Get your Clinical Psychology Review paper right the first time: a ready-made structure with the right abstract and citations, so editors see your science, not formatting slips.
4.5
Authored by Sumalatha Gangadhar | Published on 7 August, 2026
Submitting to Clinical Psychology Review goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Clinical Psychology Review guide for authors before peer review, so formatting, structure, and required statements should be right on the first draft rather than repaired during upload. This template sets that structure up for you.
It is a manuscript shell aligned to Clinical Psychology Review. It covers front matter, the abstract the journal expects, a body organized to the journal's article types, and a reference list in the journal's required style. Confirm current scope and article types on the Clinical Psychology Review journal page before you draft.
Prepare the title, authors, affiliations, and ORCID iDs. Write the abstract to the journal's rule and word limit, organize the body to the article type, and apply the required reference style from the first citation. Complete every declaration (ethics, competing interests, funding, data availability) the Clinical Psychology Review guide for authors lists, and cite figures and tables in order.
The common failure modes are formatting or reference style that does not match the guide for authors, missing required statements, and an incomplete portal checklist. Clear all three against the Clinical Psychology Review guide for authors before you submit.
The shell mirrors what editorial staff check first: article-type fit, the abstract rules, required declarations, and the journal's reference style. For more detail see the author resources. When your draft is ready, upload it through the journal's submission system.
| Element | Clin Psychol Rev requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Unstructured abstract, maximum 250 words. The abstract should briefly state the purpose of the research, principal results and major conclusions. Abstracts must be able to stand alone. Avoid references (if essential, cite author(s) and year(s)). Avoid non-standard or uncommon abbreviations (if essential, define at first mention) |
| Main text | Manuscripts should ordinarily not exceed 50 pages, including references and tabular material. Exceptions may be made with prior approval of the Editor in Chief. Manuscript length can often be managed through judicious use of appendices. References section should be limited to citations actually discussed in the text; references to articles solely included in meta-analyses should be included in an appendix (appearing in online version but not in print). Similarly, extensive tables describing study characteristics, containing material published elsewhere, or presenting formulas and other technical material should also be included in an appendix |
| Declarations | Ethics approval/consent as applicable; competing interests; funding; data availability |
| Figures/tables | Publication-ready; cited in order |
| Supplemental | Upload separately when used |
| Keywords | 1 to 7 keywords required for indexing purposes. Keywords should be written in English. Authors should try to avoid keywords consisting of multiple words (using 'and' or 'of'). Use abbreviations in keywords only if they are firmly established in the field |
| References | APA style (American Psychological Association). Authors are referred to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition (2020) ISBN 978-1-4338-3215-4. Reference list should be arranged alphabetically and then chronologically. Multiple references from the same author(s) in the same year identified by letters 'a', 'b', 'c', etc. after the year |
| Peer review | Single anonymized review (single-blind). Submission will initially be assessed by editors to determine suitability. If deemed suitable, it will typically be sent to a minimum of two reviewers for independent expert assessment of scientific quality. Final decision made by editors |
| Submission | submit.elsevier.com/CPREV |
Read the Clinical Psychology Review guide for authors once before drafting and once before upload. Draft the abstract after results are stable. Set the reference style before adding citations. Keep a cover letter that states your contribution and fit to Clinical Psychology Review in under a page.
Skim two or three recent Clin Psychol Rev papers to calibrate depth and figure style. Make the novelty clear in the first two pages. Deposit data and code when the policy on the Clinical Psychology Review journal page requires it. Disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in the cover letter.
Do one focused pass against the Clinical Psychology Review guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through the journal's submission system.