Practice in Clinical Psychology
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Author Guidlines

Author Guideline

 | Post date: 2024/06/26 | 

Authors Guidelines

The Journal of "Practice in Clinical Psychology" is a peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary journal. It is a scientific platform for all scholars engaged in the use of physical, non-medical or surgical methods for the management of problems in patients with disabilities. Researchers and clinicians are welcome to publish and share their valuable ideas and findings, from basic theories to treatment protocols and techniques in the field of physical therapy.

Submission:
Submission of a manuscript to Practice in Clinical Psychology must constitute of original research not previously published or not currently being considered for publication elsewhere. Manuscripts submitted under multiple authors are reviewed on the assumption that all listed authors have agreed on the submission and that a copy of the final manuscript has been approved by all authors. Manuscripts are first reviewed by the section editors to ensure their appropriateness and relevance to the framework of the journal. The manuscript would then be peer-reviewed by related experts. If accepted, the article shall not be published elsewhere without the consent of the Editors and Publisher.
Manuscripts of length up to a maximum of 4500 words will be considered for publication. Articles should be written in English and double-spaced with wide margins. The text should be saved as a Microsoft Word document in single-column format, including line numbers. Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible. Most formatting codes will be removed and replaced on processing the article. The layout and style should adhere strictly to the instructions given and in particular, the reference style of the PTJ. The author(s) must declare that all experiments on human subjects were conducted with the adequate understanding and written consent of the subjects. When experimental animals are used, the methods section must clearly indicate that adequate measures were taken to minimize pain or discomfort. All animal experiments must be approved by the local animal care and use committees. 
Submission items include Cover Letter, Reviewer Suggestions (at least 3), and a Manuscript including title page, abstract, main text, acknowledgments, references, and tables/figure legends, tables, and figures. 
Authors should submit their manuscripts online using the JPCP website: https://jpcp.uswr.ac.ir/. For further information, please contact us at iranianjcpgmail.com

Title Page: 
This page should contain the following items:
  • Title of the article (preferably no chemical formulas or arbitrary abbreviations);
  • Full names of all authors;
  • Complete affiliations of all authors;
  • Number of pages (including figures, tables, and their captions) and number of figures and tables;
  • running title: A maximum of 40 characters with spaces should be provided
the name and complete address of the corresponding author (as well as telephone number, E-mail address, and if available URL address) to whom correspondence and proofs should be sent. 

Abstract: 
  • An abstract of up to 250 words should clearly describe the Purpose, Methods, Results, and Conclusions of the study
  • Keywords: A minimum of 3 and maximum of 6 keywords or phrases should be provided, preferably using the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms or from the body of the text. 
Main text:
In general, the main text of the manuscript should be organized as follows: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgements, and References. The used materials and methods  including the study design, sampling, data collection, and data analysis must be precisely stated, so that the others could repeatedly do the experiment. 

References:
The authors are responsible for the accuracy of bibliographic information. Citations in the text should be done by using numbers between brackets and in order of appearance in the text. All references cited in the text should be listed at the end of the manuscript by numbers on a separate page. 
Reference to a journal publication: 

Examples:

Journal: Sohrabi, H. R., Weinborn, M., Badcock, J., Bates, K. A., Clarnette, R., & Trivedi, D., et al. (2011). New lexicon and criteria for the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. Lancet Neurology, 10(4), 299-300.

Book: Pegrum, M. (2009). From blogs to bombs: The future of electronic technologies in education. Crawley, W.A: UWA Publishing.

Persian Book: Alavi, M. (2009). [General Psychology  (Persian)]. Tehran: Negah Publishing.

Conference Paper: Santhanam, E., Martin, K., Goody, A., & Hicks, O. (2011). Bottom-up steps towards closing the loop in feedback on teaching: A CUTSD project. Paper presented at: Teaching and Learning Forum – Expanding horizons in teaching and learning, 7-9 February 2001;  Perth, Australia.

Translated book:  Tan, W. Research methods: A practical guide for students and researchers [R. Sobhani, Persian trans.]. London:  Pearson.

Chapter in a book: Groundwater-Smith, S. (2007). As rain is to fields, so good teachers are to students (2nd ed.). In S. Knipe (Ed.), Middle years schooling: Reframing adolescence (pp. 151-170). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W: Pearson Education Australia.

Internet: Australian Psychological Society. (2008). Substance abuse: Position statement. Retrieved from http://www.psychology.org.au/publication/statements/substance/

Thesis: May, B. (2007) A survey of radial velocities in the zodiacal dust cloud [PhD dissertation]. Vancouver: University of British Columbia.


Illustrations: 
  • Illustrations will appear either across a single column (8 cm) or a whole page (15 cm). The illustrations should be numbered in Arabic numerals according to the sequence of appearance in the text, where they are referred to as Figure 1, Figure 2, etc;
  • Figure legends should be concise and clear and should not duplicate the body of the text;
  • Each illustration must have a title and an explanatory legend. The title should be part of the legend and not be reproduced on the Figure itself. The legends should appear on a separate page at the end of the manuscript; 
  • All symbols and abbreviations used in the Figure must be explained. Also, please indicate their appropriate locations in the manuscript. 
Tables: 
  • Tables should be so constructed that they, together with their captions and legends, will be intelligible with minimal reference to the text. Tables of numerical data should each be typed (with double spacing) on a separate page, numbered in sequence in Arabic numerals (Table 1, 2, etc.) and referred to in the text as Table 1, Table 2, etc. The title of the table should appear above it.
  • A detailed description of table contents and footnotes should be given below the body of the table. Also, please indicate their appropriate locations in the manuscript.
Proofs: 
  • Authors will receive proofs by email. Only printer's errors may be corrected; no change in, or additions to the edited manuscript will be allowed at this stage. The corrected proofs must be returned within 72 hours after receipt by email. If the Publisher receives no reply, the assumption will be made that there are no errors to correct and the article will be published. 
  • Reprints: A total of 3 reprints of each paper will be provided free of charge to the author(s). 

Highlights:
Highlights provide readers with an at-a-glance overview of the main findings of your article. Think of them as a quick snippet of the results—short and sweet. In Highlights sections, the author should provide a brief summary of the key results written as 3-5 bullets. Each Highlight must be 85 characters or fewer, including spaces, and the Highlights together must clearly convey only the results of the study.
Plain Language Summary:
In this section, you have to provide a Plain Language Summary for the article in 200-300 words. Consider that Plain Language Summary is different from abstract and it has to be written for non-specialists. To provide it, consider the following points: 1. think about your audience (e.g. journalists, science-interested public), 2. Get rid of jargon, 3. Explain what the study is about. Remember, others will need more context about what you studied, 4. Explain what you found, 5. Explain why this matters. Discuss the importance of these findings not just in terms of their implications for your field but in terms of their relevance to the public.
 
Authors’ contribution
In this section, you have to provide the contributor role of each author on these divisions:
Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Resources, Data Curation, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing, Visualization, Supervision, Project Administration, Funding Acquisition.
Example: Conceptualization, Author names [A, B, C, or all authors]; Methodology, Author names [A, B, C, or all authors]; Investigation, Author names [A, B, C, or all authors]; Writing – Original Draft, Author names [A, B, C, or all authors]; Writing – Review & Editing, Author names [A, B, C, or all authors]; Funding Acquisition, Author names [A, B, C, or all authors]; Resources, Author names [A, B, C, or all authors]; Supervision, Author names [A, B, C, or all authors]
 
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
The PTJ is committed to apply ethics of publication, based on the COPE’s Code of Conduct and Best Practices. Also, in medical studies, PTJ has engaged to apply ethics of research, based on Declaration of Helsinki: Statement of Ethical Principles for Medical Research. So, the research’s ethical considerations must be addressed in the Materials and Methods section.  For more information on the journal’s ethical principles, please refer to following links:
- JPCP s Principles of Publishing Ethics
- JPCP Ethical Principles for Medical Research
 
Plagiarism:  
 Practice in Clinical Psychology, as a journal published by Negah Institute for Scientific Communication, has accepted all terms and conditions of Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) on plagiarism. So, in any case of plagiarism, which is brought to the journal editors’ attention and accompanied with convincing evidence, we act based on the COPE flowcharts and workflows. Meanwhile, to detect and prevent plagiarism in the journal articles, all submissions are checked via  iTheticate software in both stages of submission and acceptance.

Conflicts of interest:  
Practice in Clinical Psychology, as a journal published by Negah Institute for Scientific Communication, is committed to apply the ICMJE recommendation on “Author Responsibilities—Conflicts of Interest  in authors’ conflict of interest issues.
Authors should disclose, at the time of submission, information on financial conflicts of interest or other interests that may influence the manuscript. Authors should declare sources of funding for the work undertaken, too. So, completion and signing the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest is necessary for all authors and the articles submission won’t be accepted without filling this form.
 

 Instructions for citing AI-generated content
 

Chatbots (such as ChatGPT) should not be mentioned as authors because they are unable to take responsibility for the accuracy, verification, and originality of the work, which are essential for authorship. Therefore, humans are responsible for any content that uses AI-assisted technologies.
Authors should carefully review and edit results generated by AI because AI may provide output that appears reliable but is inaccurate, incomplete, or distorted. They should also ensure that no plagiarism has occurred in their article, either in the text or in the AI-generated images.
Acknowledge your AI usage on your references page or in another location specified by your instructor. Your acknowledgement should include the following: 

  • Name of the AI tool(s) you used
  • Link to the AI tool(s) you used or, if available, a link to the AI chat transcript(s)
  • Description of how or why you used generative AI
  • The prompt(s) you submitted to the AI tool, if applicable
  • Explanation of how you incorporated the AI's output/response into your finished product

Use and adapt this statement to acknowledge your use of generative AI tools:
I acknowledge the use of [name of AI tool(s) and link(s)] to [describe why or how you used generative AI]. I used the following prompt: [list of prompts]. The output from these prompts was used to [explain use].

Example 1:
I acknowledge the use of Grammarly (https://www.grammarly.com/) to improve the organization and academic tone of my essay. The output was used to revise my draft essay. I used the suggestions to reorder some content and break up other sections of text to improve organization and the overall tone of the essay.
Example 2:
I acknowledge the use of ChatGPT (https://chatgpt.com/share/685061c9-abc4-8009-b0a0-63b08142e6c2) to revise the flow and transitions between paragraphs of my essay. I used the following prompts:
  • Original prompt: Read my attached essay and help me improve my transitions between paragraphs.
  • Follow-up prompt: I've already written "In contrast" a lot. Please suggest different transition phrases I can use.

General recommendations for citing AI-generated content and using AI tools to create citations:
  • Cite the outputs of generative AI tools when you use them in your work. Include a citation every time you directly quote, paraphrase, or summarize a response from a generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Grammarly
  • Do not rely on sources cited by generative AI tools without reading those sources yourself. AI tools are notorious for making up citations, sharing broken links, and citing sources that do not confirm the information shared in their responses. Always go to a source yourself to verify its existence and to evaluate the information or perspectives it shares. 
  • If you use AI tools to generate citations, make sure those citations are correctly formatted. Several generative AI tools, like ChatGPT or Grammarly, can help you create citations for sources you find in your research. Be sure to compare these citations with the official style guidelines to ensure they are correct.
  • Be flexible in your approaches to citing AI-generated content. Official style guidelines are still emerging and are likely to change as AI technologies continue to evolve. If you are unsure how to cite something generated by AI, contact the library, consult with your instructor, and include a note in your writing that describes how you used a certain tool. 
 
APA Style
Current guidelines from the APA Style Blog
When you reference AI-generated content directly in your text, you should include an in-text citation, and an associated entry in your reference list. Cite any AI-generated content that you quote, paraphrase, or summarize.
For citations in APA Style, treat the author of AI-generated content as the company or organization that created the AI model. For example, when citing content generated by ChatGPT, list the author as OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT.
  Format Example
Reference List Entry Author. (Year of chat/prompt). Name of AI tool (Version of tool, if known) [Large language model]. URL OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT (GPT-4o model) [Large language model]. https://chatgpt.com/
In-Text Parenthetical Citation (Author, Year of chat/prompt) (OpenAI, 2024)

Other Recommendations:
  • In the text of your paper, briefly explain the prompt you used so readers know how you accessed your information.
  • If the chat is particularly relevant to your paper, include the chat transcript as an appendix at the end of your paper.
  • If you have used AI tools in an original research design, you should describe that use in your introduction or methods section, and include the prompts that you used.
  • If it's possible to create a shareable link to the chat transcript, include that instead of the tool's URL.
  • Citing an AI-generated image in APA Style follows mostly the same rules as how to cite an image in APA, with the addition of mentioning the prompt and AI tool in the caption note.


 
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