The Journal of Psychological Inquiry accepts submissions for review on a rolling basis; after writing a manuscript, submit it to JPI by navigating to our online submission portal: www.editorialmanager.com/jpi.

Consider the following when you begin to write your manuscript.

  • Manuscripts must have an undergraduate student as the primary author. Manuscripts written by anyone who has already graduated from college will be accepted if the work was completed while the primary author was still an undergraduate student. Graduate students or faculty may be co-authors, if their role was one of teacher or mentor versus equal collaborator.
  • Include a sponsoring statement from a faculty supervisor. Faculty sponsors should confirm that they inspected the paper’s content, method, adherence to APA style and ethics, grammar, and overall presentation. This sponsoring statement should be uploaded with the manuscript.
  • For a manuscript to be considered for publication in JPI, the first author must meet one of the following conditions: a) the primary author has paid a one-time $30 processing fee, or b) the primary author is or was a student at an institution that has paid an annual $80 processing fee for unlimited submissions from students who attend that institution.
    • To submit the processing fee, either submit a payment on Venmo.com, or send a check.
      • Venmo payment: submit to @psychinquiry
      • Check: make it payable to the Great Plains Behavioral Research Association, and send to the address below:
Ken Sobel
Department of Psychology and Counseling
University of Central Arkansas
201 Donaghey Ave.
Conway, AR. 72035
  • Submit original manuscripts only. Do not submit manuscripts that have been accepted for publication or have been published elsewhere.
  • All manuscripts should be formatted in accordance with the latest edition of the APA Publication Manual.
  • The reviewing process should normally require 60 days between submitting a manuscript and receiving a reply from the action editor.
  • If a manuscript requires revisions, the author or authors are responsible for making the necessary changes and resubmitting the manuscript to the journal. Manuscripts may need to be revised more than once before being accepted for publication.

The Journal of Psychological Inquiry publishes each of the following kinds of articles.

  • Empirical studies
  • Literature reviews
  • Historical articles
  • Special features I: Evaluating controversial issues.
    • Two students work together on different facets of the same issue.
    • Select a controversial issue relevant to an area of psychology.
    • Examples:
      • Developmental psychology: Does violence in the media have harmful effects on children?
      • Human sexuality: Are sex and gender categorical or continuous variables?
      • Cognitive psychology: Are repressed memories real?
    • Each student addresses the current empirical research and makes a persuasive case for one side of the argument.
  • Special features II: Conducting psychological analyses – Dramatic
    • This type of article is a psychological analysis of a television program or movie.
      • Select an episode from a popular, 30-60 minute television program, or a well-known feature-length film (typically between 90 and 120 minutes long).
        • Describe the salient behaviors, activities, and / or interactions of the main characters, and interpret them using psychological concepts and principles.
        • Use appropriate concepts and principles from the research literature.
        • The manuscript should identify the title of the show or film, and for television shows, the name of network and episode.
        • See the APA style guide to find out how to appropriately reference an episode of a television show or movie.
  • Special features III: Conducting psychological analyses – Current events
    • This type of article analyzes a current event.
      • Select an event that has garnered widespread coverage in the national media.
      • Analyze the event from one or more areas of psychology.
      • Pay close attention to the people at the center of the event, and to the people who were affected, directly or indirectly, by the event.
        • What were their motivations, expectations, and reactions to the event?
  • Special features IV: Teaching techniques
    • The student and faculty mentor should select a teaching technique used by the faculty member that the student found to be particularly helpful in promoting learning.
    • Describe the technique in sufficient detail so other faculty members can replicate the technique in their own teaching.
    • Provide reasons why the student thought the technique worked so well.
    • The faculty member should explain why they developed the technique, and what they hoped to accomplish in terms of learning outcomes.