Psychological Bulletin

Scope

Psychological Bulletin ® publishes evaluative and integrative research reviews and interpretations of issues in scientific psychology. Both qualitative (narrative) and quantitative (meta-analytic) reviews will be considered, depending on the nature of the database under consideration for review. Integrative reviews or research syntheses focus on empirical studies and seek to summarize past research by drawing overall conclusions from many separate investigations that address related or identical hypotheses. A research synthesis typically presents the authors' assessments of the state of knowledge concerning the relations of interest;critical assessments of the strengths and weaknesses in past research; andimportant issues that research has left unresolved, thereby directing future research so it can yield a maximum amount of new information. Both cumulative and historical approaches (i.e., ones that organize a research literature by highlighting temporally unfolding developments in a field) can be used. Integrative research reviews that develop connections between areas of research are particularly valuable. Manuscripts dealing with topics at the interface of psychological sciences and society are welcome, as are evaluations of applied psychological therapies, programs, and interventions. Expository articles may be published if they are deemed accurate, broad, clear, and pertinent. Methodological articles that previously were submitted to Psychological Bulletin should now be submitted to Psychological Methods. Original theoretical articles should be submitted to Psychological Review, even when they include summaries of research. Research syntheses should be submitted to Psychological Bulletin even when they develop integrated theoretical statements.