Scope of Manuscripts

The Harvard Review of Psychiatry is a bimonthly journal that publishes scholarly papers on a wide variety of topics of interest to clinicians. It includes the following types of articles:

Reviews. Reviews summarize and synthesize the literature on various topics in a rigorous, scholarly, and clinically relevant fashion. These topics may include psychotic disorders, mood disorders, personality disorders, substance use disorders, anxiety disorders, neuroscience, child psychiatry, geriatric psychiatry, psychological aspects of psychiatry, legal and policy issues in psychiatry, and other subjects relevant to clinicians.

Perspectives. Perspectives provide an overview of an area of interest to clinicians and in which there is controversy or only limited literature. Authors should be experts who can provide both a synthetic review of the existing literature and a particular clinical perspective derived from their expertise.

Columns. Columns present a well-argued, thoughtful point of view on a focused topic. They should cite relevant literature that supports the author's viewpoint, as well as literature that may conflict with it. Columns may include clinical case material.

Clinical challenges. Clinical challenges present a clinical case report and are followed by expert discussion of the case from multiple perspectives. These cases present diagnostic or treatment challenges, or highlight a current debate in the field. Prospective authors should contact David Brendel, MD, PhD, Deputy Editor (email: dbrendel@partners.org; telephone: 617-855-3498).

Letters to the editor. Letters that comment on articles published in the Harvard Review of Psychiatry will be considered for publication.

Length. Reviews, perspectives, and clinical challenges should not exceed 7,500 words excluding references, tables, and figures. Columns should be approximately 3,000 words. Letters should not exceed 750 words, including references, and should include no tables or figures.

Submission of Manuscripts

Peer review. All manuscripts are peer reviewed, and letters commenting on published articles are sent to the author(s) for response. The Editors notify the corresponding author when a decision regarding acceptance has been made. Accepted manuscripts and letters are edited for clarity and for conformity to the Review's style. The journal uses a masked reviewing system. Therefore, the title page of the manuscript should omit the authors' names and affiliations, but should include the title of the manuscript and its date of submission. Authors should make every effort to ensure that neither the manuscript text nor the electronic file contains clues to their identities.

Preparation of Manuscripts

General information. Manuscript and other requirements conform to the "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals" established by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (N Engl J Med 1991;324:424-8). Submitting the materials in the correct format will expedite the review process and prevent unnecessary delay in publication. All major parts of the manuscript (title page, abstract, text, acknowledgments, references, tables, and legends for illustrations) must be typed double-spaced in 12-point type. All four margins must be at least 1 inch, and the right-hand margin should be unjustified (ragged). The manuscript should be arranged in the following order: title page, abstract and key words, text, references. Figures, figure legends, and tables should be uploaded as separate documents. Start each section on a new page. All pages must be numbered, beginning with the title page. If a running head is used, it must not include authors' names.

Cover Letter. The cover letter should include: (1) the article title, which should be concise but informative; (2) the authors' first and last names, academic degrees, and primary institutional affiliation(s); (3) the full address, telephone number, and fax number of the author who is to receive reprint requests (email address optional); (4) acknowledgments, including grant support (granting agency and grant number) and drug company support of any kind; (5) the name, location, and date of any meetings at which the submitted manuscript has been presented; (6) a statement indicating that the manuscript represents original material, has not been previously published, and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Abstract. The abstract should not exceed 200 words. Below the abstract provide three to ten key words or phrases to assist indexers. The words or phrases should preferably be taken from the MeSH headings used for indexing articles in PubMed.

References. Identify references in the text, tables, and legends by Arabic numbers as superscripts, and number references in the order in which they first occur in the text. (Do not arrange them alphabetically by author.) Key in the subscripts and the reference list at the end of the text; do not use your word processor's footnote or endnote feature for this purpose. Double-space the reference list. Use the style of the examples below, abbreviating journal titles according to Index Medicus. List all authors, but if the number exceeds six, give the first six names followed by "et al." Unpublished observations, unpublished manuscripts, and personal communications may not be included in the reference list. However, references to written, not oral, communications may be inserted in parentheses in the text. Articles in press may be cited in the reference list, with the name of the publication included. Authors of submitted manuscripts are responsible for verifying references against the original documents.

Reference examples: 1. Black DW, Noyes R Jr, Goldstein RB, Blum N. A family study of obsessive compulsive disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1992;49:362-8.
2. Mavissakalian M. Differential efficacy between tricyclic antidepressants and behavior therapy of panic disorder. In: Ballenger JC, ed. Clinical aspects of panic disorder. New York: Wiley-Liss, 1990:211-8.
3. Talbott JA, Hales RE, Yudofsky SC, eds. The American Psychiatric Press textbook of psychiatry. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press, 1988.

Tables and figures. Tables and figures should not duplicate text material. They should be cited in the text and numbered sequentially in the order that they are mentioned in the text. Type each table double-spaced as a separate document, preferably using Microsoft Excel. Supply a brief title for each table and a short heading for each column. Use footnotes for explanatory matter, including explanations of abbreviations in the tables. Figures should consist of publication-ready digital files. Letters, numbers, and symbols should be clearly legible and of sufficient size that, when reduced for publication, each item will still be legible. The font should preferably be Times New Roman. All figures for the same article should be prepared using the same typeface and approximately the same type size. The heading for the vertical axis of a graph should run along the axis, and headings for the horizontal axis should appear below that axis, not at the top of the graph. Do not extend the vertical or horizontal axis of a graph beyond the point needed for the data shown. Place the key, if used, within or above the figure so that it does not widen the figure. Numerical data that can be expressed more succinctly in tabular form should be converted to tables.

Illustrations. Digital files are should follow these guidelines: a) 300 dpi or higher, b) sized to fit on journal page, c) EPS, TIFF, or PSD format only, d) submitted as separate files, not embedded in text files. Color photographs and illustrations will be considered for publication; however, the author will be required to bear the full cost involved in their printing and publication. The charge for the first page with color is $1000.00. The next three pages with color are $500.00 each. A custom quote will be provided for color art totaling more than 4 journal pages. The publisher has the right to refuse publication of color prints deemed unacceptable.

Legends. Titles, detailed explanations for figures (in the form of footnotes), and explanations of any superscript letters or abbreviations used in figures belong in the legend, not on the illustrations themselves. Legends for figures should be typed double-spaced on a separate page, but submitted as the same file.

Abbreviations. Abbreviations may be used but (1) should be employed only for terms appearing repeatedly throughout the manuscript, (2) must be spelled out the first time they appear in the text, and (3) must be consistent throughout the manuscript. Abbreviations may not be used in the title and should be avoided, if possible, in the abstract. Employ standard abbreviations if they exist.

Drug names. Generic rather than trade names of drugs should be used, although trade names may be mentioned in parentheses in the first text reference to the drug.

Other Requirements

Transfer of Copyright and Disclosure of Commercial Interests. For a manuscript to be published in the Harvard Review of Psychiatry, copyright must be assigned to the President and Fellows of Harvard College. An Assignment of Copyright form may be downloaded from our website under the "Corresponding Author Dashboard," but the completed form must be faxed to 617 855-3740.

Prior to publication, authors will also be required to disclose any affiliations with, or financial involvement (e.g., employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, expert testimony) in, any organization or entity with a direct financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. A Disclosure of Commercial Interests form is appended to our Assignment of Copyright form and all authors must complete and sign it as well. In addition, any relevant financial support of the authors' research must be identified in an acknowledgment in the manuscript.

Affirmation of authorship. All persons designated as authors must qualify for authorship. Authorship credit should be based only on substantial contributions to (1) conception and design, or analysis and interpretation of data, (2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content, and (3) final approval of the submitted version. All three conditions must be met. General supervision of the research group or participation solely in the acquisition of funding or the collection of data does not justify authorship. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the content, and the authors are responsible for all statements made in their work, including any changes made by the editorial office that have been approved by the corresponding author. Individuals who contribute to the manuscript but who do not meet authorship requirements may be cited in an acknowledgment if their permission for such citation is obtained.

Prior and duplicate publication. When a manuscript is submitted, the cover letter must include a statement indicating that the manuscript represents original material, has not been previously published, and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Except for abstracts of less than 400 words, any form of publication, including components of symposia, proceedings, books or book chapters, or reports of any kind, constitutes prior publication. Press reports of meetings will not usually be considered a breach of this rule, but such reports should not be amplified with additional data or with copies of tables or illustrations. Authors should notify the Editors if the manuscript contains data that have been used in published articles, in articles that are in press, or in manuscripts that have been or will soon be submitted for publication. The authors should include copies of such material with the submitted manuscript and should explain the differences between the manuscripts.

Reproduction. Authors retain the right to use the work that they have submitted in other publications written or edited by them, in any medium, provided that the Harvard Review of Psychiatry is acknowledged as the original place of publication, that the President and Fellows of Harvard College are acknowledged as the owners of the copyright, and that the publisher, Informa Healthcare, is notified of any republication.

Informed consent. Manuscripts must be accompanied by a statement that informed consent was obtained from human subjects. Authors should protect patient anonymity by avoiding the use of patients' names or initials, hospital number, or other identifying information. This form is available on our website under the "Corresponding Author Dashboard."

Reprints. The Publisher shall provide each corresponding author with 1 electronic PDF copy of their article. The Publisher shall also provide the opportunity for contributors to buy offprints or reprints of their article, as well as complete copies of the issue, at the page proof stage of production.