Formatting Guidelines – Detailed Instructions

The editorial team currently accepts only electronic submissions via email (kocsel.natalia@ppk.elte.hu), in DOCX format. Please use Times New Roman, 12-point font, with 1.5 line spacing. We recommend utilizing the manuscript template available on our website.

Length Requirements

Empirical Studies: Original research, re-analyses, or meta-analyses summarizing previous research (max length: 60,000 characters, including spaces, abstract, references, and appendices).
Workshops: Presentation of research or practical workshop activities, best practices, training programs, and/or impact assessments (max length: 80,000 characters, including spaces, abstract, references, and appendices).
Theoretical Summaries: Summaries or systematic reviews of the most relevant and up-to-date knowledge on applied psychology topics (max length: 20,000–40,000 characters, including spaces, abstract, references, and appendices).
Methodology: Presentation of research strategies, methods, and tools; questionnaire adaptation experiences, data analysis techniques, and methods not widely known or available in Hungary (max length: 40,000 characters, including spaces, abstract, references, and appendices).
Book Reviews, Conference Reports: Reviews of relevant national and international publications, with a focus on critical evaluations, summaries, and assessments of major conferences (max length: 15,000 characters, including spaces, abstract, references, and appendices).
Announcements: Limited to 5,000 characters, including spaces, abstract, references, and appendices, for greetings and reports.

Title System

Apart from the main title and any possible subtitle, the study should include no more than four additional title levels (see below). Internal titles should be as concise as possible! In print, the title levels are primarily indicated by typographic means. Other hierarchical indicators (e.g., numbering: 1, 1.1, 1.2, …) should only be used when necessary. The internal title structure of studies is typographically differentiated as follows:

1st level: SMALL CAPS
2nd level: bold
3rd level: italic
4th level: regular

Please DO NOT apply styling to subtitles in the studies!

Paragraphs

In the manuscript, clearly indicate the boundaries of each paragraph with a line break! Please do not use indentation or tabs at the beginning of paragraphs.

Emphasis

Emphasized text should be highlighted using italics (not boldface). Always italicize references to figures, images, and tables in the main text (including the number, but without suffixes, e.g., figure, in Table 6). Italicize the titles of books, volumes, and journals in both the main text and bibliography. Foreign technical terms are generally italicized as well.

According to publishing practice regarding suffixed terms:

The suffix attached to an italicized word should also be italicized if the primary purpose of the emphasis is to convey the content or rhetorical emphasis of the term(s).
Do not italicize the suffix if the emphasis is used to provide a (conceptual) definition or refer to a specific concept, object, or person.
In cases of overlap, the dominant writing style is applied.
If the emphasized section is enclosed within paired punctuation (quotation marks, parentheses) and is entirely italicized, then the paired punctuation marks should also be italicized.

Bulleted Lists

Bulleted items can be identified using letters, numbers, or graphic symbols. For structures with more than two levels, using graphic symbols is not recommended. Instead of a complex numbering system (e.g., 1.1.2.5., ...), it is preferable to establish a hierarchy of different indicators. The usual order (from outer to inner levels) is as follows: Roman numerals → Arabic numerals → uppercase letters → lowercase letters → Greek letters. Letters should always be followed by a closing parenthesis, while numbers should be followed by a period. For example: a), b), c) or 1., 2., 3. The structure can also be made clear with varying indentation levels. If the list does not fit into a sentence, do not use punctuation at the end of items. If the list is embedded in a sentence within the main text, please use only numbers to indicate items: (1); (2); (3). End each clause in the list with a semicolon.

Quotations

Generally, the following quotation marks are used: typographic quotes directed clockwise from top to bottom (“ ”) and guillemets (» «). The latter is used for internal quotations. Any additional text should be inserted in square brackets within the quotation, e.g., [emphasis by the author].

Notes and References

For in-text citations, please follow the guidelines of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition (APA 7th). This means using English citation style conventions, such as ‘&’ and ‘et al.’ abbreviations.

Reference example:

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association: The Official Guide to APA Style, Seventh edition, American Psychological Association, 2020.

Use in-text, round-bracket citations, identifying the work by the author(s)’ last name and the year of publication, e.g., (Freeman, 1975), (Gray & McCormic, 1996a), without a period after the year.

For page references, use the following format: (Fine & Ulrich, 1988, p. 13), (Tymchuk, 1981b, pp. 12–74).
When citing multiple works by the same author(s), separate identifiers with a comma: (Galambos, 1992, 1994a, 1994b). For clarity, when page numbers are included, use semicolons instead of commas: (Hull, 1981, pp. 564–566; 1999), (Ricoeur, 1995; 2001, p. 23).
For different authors' works, separate them with a semicolon: (Scheier & Carver, 1983; Carver & Scheier, 1998), (Russell, 1968, 1976; Schank & Abelson, 1977).
For works with two authors, list both names with an “&” between them; for three or more, list only the first author followed by “et al.”

If the authors' names appear in the main text as part of the sentence, only the year is needed in parentheses, e.g., Katz and Frost (1992) argue that…. Place any page or related publication reference at the end of the sentence.

For repeat references to the same work in sequence, use Hungarian abbreviations like uő, uo., i. m., o., ld., vö. When using uo., format it as (Uo.: p. 13).

Use footnotes at the bottom of the page instead of endnotes or chapter-end notes.

Bibliography

In line with APA 7th citation standards:

The bibliography should prioritize the publication year. The unique identifier, derived from the year of publication, translation year, etc., should appear before the title, separated by a period and enclosed in parentheses. Example: [Hesse, H. (1943/2000). The Glass Bead Game.]

The bibliography must meet the following standard formatting and structural requirements:

The author(s), editor(s), etc. (hereafter referred to as creators) should have their surname listed first, followed by their first name, separated by a comma if necessary (especially for foreign-language works by Hungarian and non-Hungarian creators). This applies to the authors of books, volumes, etc., that house the article or study being cited.
First names should be abbreviated to initials. For example: (Badiani, A., Browman, K. E., & Robinson, E.)
Unlike in parenthetical citations, the names of all authors of the work should be listed in the bibliography. The abbreviation "et al." is not allowed in the bibliography.
Works (books, studies, etc.) are ordered alphabetically by the surname of the first author. When multiple works by the same author are listed, works with fewer authors appear before those with more.

Example:

Golden, G. K.
Golden, G. K., & Kevin, S.
Golden, G. K., Anthony, E. J., & Kevin, S.
According to the 7th edition of the APA Manual, for up to 20 authors, each author is listed in the references.
Works by the same author(s) are arranged in chronological order. If the years are the same, titles are listed alphabetically, with an additional lowercase letter (e.g., 1967a, 1967b) to differentiate them.
In the bibliography, unlike in the main text and footnote citations, the "p." abbreviation following page numbers is omitted.

Typographical Requirements for the Bibliography:

Author(s)' names should be in regular font, and the publication year should follow in regular parentheses, also in regular font. For editors, the last name and the parentheses are followed by the term "(Ed.)" or "(Eds.)" in regular font.
The title of a published book should be italicized; article, study, manuscript titles, etc., should be in regular font.
A period follows the book title, except if the title ends with punctuation.

Books

For books, the publisher's name must always be provided. All data, except for the title, should be in regular font. If page numbers are included, the place of publication should be followed by a period, regular numbers, and a dash. The line should end with a period.

Examples:

Christian, B., & Griffiths, T. (2016). Algorithms to live by: The computer science of human decisions. Henry Holt and Co.
Pridham, K. F., Limbo, R., & Schroeder, M. (Eds.). (2018). Guided participation in pediatric nursing practice: Relationship-based teaching and learning with parents, children, and adolescents. Springer Publishing Company.

Bibliography Data:

Include the following details in the bibliography if applicable:

Volume number, part number, edition number, or series number if it’s a multi-volume work. The volume number should be indicated in the format "1–n", where n is the last volume number.
The volume number and series number are placed directly after the title.
For Hungarian works, use the term "kiadás" (edition), while for English or foreign-language works, the abbreviation "ed." (edition) is used. When providing the series number, use the English format (see below).

Example:

Brown, L. S. (2018). Feminist therapy (2nd ed.). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000092-000

For journal articles or parts of a series, such as in the following example:

Takács, E. (1984d). Anyanyelvünk érdemjegyei (1–2. rész). Köznevelés, 40(35), 15.; 40(36), 15.

Book Chapter:

When referencing a chapter in an edited book, you must include the phrase "In" followed by the book details as previously outlined. The page range of the chapter should appear after the book title, in parentheses, with "p." or "pp.".

Example:

Balsam, K. F., Martell, C. R., Jones, K. P., & Safren, S. A. (2019). Affirmative cognitive behavior therapy with sexual and gender minority people. In G. Y. Iwamasa & P. A. Hays (Eds.), Culturally responsive cognitive behavior therapy: Practice and supervision (2nd ed., pp. 287–314). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000119012

Journal Article:

For journal articles, include the full journal title, volume number (in italics), issue number (if applicable), and the page range of the article, all separated by commas. The journal name and volume number should be italicized, while the issue number and page range should be in regular font.

Examples:

McCauley, S. M., & Christiansen, M. H. (2019). Language learning as language use: A cross-linguistic model of child language development. Psychological Review, 126(1), 1–51. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000126
Burin, D., Kilteni, K., Rabuffetti, M., Slater, M., & Pia, L. (2019). Body ownership increases the interference between observed and executed movements. PLOS ONE, 14(1), Article e0209899. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209899

Conference Proceedings:

For a paper presented at a conference, include the details of the presentation, such as the title, event, date, and location. If the material is later published, refer to the publication details.

Example:

Fistek, A., Jester, E., & Sonnenberg, K. (2017, July 12–15). Everybody’s got a little music in them: Using music therapy to connect, engage, and motivate [Conference session]. Autism Society National Conference, Milwaukee, WI, United States. https://asa.confex.com/asa/2017/webprogramarchives/Session9517.html

If the material has been published in print, provide the bibliographic information and mention the conference in brackets.

Manuscripts and Theses:

For unpublished manuscripts, dissertations, or theses, include the title of the work, the type of document, and the institution.

Examples:

Harris, L. (2014). Instructional leadership perceptions and practices of elementary school leaders [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Virginia.
Hutcheson, V. H. (2012). Dealing with dual differences: Social coping strategies of gifted and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer adolescents [Master’s thesis, The College of William & Mary]. William & Mary Digital Archive. https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/bitstream/handle/10288/16594/HutchesonVirginia2012.pdf
Lippincott, T., & Poindexter, E. K. (2019). Emotion recognition as a function of facial cues: Implications for practice [Manuscript submitted for publication]. Department of Psychology, University of Washington.

Internet References:

For internet sources, include the author, date, title of the page, and the URL.

Examples:

Avramova, N. (2019, January 3). The secret to a long, happy, healthy life? Think age-positive. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/03/health/respect-toward-elderly-leads-to-long-life-intl/index.html
Alsaker, F. D. (2014). Bullying in Kindergarten. http://www.education.com/pdf/kindergarten-bullying/

Numbers and Statistical Data Presentation

According to the APA 7th edition standards:

For values less than 1, always display the leading zero before the decimal point (use a decimal comma for Hungarian articles, and a decimal point for English-language articles).
Round to two decimal places (except for p-values: if the p-value is greater than 0.001, write the exact value; if it is smaller, write p < 0.001).
Display all coefficients necessary for statistical analysis when presenting results.
Italicize the abbreviations of coefficients (e.g., t-value, r, p).
Define any abbreviation that is not a statistical symbol/abbreviation (e.g., ANOVA: analysis of variance).
There should always be one space before and after mathematical symbols (except for the minus sign [-] and the percentage sign [%], as these symbols are attached to the number).

^{2Please refer to}: https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/numbers-statistics-guide.pdf

Summary (Abstract)

The abstract should be structured and followed by a list of 3-6 keywords. Please prepare the abstract and the list of keywords according to the following instructions:

The abstract should not exceed 250 words.
The abstract must be structured with the following sections, and these subtitles should appear in the abstract: Background and Aims, Methods, Results, Conclusions. (Manuscripts presenting non-empirical research may differ in structure.)
The same structure applies to the English abstract (Summary): Background and Aims, Methods, Results, Discussion.
The English abstract should also include the English title at the beginning.
The content of both abstracts must be identical.
The abstract must be understandable on its own, meaning it should define the manuscript’s objectives (Background and Aims) in one or two sentences, present the key elements of the methods used, including the sample, tools, and procedure (Methods), summarize the key findings (Results), and conclude with one or two sentences summarizing the research conclusions (Conclusions).
Keywords: Three to six words or phrases that reflect the content of the study should be provided with the abstract. These keywords help in the creation of the subject index and facilitate easier searches (e.g., PsychInfo, PubMed, etc.).

Other Guidelines

The words "figure," "image," and "table" should always be italicized with the corresponding number, while the titles should be in regular font without punctuation:
- For example:
  - Table 5. Factors explaining development
  - Figure 2. Areas of advisory competence
The title of the table should appear above the table, and the title of the figure should appear below the figure. The figures and tables submitted are part of the manuscript, and they should be displayed in their final positions.
References to tables/figures should be part of the text.
A maximum of four tables/figures can appear in a manuscript.
Figures and tables must be submitted in editable formats (except for scanned images from original sources, but authors should ensure proper resolution in this case).

Image Elements, Tables

Tables in the manuscript must also be in editable formats. If they appear as simple images in the manuscript, please send the editable files separately.
If there are images, photos, maps, graphs, diagrams, or illustrations in the text, please send these illustrations separately (legally compliant) from the manuscript (for images, in their original size, 300 dpi resolution, in .jpg or .tiff format; for figures, diagrams, etc., in PPT, Excel, or Word files, with editable elements).

DOI Identifier

The Applied Psychology journal has a DOI number (Digital Object Identifier). However, to request a DOI for a manuscript submitted for proofreading and publication, it is required that the DOI of all referenced works (if available) be listed in the manuscript’s reference list.
DOIs can typically be found on the publisher's or editorial website, or within the publication itself (usually in the title section, header, or footer). If the DOI is not listed there, it can be found via the Crossref website (https://doi.crossref.org/simpleTextQuery). Here, you can verify whether a work has a DOI by entering its bibliographic details (many publishers retroactively assign DOIs to works, so it is always worth checking).
The DOI should always be listed as a clickable link, in the format "https://doi.org/...".
Please submit the manuscript along with a reference list that includes the DOI identifiers for each item (as shown in the examples above).

Last Updated: September 24, 2024.