Get your Journal of Counseling 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 Counseling Psychology goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Journal of Counseling 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 Counseling 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 Counseling 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 Counseling 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 Counseling 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 Counseling Psychol requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Manuscripts must be accompanied by an abstract of no more than 250 words. The abstract should clearly and concisely describe the hypotheses or research questions, research participants, and procedure. The abstract should not be used to present the rationale for the study, but instead should provide a summary of key research findings. For replication studies: submissions should include 'A Replication of XX Study' in the subtitle of the manuscript as well as in the abstract. No structured format with mandatory headings specified |
| Main text | Full-length manuscripts reporting results of a single quantitative study generally should not exceed 35 pages total (including cover page, abstract, text, references, tables, and figures). Reports of qualitative studies generally should not exceed 45 pages. Brief reports are generally 20-25 pages in total length (including cover page, abstract, text, references, tables, and figures). Brief reports that exceed 25 pages will not be considered |
| Declarations | Ethics approval/consent as applicable; competing interests; funding; data availability |
| Figures/tables | Publication-ready; cited in order |
| Supplemental | Upload separately when used |
| Keywords | Provide up to five keywords as an aid to indexing |
| References | Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. List references in alphabetical order. Each listed reference should be cited in text, and each text citation should be listed in the references section |
| Peer review | Double-blind/double-anonymous (masked review). APA defines masked review as a policy in which authors' and reviewers' identities are concealed from each other |
| Submission | www.editorialmanager.com/jcu/default1.aspx |
Read the Journal of Counseling 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 Counseling Psychology in under a page.
Skim two or three recent J Counseling 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 Counseling 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 Counseling Psychology guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through Editorial Manager.