Focus and scope[]
The International Journal of Stress Prevention and Wellbeing (IJSPW ) is a peer reviewed journal that publishes articles with a focus on theory, research and practice of stress, stress prevention and management. There is a particular focus on stress prevention interventions including incremental updates to previous work and research protocols. Case studies are welcome (individual, group, organisational or community). Editorials are written by the editors on topics of general interest or journal policy.
Perspectives, leading articles and keynote speeches maybe commissioned from experts in the stress prevention and applied fields.
The International Journal of Stress Prevention and Wellbeing will publish proceedings of conferences, congresses and symposia, including both peer-reviewed articles and collections of meeting abstracts from the relevant stress-related fields.
The submission & review process[]
Submitted articles will be initially reviewed by an editor to verify its suitability for the journal and that it adheres to the IJSPW submission guidelines. If the article passes this initial stage, then it will then be subject to a masked reviewing process depending upon which section of the the journal it is being submitted to. Key items that they will be considering are:
- Is the article relevant to stress prevention, stress management and wellbeing?
- Does it address issues of interest to a broad readership?
- If a research paper, then is the methodological rigour of sufficient standard?
- Is it written clearly to understand?
- Does it add to the existing knowledge-base?
Requirements Length[]
Papers should normally be no more than 6000 words including abstract, references and figures. The editors will consider an extended article if there is a clear rationale for its submission, for example, a mixed methodology paper. However, the Editors retain discretion to publish extended papers.
Original research[]
For articles containing original research, a structured abstract of up to 250 words should be included. The main headings should be:
- Background/Aims/Objectives
- Methods/Methodology
- Results
- Discussion
- Conclusions
Review articles[]
Review articles should use these headings:
- Purpose,
- Methods,
- Results/Findings,
- Discussion and/or Conclusions.
Brief reports[]
Brief reports are no longer than 1500 words in length. They could be a commentary, discussion, research paper or a previously presented conference poster extended to make it suitable for publication. Research protocols can also be submitted prior to the research having been undertaken. Research papers and research protocols will be subject to a masked review.
Techniques, interventions and strategies section[]
As an applied journal, we are interested in receiving articles about stress management and prevention techniques, interventions and strategies. Articles would normally be between 750-1500 words in length.
Invited papers & keynotes[]
Invited papers and conference keynotes will be reviewed by two editors.
Keywords[]
Five or six keywords are required for each paper/article.
Conference, congress and symposium reports[]
Reports on conferences, congresses and symposia are important in order to keep researchers and practitioners up-to-date with events they were unable to attend. All submissions should include the event title, organising body, location, date and URL to the event website. (Full conference abstracts can only be included with written permission from the conference organisers.) It is important to receive agreement for an event submission from the editor to confirm if the event falls within the remit of this journal.
Book reviews[]
Book reviews should include the book title, author(s) or editor(s), publisher, date of publication, number of pages, cost. We recommend that the journal editor is initially contacted to ascertain if the book is suitable for review in this journal.
Use of English[]
Articles should use consistent spelling, grammar and language ie. American or British English.
Reference style[]
In the reference section authors should use one of the following citation styles: APA style. It must be used consistently and authorship of cited works is adequately attributed, with all information necessary to locate cited material included. (The APA kindly provide a free short online tutorial designed for those who have no previous knowledge of APA Style®.)
Competing interests[]
Authors must declare any competing interests or state that no competing interests exist.
Funding[]
Authors must declare what, if any, financial support they received for the research.
Acknowledgments[]
Authors are only allowed to add an acknowledgment to the manuscript after it has been accepted for publication in order to ensure the masked peer-review process. Acknowledgments are placed before the references.
Publication[]
IJSPW has adopted a continuous online publication model. Therefore once a paper is accepted for publication, it will be uploaded to the website within 28 days. Articles published within a given year are allocated the same volume number. Although IJSPW is an e-journal, it may be published in a print format for professional bodies or subscribers on an annual basis if requested.
Publisher & Sponsor[]
The journal is published by the National Wellbeing Service Ltd (NWS ) and is sponsored by the International Stress Management Society (ISMA UK ) Office: National Wellbeing Service Ltd, 156 Westcombe Hill, London, SE3 7DH, United Kingdom.