Article Type

Manuscript Types & Scientific Article Requirements

Article Types

Sinergi International Journal of Psychology prioritizes original research that demonstrates clear scientific novelty, methodological rigor, and a substantive contribution to clinical psychology, social psychology, developmental psychology, educational psychology, organizational psychology, counseling, mental health, psychological assessment, behavioral science, community psychology, and related fields.

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PRIORITY METHODOLOGICAL RIGOR ETHICAL REPORTING REQUIRED

The journal gives priority to original research articles. Review articles, psychological case studies, and short communications are accepted selectively when they are strongly aligned with the journal's Focus and Scope and provide clear theoretical, empirical, clinical, behavioral, social, educational, organizational, or community-based contributions.

Core Scientific Requirements

Regardless of manuscript type, articles should demonstrate the following core elements:

✓ Clear psychological problem and scientific significance ✓ Adequate state of the art
✓ Explicit research gap / novelty justification ✓ Clearly stated research objective
✓ Appropriate psychological, psychometric, experimental, qualitative, or mixed method ✓ Findings, interpretation, and conclusion supported by evidence
Editorial Priority: Manuscripts without a clear state of the art, research gap or justification of novelty, explicit research objective, appropriate psychological methodology, and adequate analytical or psychometric validation may receive lower editorial priority or be returned before peer review.
1 Original Research Article PRIMARY TYPE

Original Research Articles are the primary and preferred manuscript type. They must report original findings derived from a systematic research process and demonstrate a clear contribution to psychological theory, behavior, mental health, assessment, intervention, social processes, development, education, organizations, or community well-being.

Required characteristics:

  • Relevant psychological, behavioral, clinical, social, developmental, educational, organizational, or community background and clearly defined research problem;
  • Adequate review of current scholarship, psychological theories, interventions, or state of the art;
  • Explicit identification of the research gap;
  • Clear justification of novelty or scientific contribution;
  • Explicit research objective(s), research question(s), or hypotheses where appropriate;
  • Appropriate and sufficiently described quantitative, qualitative, mixed-method, experimental, correlational, longitudinal, psychometric, survey, intervention, or other relevant psychological method;
  • Clear description of participants, sampling, inclusion criteria, psychological constructs, instruments, procedures, interventions, and analytical techniques where applicable;
  • Adequate evidence of instrument validity and reliability, or appropriate justification of qualitative rigor, where applicable;
  • Clear presentation of findings supported by appropriate statistical, behavioral, psychometric, clinical, qualitative, or observational evidence;
  • Critical analysis and comparison with relevant psychological theories and previous research; and
  • Conclusion that directly responds to the research objective and explains relevant theoretical, clinical, educational, organizational, social, or community implications.
Recommended Structure:
Introduction → Methods → Results → Discussion → Conclusion → Declarations → References
2 Review Article SELECTIVE

Review Articles are considered selectively and must provide a comprehensive, critical, and original synthesis of a clearly defined body of literature in clinical, social, developmental, educational, organizational, counseling, community, behavioral, or other areas of psychology.

A high-quality review article should:

  • Present a clearly defined review question or analytical objective;
  • Explain the literature-search and selection approach;
  • Use adequate, relevant, and sufficiently current references;
  • Critically compare previous psychological theories, constructs, assessment approaches, interventions, behavioral models, and empirical findings;
  • Identify inconsistencies, methodological limitations, population differences, measurement issues, intervention challenges, and research gaps;
  • Provide original analysis or synthesis by the authors; and
  • Develop a research agenda, conceptual framework, psychological model, intervention synthesis, or substantive conclusion.
Not Acceptable: A literature review that only summarizes previous psychological theories, studies, interventions, assessment tools, or publications without critical appraisal, synthesis, or an original scholarly contribution.
3 Psychological Case Study LIMITED

Psychological Case Studies are considered when the case provides significant clinical, counseling, developmental, educational, organizational, social, or community relevance and offers transferable insights for psychological theory or practice.

A Psychological Case Study must include:

✓ Clear psychological or clinical objective ✓ Case-selection and contextual justification
✓ Appropriate assessment, intervention, or analytical approach ✓ Outcomes and substantive interpretation
✓ Comparison with relevant psychological literature ✓ Clear theoretical, clinical, educational, or practical contribution
Not Acceptable: Anecdotal client or participant narratives, counseling-session descriptions, behavioral observations, or intervention stories without a clear psychological objective, systematic assessment, evidence-based interpretation, ethical reporting, and scholarly contribution.
4 Short Communication LIMITED

A Short Communication presents concise but important original findings, preliminary psychological evidence, emerging behavioral patterns, psychometric findings, mental-health observations, intervention results, organizational or educational psychology insights, or timely psychological phenomena relevant to the journal's scope.

Although shorter than a full Original Research Article, a Short Communication must still contain sufficient scientific and analytical substance and demonstrate a clear contribution to psychological knowledge or practice.

Minimum Scientific Elements:
Objective Method Results Psychological Interpretation Conclusion

Manuscript Type Priority

Manuscript Type Journal Priority Main Requirement
Original Research Article HIGH Original findings + research gap + novelty + psychological method + analytical or psychometric rigor
Review Article SELECTIVE Comprehensive review + critical appraisal + theoretical synthesis + original analysis
Psychological Case Study LIMITED Objective + case justification + assessment/intervention method + outcomes + interpretation
Short Communication LIMITED Concise but complete evidence, psychological interpretation, and scientific relevance

Manuscripts Not Considered

  • Purely descriptive psychology articles without substantive analysis;
  • Opinion articles without a clear scholarly method or evidence base;
  • Literature summaries without critical synthesis;
  • Psychological surveys that only report frequencies or percentages without adequate theoretical framing and analytical interpretation;
  • Scale-development or adaptation studies without adequate validity, reliability, factor-structure, or psychometric evaluation;
  • Intervention studies without clear intervention procedures, comparison or evaluation strategy, outcome measures, and analytical interpretation;
  • Clinical or counseling case narratives without systematic assessment, ethical safeguards, evidence-based interpretation, and scholarly contribution;
  • Studies that use psychological constructs without clear operational definitions or appropriate measurement;
  • Correlational studies that imply causal relationships without an appropriate design and supporting evidence;
  • Qualitative psychological studies without transparent sampling, data collection, coding, interpretation, and trustworthiness procedures;
  • Behavioral or mental-health claims based solely on anecdotal observations or unsupported interpretation;
  • Conference abstracts submitted without substantial development;
  • Articles outside the journal's Focus and Scope;
  • Previously published manuscripts; and
  • Manuscripts simultaneously submitted to another publication.
Editorial Principle

The journal prioritizes original research that advances psychological theory, behavioral understanding, mental-health knowledge, assessment, intervention, and evidence-based psychological practice. Non-original research formats are considered selectively and must demonstrate clear scientific objectives, methodological rigor, analytical depth, ethical reporting, originality, meaningful theoretical or practical implications, and strong alignment with the journal's Focus and Scope.