Policies and Procedures

Peer Review Process

Scholarly manuscripts are reviewed by at least two reviewers who will provide recommendations to the journal editor for publication. Reviewers' comments are made available to authors. If revisions are recommended, authors are strongly encouraged to revise the paper accordingly and note in detail how each suggestion was addressed in a separate attachment.

Information for Authors

General Submission Rules

  • It is important that manuscripts be well-organized and concise. The development of ideas and concepts should be clear. In general, readers prefer articles that avoid dull, stereotyped writing and the use of scientific jargon. Authors should aim at achieving clear communication of ideas. Generic masculine pronoun or other sexist terminology should be avoided.
  • All manuscripts should be submitted electronically. Double-space all material (including references), all lines of tables (including heads), and extensive quotes. Allow wide margins (at least one inch on all four sides). 
  • Articles should aim for no longer than 30 pages.

Manuscripts should not be submitted concurrently for consideration by another publication.

Formatting Requirements

Tables should be used only where appropriate and should include only essential data. Tables should be understandable as a stand-alone product. All tables should be created using Word Table formats. Columns must have headings, and data should be double-spaced.

If figures are used, authors are responsible for supplying camera-ready art done by commercial artists. Art must be original and of sufficient quality to be photographed clearly. All lines and printing must be in proportion to the text.

References should follow the most recent APA Publication Manual. Authors are requested to check all references for completeness, including the year, volume number, and page numbers for journal citations. It is imperative that authors ensure that all references mentioned in the text are listed in the reference section and vice versa. Where available, DOIs (digital object identifiers) for the references must be provided and hotlinked in the Word document. As a member of CrossRef, our publisher, New Prairie Press, is required to include DOIs. Use CrossRef's free DOI lookup to check your citations.

Articles should be written in the third-person past tense. For other questions of style, consult the most recent APA Publication Manual. This manual is available at most bookstores and libraries. Finally, please double-space all references.

The use of footnotes should be minimized. Each manuscript title and article headings should be as concise as possible, not to exceed 10 words if possible. On a separate page, place the title of the article, the names of the authors, their professional titles, and their institutional affiliations. Double-space all title-page material.

Articles should include an abstract of not more than 150 words. The abstract should express the article's central idea in non-technical language and appear on a page separate from the text. A list of 3 to 5 keywords should be provided directly below the abstract.

Submissions Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions that do not adhere to these guidelines may be returned to the authors.

  1. The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
  2. The submission file is in Microsoft Word or RTF file format.
  3. Where available, URLs and DOIs for the references have been provided.
  4. The text is double-spaced; does not exceed 30 pages, uses a 12-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
  5. The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, which is found in About the Journal.
  6. Author information is removed from the manuscript.
  7. Generative AI use is disclosed.

 

Practitioner's Corner Formatting

To ensure consistency and depth, papers submitted to the Practitioner's Corner should adhere to the following structure:

Introduction (1-2 pages): Provide a brief introduction that describes the need addressed by the technique, intervention, or approach. Explain what specific issue or challenge it aims to resolve.

Theory Section (2-3 pages): This section should be well-supported by references to prior published articles to include:
a. History of the Theory: Outline the historical development of the underlying theory.
b. Theory Concepts: Define and explain the key concepts of the theory.
c. Uses of the Theory: Discuss how the theory has been applied in practice.
d. Criticism of the Theory: Address any criticisms or limitations of the theory.

Literature Review (1-3 pages):
a. History: Provide a literature review of the presenting problems or issues that the technique, intervention, or approach would address.
b. Attention to Counterindications: Describe if this technique, intervention, or approach would work best for certain groups and when it would be counter indicated.
c. Technique/Intervention/Approach Section (2-3 pages): Provide tangible, step-by-step directions for practitioners or educators on how to implement the technique, intervention, or approach. Connect the technique, intervention, or approach with the theoretical foundation provided.

Case Study Section (1-2 pages): Include a real-world example demonstrating the application of the technique, intervention, or approach. This should illustrate the practical utility and effectiveness of the method.

Submission Guidelines: Manuscripts should be original and not under consideration by any other publication. In the cover letter, please specify which of the three areas your paper addresses:
1. Techniques, Interventions, or Approaches for Clinical Practice
2. Special Considerations for Financial Therapy within Certain Groups
3. Exercises or Activities for Education

FAQs

A primary purpose of the Journal of Financial Therapy is to provide a forum to study the cognitive, emotional, behavioral, relational, economic, and integrative aspects of financial health. The journal bridges the empirical and clinical work typically conducted by financial planning and marriage and family therapy researchers into an integrative disciplinary forum for sharing models, theories, ideas, strategies, and counseling approaches. The following questions and answers are provided to help address some of the issues faced by new authors.

ARE ALL MANUSCRIPTS SUBJECT TO BLIND PEER REVIEW?

Yes; the journal uses a double-blind peer review process. All identifying marks (e.g., names, addresses, sample sources) are either removed or hidden to ensure that an author’s identity is not revealed to the reviewers. 

WHAT ROLE DO REVIEWERS AND ASSOCIATE EDITORS PLAY IN THE PUBLICATION DECISION?

Reviewers are responsible for determining if a manuscript will be of importance to the Journal’s readers. Reviewers, in consultation with the editor and associate editors, determine if a paper will be published. Reviewers are asked to pay close attention to the following criteria: 

  1. The general grammar use and writing skill of the author(s)
  2. The development of a clear purpose
  3. The appropriateness of literature reviewed
    • Note: Given the clinical focus of the journal, long and exhaustive reviews of literature are discouraged; instead, authors should focus on the method and intervention techniques used in clinical and experimental studies. Research based on survey data should have a very strong practitioner focused discussion.
  4. The methodology used
  5. The validity and reliability of findings
  6. The relevance of findings
  7. The usefulness of findings for practitioners

WHAT ROLE DOES THE JOURNAL EDITOR PLAY IN THE PUBLICATION PROCESS?

The Journal of Financial Therapy uses an editor and associate editor process for evaluating manuscripts. That is, the editor works with content-specific associate editors, who, in turn, choose appropriate reviewers for manuscripts. As such, the editor’s role is to facilitate a dialogue among reviewers and authors and to monitor the timeliness of the review process. The editor and associate editors are also available to counsel authors on the process of manuscript submission, review, and publication. 

WHO WILL EDIT THE MANUSCRIPT FOR GRAMMATICAL ERRORS?

Basic editing for grammar, readability, and style is the sole responsibility of the author(s). The editor will provide feedback to authors, but will generally not make grammatical corrections. Authors are expected to conduct their own editing reviews or to seek professional editing services at their own expense.

ARE INVITED ARTICLES USED?

Occasionally, yes; however, all articles, papers, and manuscripts are subject to blind peer review.

ARE THERE PAGE RESTRICTIONS OR OTHER LIMITATIONS?

No; it should be noted, however, that reviewers and readers prefer shorter, well-written manuscripts to those that are overly wordy.

DOES THE JOURNAL HAVE AUTHOR OR SUBMISSION CHARGES?

No, there are no author or submission charges for the Journal.

HOW OFTEN IS THE JOURNAL PUBLISHED?

Currently, the Journal is divided into annual volumes. Since there are no obligatory printing and mailing routines, a volume may have one or more issues in any given year. JFT typically publishes two issues per year around May and November. Each issue is published online. Members of the Financial Therapy Association also receive the full issue as one electronic document.

WHAT IS THE JOURNAL’S ISSN?

The Journal’s International Standard Serial Number is: ISSN 1945-7774

Copyright Notice

New Prairie Press recommends the use of the Creative Commons license. The Journal of Financial Therapy requires authors to agree to Creative Commons Attribution and Non-commercial licenses. Authors who publish with the Journal of Financial Therapy agree to the following terms:

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

Archival Policy

Contents of the Journal are archived for perpetual access through New Prairie Press' participation in CLOCKSS (Controlled Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) and Portico and managed through the Digital Commons Publishing platform. New Prairie Press also participates in LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe). Once published, the contents are never changed.