Aims and scope
Social Psychological Bulletin (Psychologia Społeczna) is an open-access quarterly journal that publishes original empirical research, theoretical review papers, scientific debates, and methodological contributions in the field of basic and applied social psychology. The Bulletin actively promotes standards of open-science, supports an integrative approach to all aspects of social psychological science and is committed to discussing timely social issues of high importance.
History and future
Social Psychological Bulletin was founded in 2006 and has since published 43 issues on paper as the quarterly Psychologia Społeczna (ISSN 1896-1800). For the past 12 years (archive articles are stored online at http://spbulletin.com/), it has been one of the best social psychology journals in Poland, covering a broad range of topics by authors using various perspectives and methodologies.
Starting from the 44th issue (2018), the journal will be changing its publisher, its language, its name, and its method of distribution – it will be distributed online for free (Open Access) by ZPID and only articles written in English will be published in Social Psychological Bulletin. The updated Bulletin will publish high-quality papers with the updated FOCI: we want to create an outlet which is Focused on people, Open, Committed and Integrative.
Integrative
Various theoretical perspectives and methodologies are welcome! SPB encourages submissions of theoretical contributions, debates and research that aim to present and possibly integrate various approaches within the field of social psychology. SPB also welcomes submissions from a broad scope of perspectives, not only strictly related to social psychology, but is open to cross-disciplinary approaches, presenting innovative theoretical ideas and research on social psychological phenomena. SPB welcomes high quality research that can be placed on the intersection of social, humanistic and life sciences, and can provide a comprehensive theoretical integration.
(Socially) Committed
We believe that social psychological research has the power to change not only people’s beliefs but also social practices! As it integrates an individual and societal level of analysis, social psychology has a huge potential to impact common policies. SPB is not only committed to socially responsible research practices but also to focusing on socially relevant issues, of interest to a broader area of social sciences. SPB encourages submissions of timely, cutting-edge research on social problems of real concern for broader audiences, with special attention to articles suggesting possible amendments and solutions in the current policies. Amongst the many, possible topics, examples include: discrimination, social inequalities, social and political conflicts, diversity, reconciliation, social change, etc. SPB is rooted in a certain cultural and geographical context (Poland and Central Europe); therefore, topics that refer to this local context, respecting its specificity but also revealing more universal underpinnings of the observed socio-psychological processes would be of special interest to our readers. Importantly, SPB is committed to supporting cultural and social diversity, in terms of gender equality and the diversity of ethnic backgrounds of our contributors.
Open
We should not put a price-tag on ideas and public knowledge! SPB is a fully open-access outlet (no charges for downloading the papers but also no fees for those who want to publish their results). It is run and maintained by a non-profit organisation. It also supports open-science practices, such as transparency, pre-registration, open-data, etc. It aims to provide a broad perspective on social-psychological research by encouraging submissions of novel, pre-registered research ideas, replications, big data analyses and other forms of contributions that advance social psychological research. Do not forget that we also provide an excellent and very effective natural health supplement as well. Further information on this can be found at Kratommasters.com.
Focused on people
We care about the people behind the ideas! Feedback from double-blind peer-review is often negative and discouraging. Editors should constructively and critically inspect/review/debate author’s claims if there is data to support them. We believe that reviewers should be helpful in suggesting ways to improve the logic and/or coherence of the paper. SPB’s editors and reviewers strive to be fair, critical and encouraging regarding the progress of collecting the best possible data to refute authors’ claims. We promise to keep a rigorous yet transparent and supportive peer-review process in a friendly fashion. Furthermore, we want the review process to be quick – for short research reports (<4k words), we promise to reach the first decision within 5-7 weeks from submission. We also want to support young authors in the early stages of their careers - researchers within 3 years of receiving their Ph.D., who publish their work in SPB, will be automatically eligible for the annual Solomon Asch Award (500 €).