The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) was founded in 1882 ‘to examine without prejudice or prepossession and in a scientific spirit those faculties of man, real or supposed, which appear to be inexplicable on any generally recognised hypothesis’.
The Journal of the Society for Psychical Research (JSPR) has a long and illustrious history. It was first published in 1884 and is published quarterly every year. The JSPR provides a peer-reviewed forum for communication and critical debate for the community of scholars and interested parties involved and/or interested in the field of psychic, parapsychological or anomalous effects. It includes reports of current laboratory and fieldwork research, along with theoretical, methodological and historical papers that have a bearing on these topic areas.
TYPES OF PAPER
The Journal publishes empirical research, research notes and short letters to the Editor. All submissions needs to be in English. Research based submissions submitted to the JSPR for publication need to be original (i.e., not published/or submitted for publication elsewhere), provide a significant contribution to the field and be underpinned by a highly rigorous methodology.
Empirical Research (6,000 to 8,000 max)
The Journal welcomes a range of empirical work including (though not restricted to):
· Experimental research (quantitative and qualitative)
· Field investigations
· Case collections
· Theoretical contributions
· Review articles
· Historical perspectives
Research Notes (4,000 to 6,000 words max)
Research Notes refer to short reports of interesting and important issues and/or relate to specific or current research carried out in the field.
Letters to the Editor (1,000 words max)
The Journal welcomes letters to the Editor that comment on or otherwise develop ideas introduced by the material published in the Journal.
MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION
As noted above the major criteria for the acceptance of a research article will be its originality, significance and rigour. Please review the Guidance on Submission of Empirical Research, the Guidance on Submission of Research Notes, and the Guidance for Letters to the Editor.
SUBMISSION PROCESS
All submissions need to be in English and saved in Word format and then emailed as an attachment with a covering letter to the Editor, Journal of the Society for Psychical Research.
Email address: [email protected]
REVIEW PROCESS
All submissions (i.e., both empirical research and research notes) will initially be assessed by the Editorial team for suitability for the Journal and appropriate formatting (e.g., APA). All submissions deemed suitable and correctly formatted will then typically be sent for anonymous peer review. The Editor will be responsible for collating the Reviewer’s comments and the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of the submission. The Editor’s decision is final.
OPEN DATA / PRE-REGISTRATION
To foster transparency the Journal strongly supports and encourages the sharing of data at appropriate data repository sites (e.g., Psi open data). This may be a requirement of your funding body or institution. Research data refers to the results of observations or experimentation that validate research findings. In the submission you will need to note that your data are available to access from a particular site. Where possible the Journal encourages researchers to adopt the Gold Standard of methodological rigour and utilise study pre-registration sites (e.g., Koestler Parapsychology Unit) to pre-register details pertaining to proposed research and upload any research data to this site upon study completion.
ETHICAL PRACTICE
JSPR expects all submitting Authors to respect the rights and dignity of any individuals participating in their research and the legitimate interests of stakeholders such as funders, institutions, sponsors and society at large. See details on the JSPR Publication Ethics & Publication Malpractice Statement.
JSPR also expects all submitting Authors to abide by the principles of ethical conduct and procedures as outlined by the British Psychological Society’s Code of Human Research Ethics.
This code provides clear guidance on the following key principles:
- Respect for autonomy, privacy and dignity of individuals and communities
- Scientific integrity
- Social responsibility
- Maximising benefit and minimising harm
Those researchers conducting internet-based research should ensure that they abide by the British Psychological Society’s Ethics Guidelines for Internet-mediated Research.
JSPR expects all submitting Authors to adhere to these standards. Specifically, when relevant, JSPR requires all submitting Authors to state in writing that they have complied with BPS ethical standards in the treatment of their sample, human or animal.
The British Psychological Society Code of Ethics and Conduct
Guidelines for Internet-mediated research
COPYRIGHT
For all accepted submissions Authors will retain copyright to their work and take responsibility for the views expressed. However, the SPR reserves the right to reproduce material published in the JSPR as part of another journal, and/or to make it available in electronic and/or print format.
Once a submission has been accepted for publication in the JSPR it must NOT appear anywhere else (including an Internet Website) until the Journal has been published. After publication in the JSPR authors may use the material as they wish but should make appropriate reference to its prior publication in the JSPR: for example, ‘This paper (material) first appeared in the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, vol…, pp…., and is reproduced here with permission.'
Permissions
Corresponding Authors are responsible for securing any/all written permission to reproduce any previously published or unpublished material for which copyright is currently held.
CONTACT
Should you wish to contact the Editor to raise any issues and/or concerns or complaints then please address all correspondence to:
Editor
Dr. David Vernon
Associate Editor
Dr. Zofia Weaver
Editorial Assistant
Dr. Tammy Dempster
Email: [email protected]
Book Review Editor
Nemo C. Mörck
Email: [email protected]