Get your Health Psychology paper right the first time: a ready-made structure with the right abstract and citations, so editors see your science, not formatting slips.
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Authored by Sumalatha Gangadhar | Published on 13 August, 2026
Submitting to Health Psychology goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Health Psychology 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 Health Psychology. 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 Health Psychology 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 Health Psychology 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 Health Psychology 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 Editorial Manager.
| Element | Health Psychol requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Empirical reports: Structured format with headings Objective, Methods, Results, and Conclusions. Maximum 250 words. Narrative reviews or invited commentaries: Unstructured format. Maximum 250 words. Viewpoint papers: Abstract required for indexing purposes only (not included in published version). Maximum 250 words |
| Main text | Limits include all parts of the manuscript (title page, abstract, text, references, tables, and figures). Regular articles: 30 pages maximum. Meta-analyses: 35 pages maximum. Brief reports: 12 pages maximum. Viewpoints: 1200 words maximum (or 1000 words if the manuscript includes 1 table or figure) |
| Declarations | Ethics approval/consent as applicable; competing interests; funding; data availability |
| Figures/tables | Publication-ready; cited in order |
| Supplemental | Upload separately when used |
| Keywords | Up to 5 keywords. Must use National Library of Medicine medical subject heading (MeSH) vocabulary or APA psychological index terms |
| References | APA Style, 7th edition. All data, program code, and other methods must be cited in the text and listed in the references section. Viewpoint papers are limited to 10 references |
| Peer review | Single-masked review (also called single-blind). Reviewers are anonymous, authors are not. Identifying information should not be masked on the title page or in the manuscript |
| Submission | www.editorialmanager.com/hea/default1.aspx |
Read the Health Psychology 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 Health Psychology in under a page.
Skim two or three recent Health Psychol 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 Health Psychology journal page requires it. Disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in the cover letter.
Do one focused pass against the Health Psychology guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through Editorial Manager.