Robert M. Arkin (Ohio State University) became Editor of Basic and Applied Social Psychology on January 1, 2003. Manuscripts should be submitted to his Editorial Office (Ms. Jamie Bergman, Editorial Associate) at the following address:
Robert M. Arkin, Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, 100a Lazenby Hall, 1835 Neil Avenue Mall, Columbus, OH 43210-1287.
The electronic submission should be sent by e-mail to BASP@OSU.EDU; PDF format is preferred but any standard word processing format should be acceptable (ideally, sent as rich text format, RTF). Prepare manuscripts according to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Double-space all parts of the manuscript (i.e., title, abstract, text, transcripts, quotes, endnotes, references).
Please also see the separate instructions for submitting papers to BASP and direct all inquiries about new submission to Robert Arkin.
Editorial (Volume 27, Number 1)
March, 2005
This is only the second issue of Basic and Applied Social Psychology to include articles accepted during my two years serving as Editor. I want to take this opportunity to thank the more than 260 individuals who have reviewed articles for the journal during 2003 and 2004. I have been immensely impressed and gratified with the generosity of these reviewers, who have been thoughtful, thorough, and astute in assessing the merits of the manuscripts submitted to the journal and supportive of the efforts of the authors. The names of the reviewers up to December 1, 2004, to whom I am so indebted, appear elsewhere in this issue of the journal. Thank you!
I also want to thank Michael J. Strube, who served as Editor for the prior six years. Many times over people have said what a fine job he did with this journal and, while the high standard made me anxious, Mike also created a reputation for the journal from which I have benefitted immensely. The flow of submissions during the past two years has remained at the level achieved during Mike's tenure and the quality of the work continues to be excellent. Mike also gave me teriffic advice and smoothed the transition in many ways. His dedication is also reflected in his generous willingness to continue serving as a member of the Editorial Board for the journal.
The members of the new Editorial Board are also listed elsewhere in this issue of the journal. This impressive list of individuals reflects those who have provided heroic service to the journal during the past year and those who have agreed to serve as well in the new year. This is also an opportunity to welcome the two Associate Editors who are joining me on January 1, 2005. Kathryn Oleson (Reed College) and Duane Wegener (Purdue University) are both friends and respected colleagues. I am delighted that they will share in the work, of course, but I am also delighted that they will bring their values and their expertise to bear on the manuscripts when I ask them to serve as decision editor.
There are few changes in the journal in addition to the appointment of Associate Editors, but these changes are important and add materially both to efficiency and, one hopes, impact. First, we have successfully implemented a system of electronic submission and review of manuscripts. It has worked very well for the past two years, with only the occasionally hiccup. With the editorial transition now complete, this efficiency also permits us to improve turnaround during this year. Like other journals have experienced, the change has enabled a geographically diverse editorial board, base of reviewers, as well as the standard diverse set of manuscripts. The page allocation for 2005 has been increased 25% by the publisher, in order to catch-up and keep publication lag to a minimum. Last, another change also permits the publication of additional papers. The new category of brief reports (manuscripts less than 5,000 words) is another change that has proved very successful. The new category of submissions merely acknowledges that some manuscripts (likely reporting one study) have a different objective than longer manuscripts. We recognize the different objectives of "brief reports" at the point of submission and throughout the review process. This change toward including brief reports has not only been successful recently in other journals, but it also reflects my own nostalgia for the early days and initial purposes of the journal PSPB, which sought to publish interesting empirical work that was short and sweet, often provocative and generally a pleasure to read. In keeping with the premium to be placed on this sort of paper, and the longer papers, we will make no distinction in the Table of Contents of the journal between longer papers and briefer reports. The standards for both will remain high for both types of papers. The mix of regular length and brief reports permits more papers to be published in each issue, which is a good thing. For instance, the nine articles in this issue include a mix of six regular length papers and three brief reports (and I would expect a similar mix for the future).
I am pleased with the first issue of Volume 27 (2005) of Basic and Applied Social Psychology. These nine articles are excellent and the journal is thriving. I encourage continued submission of your best work. Papers submitted to the journal vary widely. Some reflect a very applied focus, others are highly theoretical, but the majority reflects the blend that is in the mainstream of social psychology. The newly revised Contributor Information description appears on the inside back cover of the journal and on the Erlbaum Associates web site.
Bob Arkin
December, 2004