About the Journal

Focus and Scope

The Journal of Health Psychology promotes the study and application of scientific psychology on health and physical illness. Journal contents include paper on psychological concomitant to physical illness: etiology, onset, process, experience, treatments, recovery, rehabilitation and prevention; health related quality of life; health attitudes and behavior; individual healthcare system enterprise; communication in health area; health promotion.The Journal consists of three basic sections. Section ‘Original Papers´, where publishes empirical, theoretical or methodoligical studies, and accepts papers that introduce new approaches and interventions related to health psychology. Section ‘Review Papers´, where publishes meta-analysis or or reviews papers. In both sections the journal will publish research or review Works, with proved quality and made by professionals who are postgraduate, master or doctorat students. Section ‘Comments and Retorts’, where publishes critical analysis and comments of health professionals about papers already published that have showed to be especially relevant in health psychology. EDITORIAL AIMS 1) To provide an area of interaction between researchers and practitioners in all areas of health psychology 2) To underline and promote interdisciplinary health problems. 3) To encourage theoretical and empirical studies about application of psychology to health problems through critical discussion and scientific debate. 4) To supply a quick access to relevant information already published, through the second section, to professionals, students and researchers. 5) To offer a tool for initiation into the publication world for the best research work undertaken by health professional who are in training process.

Peer Review Process

All manuscripts will be reviewed anonymously. The authors will make sure that the text does not contain any keys or suggestions that identify them. If there is no other indication, the correspondence will be maintained with the first author. It is advisable to have a contact phone

Aims of comment publication papers

To provided a reflexive analysis about the importance and professional practice implications of the results obtained in a original paper published recently. The original published paper should have an important impact or repercussion in Health Psychology to be used for a comment publication paper.

Ethical and good practices statement

The Editorial team of Revista de Psicología de la Salud – Journal of Health Psychology, declares that the main aim of the journal is the advance and diffusion of the knowledge about Health Psycology. The authors of all published articles assume the responsibility of all the contents of their writings, based always on diverse sources, on originality, rigor, the respect to historical evidences and to the opinions exposed by specialists. The honesty in the treatment of the above-mentioned sources, both primary and secondary, is an essential part of the scientific ethics that assumes and defends this publication.

 

Plagiarism and scientific fraud

Plagiarism is the act of reproducing a text or any other material from other publications without accrediting or quoting adequately the source. It is considered that this material has been plagiarized or copied independently if the text has been modified or paraphrased. The appropriation of works from other authors by presenting them as own it is not a scientific behaviour neither an ethical conduct. Even more, it is considered a serious violation of the ethical procedure of investigation and research procedures. Plagiarism represents a serious ethical violation and can lead to a violation of the copyright if the reproduced or plagiarized material has been published before. Any text detected with evidences of plagiarism and of this fraudulent behaviour will be immediately rejected. The authors who want to do quotes of other published works must mention the whole original complete reference and always include, between quotation marks, any textual quotation. The graphs and the illustrations can be only reproduced with the pertinent authorization. Also, they must be adequately mentioned in the foot of the graph or the illustration, always following the standards specified in our web page.

Scientific fraud is committed when all the participants of the investigation are not recognized properly in the elaboration of the work. Scientific fraud is committed when the work is sent simultaneously to several publications. Finally, also, scientific fraud is committed when the work is divided into different reports that share the same hypotheses and methods or false, distorted, or not proven information or data are used.

The publication of any work that commits an outrage against the rights established in the articles 138 to 143 of the Law 22/11, of November 11, 1987, of Intellectual Property is an exclusive responsibility of the author. The Editorial Team of Revista de Psicología de la Salud – Journal of Health Psychology  is not responsible, in any case, of the credibility and the genuineness of the published works. The Editorial board does not necessarily identify with the opinions expressed in the published works. The authors preserve the copyright of their works without restrictions.

 

Evaluation

In the publication agreement, the authors guarantee that their work is original and that it has not been published in any other place. The results of the research must be expressed in a clear and coherent manner, to allow the analysis and the review and the following investigation. The method of external evaluation is “the double blind” (“el doble ciego”), guaranteeing both, the anonymity of the author and the impartiality of evaluators in their decision. It is the obligation of every author to remake the suggestions and corrections of mistakes that suggest the reports of the texts evaluators, they must also correct and/or retract themselves before possible mistakes are detected later. The evaluators will be responsible of making proposals for improvement in the assigned articles, in an objective and fair manner, using always their approach of their knowledge as recognized specialists. The information that the evaluators will receive by reading the articles must not be spread or used, being this a fundamental commitment when they accept the order of review and evaluation.

Finally, reviewers should point out relevant published work which is not yet cited.

 

Conflict of interests

If the evaluators detect any conflict of interests, they must advise the Editorial Team of the journal to reassign other specialists. In most cases, an individual who is working at the same institution of the author or one of the co-authors of the text is absolutely incapacitated to carry out its evaluation. The editors must monitor the potential conflicts of interests, and they are forced to disqualify themselves whenever a real or apparent conflict arises.

 

Confidentiality

Except in cases where the evaluators explicitly renounce their anonymity with the publisher’s agreement, all the evaluations will be carried out under the conditions of strictest confidentiality. The journal and the editors will not reveal the evaluators identity or the contents of reports and the correspondence derived from the evaluation process itself to any individual external to them. The strictest confidentiality binds the evaluators; neither the manuscripts nor the contents of the correspondence of authors with editors in the evaluation process will be able to be shared by third parties without the written permission of the publishers. Strictly speaking, the authors are not forced by similar requirements (they can choose to ask co-authors and colleagues for advice in the review process of a text once they receive the evaluation reports), but the public spreading of the contents of the evaluation reports and the correspondence with the editing team is not appropriate. Any author who acts in this regard loses his rights to the protection of his privacy by the journal.

 

Commitments of the Editorial Board

The Editorial Team of Revista de Psicología de la Salud – Journal of Health Psychology undertakes to monitor and preserve the ethical principles and the scientific quality of the publication. It has also the responsibility and the authority to accept or to reject an article based on the reviews made by the specialists. It reserves the right to withdraw any received work, accepted or already published in case of plagiarism, scientific fraud, falsification, or duplicated publication. Likewise, it will promote the publication of corrections or retractions against detected errors and detected mistakes. We expect from the different collaborators an understanding of the ethical expectations expressed in the norms, the standards and in this declaration, assuming them as the basic standards among the scientific community of Health Psychology.

 

Sponsors

• Health Psychology Department, Miguel Hernández University, Elche, Spain.
• Society for Advanced Study of Health Psychology. Spain.

Journal History

In 1989 our Journal was born with the intention that was expressed in the presentation we did at that moment, to serve as a common space for students of health psychology and health professionals to exchange information and opinions about the delimitation, definition, development and progress of this work area, as well as to facilitate and promote the study and implementation of the outcomes, principles and methodologies that could be obtained in research on various topics of health sciences. Since then we have published twenty volumes, and nearly two hundred items. If we think that the 38 Division of Health Psychology of the American Psychological Society, was founded 1977, Section of Health Psychology of the British Psychological Society was established in 1986, the European Society of Psychology Health is also established in 1986, and the first issue of the journal "Health Psychology" published in 1982, we will see to what extent the incorporation of the spanish Health Psychology was established almost at the same time that in the US and Europe.Accomplished an important period, and responding to new communication tools, we move on to a computerized form.
After have cancelled the print edition, we start a new era “on line”. Our aim is to consolidate a journal with personality, to serve as rigorous and pragmatic instrument of spreading the reality of Psychology applied to the field of health and disease in Spain and in the world, establishing a meeting point between the health practice world and the psychological research world applied to health issues. To do so, the journal will encourage constructive debate with rigorous scientific criteria that allow the generation of new and fruitful ideas, promoting continuous improvement of knowledge and professional practice.
One of the objectives of this new phase of the Journal of Health Psychology is to socialize the academic, research, projection and teaching experiences, of teachers, students (graduates of undergraduate and graduate students) and professionals, related to health and make contributions to the development of the themes of the field of health psychology. We hope that the works we will continue to publish, now from this platform enable all people who strive to raise levels of research and practice of health psychology, but also in other health sciences, have a high information level conducive to their work.

Welcome to the new era of the Journal of Health Psychology / Journal of Health Psychology.