quaderns de Psicología. International Journal of Psychology publishes original articles of an empirical nature, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and theoretical contributions or essays, with a preference for those discussing novel and controversial approaches aimed at expanding our understanding of psychological phenomena. All works addressing these topics from a variety of approaches and methods, both quantitative and qualitative, are welcome. Additionally, book reviews are published. Three issues are published each year in April, August, and December.

Peer Review Process

Quaderns de Psicologia. International Journal of Psychology is a peer-reviewed journal. All articles will be sent to at least two independent reviewers (external to the journal) who are specialists in the thematic area of the proposed article. A single rigorously argued negative opinion from a reviewer will be sufficient for the journal to decide not to accept the article. Authors may suggest the names of three potential reviewers for their work. This does not obligate the Editorial Committee to accept the proposal and, in any case, will not compromise the blind review process. For each proposed reviewer, their full name, email address, and institutional affiliation, as well as some justification for their proposal, must be provided. The accumulated list of ad hoc external reviewers will be updated annually.

Editorial production

Once the articles are accepted, a “final version” will be required, in which formal changes to the de-anonymized article will be requested regarding metadata, the presentation of tables and figures, adherence to citation and reference guidelines, among other aspects. This final version must include funding agencies and project codes within the article itself.

Accepted articles will be sent for proof correction to review layout errors or obvious typos, where no writing improvements or substantial changes may be made.

Open Access Policy

 This journal provides immediate free access to its content under the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. Users are allowed to read, download, distribute, print, search, partially reproduce, or link to the texts without prior permission from the publisher or the author. From vol. 17 num. 1 (2015), the journal is subject to a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License.

Editorial Policy

 Quaderns de Psicología. International Journal of Psychology aims to remain a high-quality, generalist psychology journal. To this end, it will prioritize works with the following characteristics:

  • Articles presenting theoretically oriented empirical research results.
  • Articles, empirical or theoretical, that address topics of interest to researchers from more than one specialty or area of psychology, or that address topics or problems involving different specialties or areas of psychology.
  • Articles related to new areas, new theories, or new methodologies; or that represent extensions or integrations of existing ones.
  • Systematic reviews or meta-analyses that evaluate work within a specific area of psychology and present proposals for future research.
  • Brief reports that include research results or theoretical contributions, short reviews on an emerging topic, case reports with significant contributions, or methodological notes describing new techniques or approaches.
  • Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary articles where the contribution of psychological theories or practice is evident.

Invited Articles

Invited articles should present the implementation or update of a significant theory or an important new finding. Their main characteristic, however, is that these articles should provoke debate and therefore, along with the article, comments made by well-known experts may be published. Anyone interested in writing such an article should contact the editor to explain their motivation. If the editor extends the invitation, the article will be reviewed in the usual "double-blind" manner. These articles should be approximately 7000 words in length, and any accompanying comments around 1000 words. Comments may appear in the same issue or in subsequent issues. Between 1 and 2 articles of this type may be published per year.

Thematic Issues

 All articles in an issue, or a part of them, may be organized around a special topic. The works can be promoted by any researcher or directly by the Editorial Committee. An Associate Editor of the journal will be responsible for the process and the articles will be evaluated in the usual manner. When several thematic articles are accepted for publication, they will appear as a special topic and include a brief editorial introduction or, if applicable, a commentary. A distinction will be made between a "Monographic Issue," when all the articles in an issue are thematic, and a "Folder," when only a part of them have this characteristic. In this case, they will be indicated in the table of contents.

Book Reviews

These will consist of a critique of a book on any field of Psychology. Reviews will be solicited by invitation; if an author submits a review on their own initiative, it will be subject to review.

Internationalization

Quaderns de Psicologia. International Journal of Psychology is an international journal that seeks to publish research conducted in different cultural contexts and aims for an audience of readers worldwide. To this end, it publishes works in different languages (see the journal's language policy). Thus, it invites authors from around the world to submit articles or propose thematic issues.

Submission, Evaluation, and Withdrawal of Articles

The receipt of an article will be confirmed immediately with an ID number that can be used to track the editorial process. The first editorial decision will be to send the article for review or reject it, and this will be done primarily within the first 10 days following its receipt. The second editorial decision to accept, reject, or request further revisions will be made within 180 days of receipt. Final acceptance may also depend on the suggestions and modifications requested by the Editorial Committee and will depend on the necessary revisions in successive rounds. If within three months the journal does not find reviewers for an article, or if six months have passed without obtaining the two required reviews, the article will be definitively archived to facilitate its submission to another journal. If only one review is obtained within six months, an editorial decision may be made based on that single review if it is duly justified.

Communication with authors

Communication with authors (acknowledgment of receipt, notification of acceptance, inquiries, etc.) will be conducted through the journal's OJS system. For any other inquiries, please contact the following email address: jordi.fernandez@uab.cat

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

You can consult the policy on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in articles at this link.

Ethical Statement on Publication and Good Practices

The Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) is committed to promoting ethical conduct in the publication of its scientific journals (http://revistes.uab.cat/web/) and takes as a reference the principles published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) in the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors (http://publicationethics.org). To achieve this, the UAB considers it essential that all parties involved in the editing process of its scientific journals—editors, reviewers, and authors—know and accept the principles outlined in this code, which essentially are as follows:

Editorial Commits to:

  • Defining the relationship between the publisher, editor, and other parties with a contract.
  • Promoting editorial independence.
  • Respecting privacy.
  • Protecting intellectual property.
  • Maintaining the integrity of published content.
  • Publishing content punctually.

Journal Management

  • Decision on the publication of works: editors, after consulting the editorial board, are responsible for the decision to publish or not the articles that reach the editorial office, once the opinions of two external reviewers have been received and, in case of significant discrepancies between the two, a third reviewer or a duly justified review if a second has not been obtained. They commit to following the same criteria to accept or reject all articles based on their originality, relevance, and clarity. Editors will offer mechanisms to appeal editorial decisions before the editorial board. Likewise, they will offer complete and updated guidelines on the responsibilities of authors and the characteristics of the works submitted to the journal.
  • Non-discrimination: editors will examine the proposed articles without considering the race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnic origin, country of origin or citizenship, or political orientation of the authors.
  • Confidentiality: editors and other staff related to the journal commit not to disclose information about the received articles to anyone other than the author and reviewers. They also guarantee that the process will be conducted in a way that preserves the anonymity of reviewers and authors in all cases.
  • Conflict of interest and disclosure: editors commit not to use the results of the received articles for their own research without the explicit consent of the author.
  • Error recognition: editors will publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies if necessary.
  • Quality: the opinion of authors, reviewers, and the editorial board will be sought to improve the editorial process.

Authors

  • Authorship of the text: The proposed article must be signed by its author and, if applicable, by any other person who has significantly contributed to the planning, organization, preparation, or processing of the research underlying the article. In the case of co-authorship, the submitting author must explicitly declare that the names of all authors appear in the work and that they have given their approval and consent to the final version of the article to be published in a UAB journal. It is necessary to follow the guidelines of the American Psychological Association (APA) 7th edition style manual.
  • Responsibility: The authors are responsible for the entire content of their manuscript.
  • Plagiarism and originality: By submitting, the authors declare that the work submitted to the journal is original in all its parts and ensure that all sources used are correctly cited.
  • Access and preservation of data: The authors of the articles must clarify, at the request of the editors, the sources or data on which the research is based; these data will be preserved for a reasonable period after publication and may be disclosed if necessary.
  • Multiple, repetitive, or conflicting publications: The author will not publish articles that present the same content in more than one journal simultaneously.
  • Conflict of interest and disclosure: The authors explicitly declare that there is no conflict of interest that has influenced the results of the research, or the interpretations proposed. They will also indicate the sources of funding for the research, if applicable, as well as the project in which the article is framed.
  • Errors in published articles: If an author identifies a significant error or inaccuracy in a published article, they must inform the journal editors and provide all necessary information for the appropriate corrections to be made.

Reviewers

  • Expert review: A double-blind review system is adopted, a procedure that helps the editors and the editorial board make decisions about the articles received in the journal's editorial office and at the same time allows the author to improve their work.
  • Respect for deadlines: Once an article has been accepted for review, reviewers will respect the established deadlines; if they cannot meet them, they must inform the editors in advance. In such a situation, the editorial committee will consider the justification for up to three extensions of the review period, not exceeding a total of 3 months from the initial submission of the manuscript.
  • Confidentiality: Articles submitted for review are considered confidential documents and, therefore, reviewers may not discuss them with third parties without the editors' permission.
  • Objectivity: The review will be carried out objectively. Personal judgments about the author are not considered appropriate, and reviewers will argue their opinions about the work appropriately and justified.
  • Bibliographic indications: Reviewers commit to providing accurate bibliographic data of important works for the article's topic that the author may have omitted. Likewise, if applicable, reviewers will inform the editors of similarities or overlaps of the received text with other works.
  • Conflict of interest and disclosure: Any confidential information obtained during the review process will be considered confidential and may not be used for personal purposes. If the review of an article poses a conflict of interest for the reviewer due to collaborative or competitive relationships with the author or the institution from which they come, the reviewer will reject the review proposal.

Publication frequency

Since 2015, Quaderns de Psicologia: International Journal of Psychology has been published three times a year, appearing in April, August, and December.

Publication fees

Since the publication costs of the journal Quaderns de Psicologia are covered by the internal budgets of the publishing university (UAB), authors do not have to pay any fees for the article's edition (article-processing charges, APC). Therefore, the journal does not have any policy for subsidizing articles (waivers).

Repository

Authors are permitted to deposit the published version of the article. Check Open Policy Finder

Digital preservation

To guarantee the preservation of all content, daily backups are made. In turn, all content is archived in PKP-PN (LOCKSS) and in the institutional repository of the UAB.

Accessibility statement

The structure and aesthetics of the journal (hereinafter "theme") is a variation of the default OJS theme for version 3.3. This variation was carried out by the UAB Publications Service and introduces changes that are respectful of the WCAG accessibility standards, so that the same results of the audit carried out on the default theme of OJS 3.3 are applicable.

Ownership registration

The scientific journal Quaderns de Psicologia is the exclusive property of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (hereinafter, UAB), by virtue of the provisions of Spanish legislation on intellectual and industrial property. Any use of the header (name, graphic design, logo, and associated identifying elements) without the express authorization of the UAB is prohibited.

Governance

The editorial direction of Quaderns de Psicologia is appointed by the Dean's Office of the Faculty of Psychology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

The editor-in-chief selects the editorial team, taking into account the need to cover areas of expertise in the field of psychology and to maintain the international character of the journal. Submitted articles are assigned to different members of the editorial team, who have the authority to send them for review and to decide on their publication.

Interoperability protocol

The content published in this journal is also available through the OAI-PHM 2.0 protocol (Open Archives Initiative – Protocol for Metadata Harvesting). You can consult the available formats at the following link.

The route for harvesters is: https://quadernsdepsicologia.cat/oai

The metadata of the contents of this journal are offered under a CC0 license.

Sponsors

Faculty of Psychology

Autonomous University of Barcelona