Acta Psychologica

Acta Psychologica is a peer-reviewed, open access journal publishing high-quality, theoretically informed research across the psychological sciences. The journal prioritizes work that is methodologically rigorous, clearly reported, and makes a transparent contribution to existing psychological knowledge.

The journal welcomes submissions from all areas of psychology, including basic, applied, clinical, social, cultural, developmental, technological, environmental, methodological, and interdisciplinary psychological research. Submissions should be grounded in psychological theory and evidence, use appropriate and transparent methods, and demonstrate a clear contribution to the field.

Subject Sections

Acta Psychologica welcomes submissions in the following subject areas:

• Clinical and Counselling Psychology

• Health Psychology

• Occupational Psychology

• Educational and Developmental Psychology

• Sport and Exercise Psychology

• Forensic Psychology

• Consumer Psychology and Behavior

• Cognition and Neuroscience

• Social Psychology

• Individual Differences and Personality

• Language and Communication

• Psychology and Technology

• Environmental and Agricultural Psychology

• Cultural Psychology and Psychological Anthropology

• Research Methods in Psychology

• Ethics and Integrity in Psychology

Article Types and Research Contributions

The journal seeks:

• Empirical studies with rigorous methodology, appropriate design, and adequate statistical power

• Research that advances, challenges, or meaningfully refines psychological theory or evidence

• Replication studies that are theoretically or methodologically informative

• Systematic reviews and meta-analyses providing critical, integrative insight

• Registered reports with strong theoretical rationale and robust design

• Methodological papers that make a substantive contribution to psychological research practice

• Research on ethics, integrity, transparency, and responsible conduct in psychological science

Submissions should demonstrate a clear, interpretable contribution to psychological science, methodological transparency, and appropriate engagement with relevant literature. We particularly value methodologically strong research, including multi-study designs, diverse or cross-cultural samples, longitudinal or experimental approaches, and appropriate advanced analytical methods.

Acta Psychologica supports open science practices. Authors are encouraged to preregister studies and share data, materials, and code where feasible and ethically appropriate.

Out of Scope

The journal does not typically consider:

• Studies that do not provide a clear and interpretable contribution to existing evidence or theory

• Underpowered or methodologically weak studies

• Studies with insufficient engagement with relevant literature

• Research with limited generalizability or insufficient contextualization within the wider literature

• Scale development or validation studies without substantial theoretical or empirical advancement

• Replication studies lacking clear justification or contribution

• Primarily bibliometric or narrative studies, such as citation analyses, co-authorship networks, or publication-trend analyses

• Studies based mainly on pre-2020 data without clear and compelling justification

Manuscripts of this nature may be more appropriate for the sister journal, Acta Psychologica Reports.

Special Issues

Proposals for special issues should be sent to the Special Issue Editor at [email protected]. Please include “Special Issue Proposal” in the subject line.