Get your Journal of Experimental Child 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 Experimental Child Psychology goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Journal of Experimental Child 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 Experimental Child 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 Experimental Child 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 Experimental Child 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 Experimental Child 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 the journal's submission system.
| Element | J Exp Child Psychol requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Unstructured abstract required, maximum 250 words. The abstract should be concise and factual, briefly stating the purpose of research, principal results, and major conclusions. Abstracts must be able to stand alone. References should be avoided; if essential, cite author(s) and year(s). Non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided; if essential, define at first mention. No distinction by article type specified |
| Main text | Regular submissions: maximum 10,500 words (text plus references). Single-experiment studies will usually be shorter than those with multiple experiments. Short communications (Brief Reports): maximum 4,000 words (main text and references, excluding title page, abstract, tables, and figures, with maximum of 2 tables/figures per report) |
| 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'). Abbreviations in keywords should only be used if firmly established in the field |
| References | APA style - Citations in the text should follow the referencing style used by the American Psychological Association, 7th Edition (2020). The reference list should be arranged alphabetically and then chronologically |
| Peer review | Double anonymized (double-blind) review process. Author identities are concealed from reviewers and vice versa. Submissions are initially assessed by editors, then typically sent to a minimum of two reviewers for independent expert assessment of scientific quality |
| Submission | submit.elsevier.com/JECP |
Read the Journal of Experimental Child 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 Experimental Child Psychology in under a page.
Skim two or three recent J Exp Child 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 Experimental Child 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 Experimental Child Psychology guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through the journal's submission system.