Submissions

Author Guidelines

1. TYPES OF MANUSCRIPTS ACCEPTED

- Submissions can be written in Portuguese, Spanish, or English. Regardless of the chosen language, the inclusion of abstracts in all three languages is mandatory.

- The submission documents must be in .doc or .docx format and must be adjusted to the provided Template.

- The article must adhere to the established page count, according to the manuscript types described below:

1. Research Articles (15-25 pages): Studies resulting from original research with scientific relevance, grounded in the state of the art and empirical data, using a methodology compatible with the proposed objectives and with a consistent discussion. The research's contribution to the production of knowledge in the interdisciplinary areas that make up the Psi Unisc's Focus and Scope must be clearly stated. The manuscript must contain the following mandatory sections: title, abstracts in three languages and keywords, introduction, method, results, discussion, conclusions/final considerations, and references.

2. Theoretical Review (15-25 pages): The following theoretical review modalities will be accepted: Narrative Review, Integrative Review, Scoping Review, and Systematic Review. Manuscripts submitted in this category should include critical and reflective analyses, presenting syntheses of current debates, dilemmas, and knowledge gaps, with a view to broadening the theoretical understanding of the topic addressed. It is also expected that they indicate and discuss advances in the state of the art. Manuscripts must contain: title, abstracts in three languages and keywords, introduction, method, results, discussion, conclusions/final considerations, and references.

For Systematic Reviews, the following is recommended:

1. Compliance with good practices described in the specialized literature (e.g., Cochrane, PRISMA).

2. Careful selection of databases compatible with the subject of the review.

3. Experience reports (10-20 pages): Experience reports are considered to be those related to professional intervention, of scientific and social interest and relevance to different areas of knowledge, and which demonstrate contributions to professional practice in psychology and related areas. Manuscripts must contain: title, abstracts in three languages and keywords, introduction, method, results, discussion, conclusions/final considerations, and references. 

4. Technical and Technological Product Articles (15-25 pages): This section is intended to disseminate productions developed in Professional Postgraduate Programs in Psychology and related areas. The articles must present the report of practices characterized as technical production and be grounded in scientific literature. The manuscript must contain: title, abstracts in three languages and keywords, introduction, method, description of the practice/intervention/product, theoretical-practical discussion, conclusions/final considerations, and references.

5. Essay (up to 10 pages): The essay is a reflective and interpretive production, differing from traditional articles by not following the same logic of systematization. Its argumentation must demonstrate originality, creativity, and theoretical consistency.

Preprints: Currently, Psi Unisc does not accept the submission of articles that have been previously disclosed as preprints. We ask that you pay attention to this guideline, ensuring that the submitted material complies with our editorial policy.

2. GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION

PSI UNISC is characterized as an academic publication, with continuous flow and free access.

AUTHORS: Authors are considered to be those who have contributed significantly to the study and take responsibility for its content. This includes participation in the design or analysis of the data, writing or critical review of the text, and approval of the final version, in accordance with the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) taxonomy, which describes the different contributions of each author in a scientific publication. This information must be provided on the title page. One of the authors must hold a Master's or Doctorate degree. Authors and co-authors may not have more than one article published in the same edition. The total number of authors of an article must not exceed six (6).

ORCID: Due to the importance of identifying authors more accurately, Psi Unisc requests that you include your ORCID in your metadata when submitting manuscripts. This identifier individualizes the researcher, preventing problems with ambiguities in entries and spellings of the same name. The ORCID record can be obtained free of charge at http://orcid.org.

ORIGINALITY: Articles submitted to Psi Unisc must not have been published elsewhere and cannot be simultaneously submitted or published in another scientific or research publication, in order to ensure the originality and uniqueness of the publications. Psi Unisc is not currently accepting submissions of pre-print articles.

ETHICAL CONDUCT AND GOOD PUBLICATION PRACTICES: Psi Unisc adopts the ethical guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and the Forum of Human, Social, Applied Social Sciences, Linguistics, Letters, and Arts (FCHSSALLA). These guidelines establish standards of integrity, transparency, and responsibility in scientific production. The journal repudiates unethical practices and requires that all sources used be duly referenced. Non-conformities identified during the evaluation process will be questioned and, if confirmed, will result in the rejection and archiving of the manuscript.

Manuscripts must be original, free of plagiarism, self-plagiarism (parts of the text cannot have been previously published), and duplicate submission. To ensure originality, the journal uses the Similarity Check (iThenticate) tool.

It is also required that all authors have effectively contributed to the research and writing, in accordance with the CRediT taxonomy. Submission implies agreement with three conditions: acceptance of the peer-review process, declaration of any potential conflicts of interest, and compliance with ethical principles in data handling.

RESEARCH ETHICS: Research involving human subjects that has been approved by the Research Ethics Committee may submit the approval opinion as a supplementary document, although this is not mandatory for manuscript submission. However, authors are required to describe in the article how they implemented the ethical principles and precautions that underpinned the research, in accordance with a note from the National Association for Research and Graduate Studies in Psychology (ANPEPP) (Fórum de Ética).

Research Data: Psi Unisc requires that manuscripts clearly indicate the data supporting the results. Whenever possible, datasets should be deposited in trusted repositories (with DOI or persistent identifier) and cited in the references according to APA 7th edition.

In cases where data cannot be made available due to ethical or confidentiality issues, authors must justify this in the manuscript and provide minimum information that allows the reproducibility of the study

FUNDING: If the manuscript is the result of research funded by public or private entities, this information must be provided on the cover page, but not in the manuscript, at the time of submission.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST: Authors, reviewers, and editors must declare any interest, financial or otherwise, that could influence the preparation, evaluation, or judgment of the manuscript. It is the authors' responsibility to disclose potential conflicts on the title page at the time of submission. Reviewers must inform the editors of any situation that compromises their impartiality. In case of doubt, it is recommended to contact the editorial team. Preferably, the absence of conflicts of interest is expected.

3. MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

SUBMISSION METADATA: Must be filled in correctly and completely, including the name, institution/affiliation, ORCID, country, and a brief biography of all manuscript authors. The title, abstract, keywords, and references must conform to the chosen manuscript type. It is also mandatory to correctly and completely fill in the area and subarea of knowledge, the language, and funding agencies (if any). The identified cover page (template) must be attached as a supplementary document. The journal is not responsible for corrections or updates to this information after the issue is published.

IDENTIFICATION: It is essential that the submitted manuscript does not contain any form of author identification, including references to the author(s)' previous work, institutional affiliations, and data present in the document's properties. Elements that could reveal authorship must be removed, using expressions such as "XXX University" or "at XXX School". Submissions accepted for publication will later have the opportunity to include the suppressed data in the final version.

SUPPLEMENTARY DOCUMENTS: The following must be submitted as a supplementary document:

IDENTIFIED COVER PAGE (mandatory): According to the template. Cover Page Template.

RESEARCH ETHICS COMMITTEE APPROVAL: Please refer to the section on research ethics, as described in item 2 of the General Submission Guidelines.

4. MANUSCRIPT FORMATTING

GENERAL ELEMENTS: The article's elements must be presented in the following order: Title; Abstracts in the three languages and keywords; Introduction; Methodology; Results and Discussion; Final Considerations and References. As per the Template.

ARTICLE TITLE: Must contain a maximum of 12 words and be written the first time it appears in the language of the document, followed by the title in the other languages (Portuguese, Spanish, and English, in that order). Central alignment, bold, and with title case letters.

ABSTRACT: The title (Resumo, Resumen, or Abstract) must be in bold and centered, with no indentation. The font used is Times New Roman, size 12, single-spaced, and justified alignment. The abstract must include the following items with their respective subtitles: Introduction, Objectives, Method, Results (main results), and Conclusion (how the results contributed to the study's objectives and to the advancement of knowledge in the area). The abstracts in Spanish and English must be faithful translations of the abstract in Portuguese, preserving the original content and adapting to the grammatical style of the languages.

Keywords: Below each abstract, list three to five keywords in lowercase letters, separated by semicolons, in the respective language, using the controlled vocabulary DeCS - Health Sciences Descriptors.

RESUMEN AND ABSTRACT: The abstracts in Spanish and English must remain faithful to the content of the Portuguese abstract, without, however, being a literal translation. It is necessary for the versions in other languages to preserve the original meaning while conforming to the grammatical and stylistic norms of each language.

BODY OF TEXT: The entire document must be written in this format: A4 size paper (21 x 29.7cm), with 2.5 cm margins on all sides of the page; titles and subtitles must be centered and in bold, with only the first letter capitalized, with 6pt spacing before and 6pt after. Pages should not be numbered. The font must be Times New Roman, 12, single line spacing, and justified alignment. The first line of text must have an indentation of 1.27cm. The subsections of the body of the text do not each start on a new page, and titles should not be isolated at the end of the page; they must be accompanied by text. For the manuscript formatting to be in accordance with the required guidelines, the use of the template is essential.

FIGURES AND TABLES: Must follow APA standards (7th edition, 2020). Tables should be created in the word processor itself, with Times New Roman font, size 12, left-aligned, numbered sequentially, and inserted immediately after their first mention in the text, separated by a blank line and with single spacing. Avoid references such as "the table above"; always use the table number.

Figures include graphs, charts, photos, drawings, or illustrations, and must have a number (in bold), a title (in italics, on the line below with double spacing), the image, and notes. Use a sans-serif font for elements within the graphics, avoid colors, and ensure clarity and legibility.

The specifications for creating tables and figures are described in more detail in the template.

REFERENCES: the list of references must follow the standards of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition (APA, 2020) and strictly follow the guidelines contained in the  template.

MANUSCRIPT EVALUATION PROCESS

The evaluation of articles, from submission to the final process, follows the following flow:

INITIAL ANALYSIS: Articles received are initially reviewed by the editorial team to verify compliance with publication standards and suitability for the Focus and Scope of Psi Unisc. They are then submitted to the Similarity Check tool, provided by iThenticate, and the abstract keywords are verified in the DeCS (Health Sciences Descriptors). When adjustments to the standards are necessary, the authors are contacted. If the initial evaluation considers the manuscript inappropriate in terms of focus and scope, ethical criteria, or text quality, the article will be rejected and archived, with formal communication to the authors within 30 days.

EXTERNAL EVALUATION: Articles approved in the initial screening are forwarded to two external reviewers, chosen for their recognized experience and knowledge in the subject area. These reviewers, from national and international teaching and research institutions, hold doctoral degrees and specializations in areas aligned with the focus and scope of Psi Unisc, ensuring scientific rigor and quality in the evaluation. The process follows a double-blind review format, preserving the identity of authors and reviewers. Before accepting the task, reviewers are consulted regarding their availability and, if accepted, have 15 days to confirm their participation and 30 days to complete the evaluation. In case of divergent opinions, the editorial team will evaluate the arguments presented by both reviewers to deliberate on the editorial decision. If the impasse remains, a third evaluation may be requested. If a reviewer refuses the task, the editorial team will make a new request for evaluation.

*Although the editorial policy establishes deadlines for the submission of reviews, reviewers do not always agree to write reviews or are unable to meet the established deadlines, which can cause the time required to complete the review to vary significantly.

REVIEW REPORT: The review is recorded on a specific form where, after a thorough review of the manuscript, the reviewer indicates one of the following recommendations: reject, publish, publish with major revisions, or submit to another journal. In all cases, the authors are notified. When major revisions are requested, they receive the manuscript along with the review reports to make the necessary modifications.

FINAL VERSION: The revised version of the manuscript is re-evaluated by the editorial team, which verifies compliance with the required revisions and the overall formatting of the article. They may request additional adjustments from the authors, who must complete them within seven days. If there are no pending changes suggested by the external reviewers, the acceptance is communicated to the authors, and the text is forwarded for final editing.

DOI (Digital Object Identifier): The DOI, which ensures a unique, permanent, and traceable identification of the article in digital environments, will be assigned only to the final version approved for publication, allowing for precise citation and reliable access to the content.