Get your Journal of Abnormal 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 17 August, 2026
Submitting to Journal of Abnormal Psychology goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Journal of Abnormal 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 Journal of Abnormal 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 Journal of Abnormal 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 Journal of Abnormal 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 Journal of Abnormal 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 | J Abnormal Psychol requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Unstructured abstract limited to 250 words per APA Style 7th edition. Should provide brief but comprehensive summary covering: key aspects of literature review, problem/research questions, clearly stated hypotheses, methods used (including study design, sample, size), study results, and implications. Written as a single paragraph. Note: Viewpoint papers do not include abstracts in published version, though authors must provide one during submission for indexing purposes |
| Main text | Word limits by article type (includes abstract, body text, tables, table captions, figure captions, footnotes, author notes, appendices, and references; supplementary materials and figures excluded from count): Viewpoint papers: maximum 1,200 words (including references, excluding title page), maximum 10 references, maximum 3 authors; Brief reports: maximum 5,000 words, maximum 2 figures (no table limit); Regular articles: maximum 9,000 words; Extended articles: exceed 9,000 words (require justification in cover letter). No specific section order mandated in guidelines. Format-free for initial submissions; APA Style 7th edition formatting required for revisions |
| Declarations | Ethics approval/consent as applicable; competing interests; funding; data availability |
| Figures/tables | Publication-ready; cited in order |
| Supplemental | Upload separately when used |
| Keywords | 3 to 5 keywords per APA Style 7th edition. Should be descriptive and capture the most important aspects of the paper, used for indexing in databases. Keywords should address research topic, population, method, and application of results. Lowercased (except proper nouns), separated by commas |
| References | APA Style 7th edition. References listed in alphabetical order. Each listed reference should be cited in text, and each text citation should be listed in the references section. Follows Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.) format with DOIs included where available |
| Peer review | Double-blind/masked review (optional). Masked reviews are optional and must be specifically requested in the cover letter accompanying the submission. When requested, authors' and reviewers' identities are concealed from each other. Per APA policy: 'the majority of APA journals follow a masked review policy, in which authors' and reviewers' identities are concealed from each other. Reviewer identities are never shared unless the reviewer requests to sign their review.' |
| Submission | www.editorialmanager.com/abn/default1.aspx |
Read the Journal of Abnormal 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 Journal of Abnormal Psychology in under a page.
Skim two or three recent J Abnormal 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 Journal of Abnormal Psychology journal page requires it. Disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in the cover letter.
Do one focused pass against the Journal of Abnormal Psychology guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through Editorial Manager.