APS College of Counselling Psychologists

Journals

The Australian Journal of Counselling Psychology is the official journal of the APS College of Counselling Psychologists.

General information

The Australian Journal of Counselling Psychology is published by The Australian Psychological Society. The journal's mission is to publish material of professional interest for members of the APS Counselling College and other counselling/psychotherapy practitioners. The editors welcome articles that contribute to thinking, discussion and debate on a wide range of matters relevant to psychotherapy and counselling from counselling psychologists and their colleagues in other disciplines.

All articles submitted to the journal will be subject to blind review by two referees overseen by one of the Co-editors. Articles should be submitted in APA style (see inside back cover for details) and all research conducted will be required to conform to ethical standards of The Australian Psychological Society.

The journal accepts contributions in the following broad categories:

  1. Articles reporting the conduct and findings of original research on, or relevant to counselling and psychotherapy usually conducted by one or more of the authors of the article. A range of scientific research inquiry is invited from quantitative (survey, experimental, meta-analytic) to qualitative (ethnographic, discourse analytic, phenomenological, grounded theory, textual analysis, genealogical) approaches. It is expected that authors will clearly describe their research practices, and locate them within an articulated research tradition. Less familiar methods may require more explanation as the authors' task is to communicate with a broad readership of counselling psychologists.  
  2. Reviews or meta-analyses of previous research in a particular area relevant to the practice of counselling and psychotherapy.
  3. Articles addressing theoretical, conceptual or ideological issues in counselling psychology. For example, contributors may wish to contribute to debates on topics such as evidence-based practice, the therapeutic alliance, terminations and conclusions in psychotherapy, indigenous or transcultural counselling, professional supervision. Clearly this is an incomplete list.
  4. Articles focussing on specific client groups, or general schemas of psychotherapy e.g. a specific client focus on rehabilitees, young people, or older people, or a specific issue focus such as substance dependence, suicidal behaviour, depression, or personality disorders.  
  5. Articles examining general or specific effects in psychotherapy.
  6. Book reviews. These are aimed at keeping practitioners up-to-date with developments in their field.

Two issues of the journal are published per year.

Subscriptions

Subscription enquiries should be directed to The Australian Psychological Society science@psychology.org.au or telephone (03) 8662 3300.

The journal is distributed to all members of the APS Counselling College as part of their College membership.

Preparation, submission and publication of manuscripts

All submitted manuscripts in categories 1-5 (above) undergo an anonymous review process in accordance with academic conventions. The manuscript is independently reviewed by two reviewers. A co-editor will advise authors of the outcome of this process, and facilitate further editing work as required. Contributors are asked to be patient with this process, but by all means contact the co-editor after 6 months if no response has been forthcoming.  Accepted submissions are published in accordance with publication schedules and special issue requirements.

Guidelines for preparation of manuscripts

 Manuscripts should be between 3,000 to 6,000 words. They should conform to APA standards for style, referencing and layout. The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association provides detailed guidelines for manuscript preparation.

The main points to be followed when preparing a manuscript are summarised below. Please provide:
• A separate title page with title of article and authors' names
• Double-line spacing
• Text in 12 point Times New Roman typeface
• A running header at the top right hand corner of each page with page number
• No identification of authors in the body of the article (to facilitate the anonymous review process)
• All tables, figures, statistical reporting and sub-headers in APA format
• References in APA format
• In-text quotations in APA format.

Quotations of fewer than 40 words should be incorporated into the text and enclosed by double quotation marks (")... Display quotations of 40 or more words in a double-spaced block of typewritten lines with no quotation marks. Indent the block and do not single-space.

Manuscripts should be submitted as email attachments to the coordinating editor at peter.mcilveen@usq.edu.au together with a statement that the manuscript has not been submitted elsewhere, and that the author/s are seeking publication of the manuscript in the AJCP. Manuscripts departing substantially from APA conventions on style and referencing will be returned to authors prior to submission for anonymous review, for amendment with indications of the amendments required.

Reference

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author