Research Articles

• The title should be 12 words or less. The title should be a concise statement of the content in the article.
• The affiliations listed on the Title Page should indicate the location where the author conducted the work.
• The Author Note should appear on the Title page and should list authors’ affiliations at the time of the study (first paragraph), any change of affiliation (second paragraph), acknowledgements (third paragraph), person to contact for correspondence (fourth paragraph).
• The Abstract should be 150 words or less. The Abstract should provide a brief, comprehensive summary of the study.
• The Introduction should identify the key issues to be addressed, state the purpose of the study, and cite key references. The Introduction should clearly identify the importance of the problem and the gaps in the literature that form the basis of the study. The Introduction should be limited to a few concisely worded pages that summarize the rationale for study.
• The Method is a critical part of the manuscript. The author should make every attempt to provide sufficient detail to allow replication. The Method should include a description of the participants, setting, and materials; the dependent variables with operational definitions; the method of data collection; the method used to assess and calculate interobserver agreement and the resulting coefficients; the experimental design used in the study; the procedures used to conduct the study; a description of the method used to assess the integrity of the independent variable (if such measures were included in the study).
• In the Results section, the author should present summary statistics and describe the data presented in figures or tables.
• In the Discussion section, the author should interpret the results and present conclusions that are supported clearly by the data. The author should also state the importance of the findings, note directions for future research, and identify limitations of the study.
• Check the references carefully to ensure that they comply with APA (6th Ed) guidelines and ensure that references that appear in the text are in the Reference section and vice versa.
• Consider the data display carefully before inserting figures and tables. Use a figure or table to summarize a large amount of data efficiently such that the data will be more comprehensible to the reader in figure or tabular form than in text. By contrast, data that will be just as comprehensible in text as in a figure or table should remain in the text. Figures and tables should draw the reader’s attention to the key findings of the study.

Reports

Innovative pilot work, replications, and controlled case studies will be considered for publication as Reports. Because direct or systematic replications of research findings, as well as new areas of application having heuristic value, are crucial to the development of a field, such reports warrant special submission and review criteria. Reports will undergo moderately expedited peer review and will be judged according to the following criteria: (a) The subject matter has applied significance, (b) the information necessary to replicate the procedures is contained in the report, and (c) the data collection and analysis permit reasonable conclusions about the phenomenon. Less emphasis will be placed on procedural rigor for innovations (which contribute to our understanding of behavior by encouraging further research) than for replications (particularly failures to replicate, which require demonstrating alternative controlling variables).

Studies appropriate as Reports must not exceed 2,500 total words, including the Title Page, Author Note, References, Figure Caption(s), and Table(s). (When the manuscript is open in MS Word, the total word count can be found in the bar at the bottom of the window.) Note this is a change from the 150-line limit of the previous guidelines. The inclusion of all sections of the manuscript when determining the length is another change from previous guidelines. The author(s) must agree not to publish an extended version of the Report in another Journal.

General Guidelines

• The Abstract should be 85 words or less.
• The Introduction should identify the key issues to be addressed, state the purpose of the study, and cite key references. Attempt to limit the references to 10 or less.
• The Method (is a critical part of the manuscript. The author should make every attempt to provide sufficient detail to allow replication. The length of other sections of the manuscript should be shortened to accommodate procedural details.
• Combine Results and Discussion under that exact heading. This section should be limited to the presentation of summary statistics and references to data found in the table or figure, a summary of the findings and importance of the research that are supported clearly by the data, acknowledgement of the limitations, and possibly a suggested area for future investigation.
• Most often a single figure or table will be sufficient to display key data. The figure (along with figure caption) and/or table must be included in the manuscript (i.e., do not submit them as separate files).

Discussion and Review Articles

Manuscripts surveying and critically evaluating particular areas of research or issues in applied behavior analysis may be accepted as Discussion or Review Articles. Such papers will be sent to several reviewers who will be asked whether they find the manuscript helpful in conducting, analyzing, or interpreting research in the field of applied behavior analysis. Accepted manuscripts may be published with an accompanying commentary, which will be solicited by the Editor.

Technical Articles

Manuscripts contributing primarily to procedures, data analysis, or instrumentation may be accepted as Technical Articles. Such articles should report a complete experiment demonstrating a causal relation. For cases wherein experimental demonstration is not feasible, authors are expected to provide other suitable data or documentation supporting the utility of the methods, technique, or apparatus.

Technical Articles will be judged according to the following criteria: (a) The issue is of general importance to the future conduct of applied research, (b) the conclusions are unambiguous and are based on either sound experimentation or thorough analysis of current research practice, (c) the information necessary for implementation is contained in the report, and (d) publication of the manuscript is likely to produce significant improvement in applied behavior analysis procedures.

Book Reviews

Books that are of interest to some segment of the JABA readership are appropriate for the book review category. Book reviews are usually solicited by the book review Editor, but on occasion unsolicited reviews are reviewed and published. Prior to submission, a prospective book reviewer should contact the book review Editor to assess interest and appropriateness of the book and the review topic.

Not only should the review summarize the contents of the book, but it also should set the stage for a scholarly discussion of the book in the context of a larger conceptual/technical area that is in line with the theme of the book. The review should be written in an interesting and engaging style, and the evaluation of the book should be fair, justified, and based on the book's purpose. Reviews will undergo review by the book review Editor. The book review Editor also has the option of sending book reviews out for review.

Brief Reviews

The purpose of the brief review is to summarize recent literature on a specific topic and provide directions for future research. The brief review should be highly focused on one very specific segment of the literature and should contain a synthesis of the literature, which provides readers with thought provoking insights that may not be evident from reading the articles individually. The area that is the focus of the review should contain sufficient numbers of studies to warrant a review of the literature. The goal is to provide readers with access to the literature in easily digestible portions. The fast turn-around time allows authors to present readers with timely analyses of the most recently published studies on a topic area. To achieve this goal, the brief review needs to be publication ready and cannot require extensive revision. The brief review should be limited to 2,500 total words, including the Title Page, Author Note, and References. (When the manuscript is open in MS Word, the total word count can be found in the bar at the bottom of the window.)

To ensure that reviews provide timely analysis that is both current and relevant to JABA readers, manuscripts should focus primarily on research published in JABA during the preceding five years. Authors interested in writing a brief review should send an abstract and reference list to the Editor for initial consideration, which will allow the Editor to identify relevant in-press manuscripts for inclusion in the review.

The Editor will provide expedited review with the goal of publishing accepted manuscripts in the next possible issue, but only if the review was submitted within the designated submission periods described below. Manuscripts will receive either an “Accept with minor revisions” or a “Do Not Accept” decision. Those not accepted for publication will not be considered for further review and cannot be resubmitted. The dichotomous decision categories are meant to ensure timely publication of the reviews.

Brief reviews may be submitted from July 1 to August 31 for publication in the Spring issue, from November 1 to December 31 for publication in the Summer issue, from February 1 to March 31 for publication in the Fall issue, and from May 1 to June 30 for publication in the Winter issue. Please do not submit manuscripts outside of these dates as they will not be reviewed by the Editor until the start of the next designated submission period.