Blog Submission Guidelines
Hi there!
Blogs are to be submitted electronically in .doc/.docx format and in APA format. We accept blogs of psychological phenomena (broadly defined) that use psychological research to address a hot topic, current event, social issue, fad, or trend with the general public using a conversational style of writing. Blog submissions may take on the form of an op-ed and submissions that address current events are particularly encouraged (see “Blog Options” below). Blog submissions should be 1,000 words or less (excluding references), and in addition to citing scholarly research (about 5-7 maximum), may use alternative sources such as quotes (e.g., from politicians, social media, non-psychological scholars), movies, and pop culture references.
We are also interested in blog concepts that may take on the form of periodic submissions from authors. If this is of interest to you, please email one of our blog coordinators directly to discuss.
All blog submissions are reviewed by our editorial team.
Blog Options
We offer a few options for blogs at In-Mind.org to which individuals can submit: Generalist Grab Bag, Interdisciplinary Inquiries, and Pop Culture Series. Authors should choose the option that would best facilitate interest in their submissions. Please indicate in your submission which option you are applying to on the cover page.
Generalist Grab Bag: This blog option serves to provide a general overview of a topic in psychology that is not limited to any specific subfield or topic. Submissions in this option can represent any topic in psychology and should communicate relevant information to readers who may not have expertise in the topic.
Interdisciplinary Inquiries: This blog option serves to provide a diverse perspective on topics using both psychological research and scholarship from related fields of study (e.g., anthropology, neuroscience, linguistics, political science, etc.). Submissions for this blog option should include both psychologist and non-psychologist authors (at least one of each), or a clear discussion of scholarship that is from diverse perspectives.
Pop Culture Series: This blog option is aimed to present a theoretical interpretation of various events in pop culture (e.g., sports fandom, narrative themes in television) or a current zeitgeist in the hopes of providing a better understanding of the psychological phenomena that shape our lives within a multimedia culture. Submissions for this option should present a scientific, and theoretically sound, interpretation of an event in pop culture or a perspective on subcultures or niche communities.
Demystifying Mental Illness: This blog option aims to present psychological research and practice to the general public that serves to “demystify mental illness.” Content may address commonly held misconceptions, new treatment options and conceptualizations of mental illness, barriers to treatment, and/or serve to normalize perceptions of individuals experiencing mental illness.
Big Questions in Society: This blog option is aimed at addressing current “big questions” using psychological research to back-up claims, debunk commonly held beliefs and arguments, and give new perspectives. Submissions in this option can represent any topic in psychology.
Blog Submission Preparation
Authors should prepare their blog submission according to the Publication Manual the American Psychological Association (6th Edition, see also here). However, beginning January 2018, we ask that you use a numbered in-text citation style. The In-Mind team may copyedit your manuscript for bias-free language and readability. Formatting instructions (all copies must be double-spaced) and instructions for the preparation of tables, figures, references, and matrices appear in the manual. Please submit your blog entry as a doc./docx.
Cover page: Please submit a cover page that includes the following:
Blog option: Please indicate which blog option you are applying to.
Keywords: All blog submissions must include up to five keywords for search indexing purposes.
Teaser: All blog submissions should provide a teaser for the front page of the website and for use in social media tags. Teasers should not exceed three sentences. Better teasers means more readers!
References: References should be provided in the order that they appear. Each listed reference should be cited in text with a number that corresponds to the source's position in the reference list (use endnotes rather than footnotes for formatting purposes), otherwise using APA style formatting.
Biography (only after acceptance): Authors should submit a brief biography (50 word maximum) including their affiliation, research interests, and a picture. For each author, we also request an image (in .png format).
Publication Policies: We require from authors to submit only original materials, and submitted work should not be under editorial consideration elsewhere. We advise you to consider this when sending your blog submission to In-Mind.
Copyright of accepted manuscripts are automatically transferred to In-Mind Magazine. The English version of In-Mind is indexed in the International Standard Serial Number Register under ISSN 1877-5306.