About the Journal
Focus and Scope
SBP Journal is:
Publication Frequency
Currently we publish 12 issues per year, the publication dates are:
:: Issue 1 - January
:: Issue 2 - February
:: Issue 3 - March
:: Issue 4 - April
:: Issue 5 - May
:: Issue 6 - June
:: Issue 7 - July
:: Issue 8 - August
:: Issue 9 - September
:: Issue 10 - October
:: Issue 11 - November
:: Issue 12 - December
About SBP Journal
Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal (SBP Journal), founded in 1973, publishes research and theoretical papers on all aspects of social, personality, and developmental psychology. SBP Journal has a distinguished Board of Editors and works with thousands of expert reviewers around the globe. Ten issues are published – in both print and electronic formats – each year, and the journal is held in the libraries of major universities all over the world. Abstracts of articles published from 1973 to the present are freely available on the SBP website, which includes its own topic and author search facilities. Articles published are linked to CrossRef, Portico, and IngentaConnect for ease of online access. The world’s major accessing, abstracting, and search engine networks all provide effective linking to journal material. The journal has successfully published the work of over 6,000 researchers and professionals, continuously for 45 years. This published work is accessible for the staff and students at any subscribing institution; the subscribing university receives free online access to all of the journal’s issues, from 1973 onward.
Journal History
Editorial Introduction from Founding Editor,
Robert A. C. (Bob) Stewart, PhD
“Looking forward our 40th year of publication”
Founded in 1973, Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal has weathered its infancy, childhood, adolescence, and younger adulthood. Now in its prime, the future holds the promise of continued professional maturity and service to the journal readership and discipline.
The journal’s core purpose is scientific communication in the disciplines of social, developmental, and personality psychology, which have continued to emerge strongly over the 40 year period. Social Behavior and Personality serves and is served by many thousands of authors, reviewers, and editors. The journal is proud of the fairness and timeliness of its review process, and is noted for its consideration toward all prospective authors.
Back in 1973 I wrote in the Editorial Introduction to Volume 1, Issue 1, “Inasmuch as key empirical work and useful theoretical formulations know no national boundaries, this international journal aims to work against geographic parochialism in behavioral science”.
Over the years the regional balance of authors has changed markedly. Ten years ago 39% of authors were from North America, 37% from Europe, 9% from Asia, 8% from the Middle East, and 7% from the rest of the world. In contrast, over the last five years, 21% have been from North America, 35% from Europe, 49% from Asia, 4% from the Middle East, and 2% from the rest of the world.
The Internet has truly been a technology “made in heaven” for international scholars. In 1973 no one could have imagined the Internet as we now know it, and how much this would improve the ease of scholarly communication. Our full text database can be found on our own website www.sbp-journal.com, and also www.ingenta.com, and we extend the range of our journal through our other memberships, e.g., Hinari, Portico. When “Social Behavior and Personality” is typed into Google, this journal appears five times on page 1 of 4,890,000 entries.
In mid-2011 a totally reorganized website will be launched, based upon the outstanding Open Journal Systems (OJS), which has many state of the art author features. These features will greatly assist navigation, manuscript submission, publication, peer reviewing, and the subscription process. The launch will also enable viewing of full-text articles via trending technology, such as iPads and iPhones, for our subscribers or purchasers of articles. The administration section of the website will greatly enhance communication within the journal team as well as with our journal community.
By the end of 2011, no fewer than 180 issues will have been published. The journal’s success over this time is due to the support of many thousands of people worldwide; our authors, our peer reviewers, and our consulting editors. Increasingly, with the size and complexity of the editing operation, the quality of people in the management group is vital. It is a real pleasure to acknowledge the excellent work of the current team, comprising: Operations Coordinator Alex Cheyne, IT Advisor Suzi Brown, Publications Consultant Sarah Jones, Copy Editors Dorothy Pilkington, Sarah Jones, Julia Tanner, Katharine Samuel, Lesley Aitken, IT Assistant Shaun Jeffries, Typesetter Philippa Proctor, Trio Technology Ltd, and K&M Printers.
We believe in giving back to the community. The journal is a partner with World Vision, and St Jude’s School in Arusha, Tanzania, helping sponsor some of the world’s poorest children. The human potential and promise of children is an ongoing commitment for the journal. Also part of our “giving back” is dissemination of our journal to Third World Universities via Hinari.
Over the years I have served as editor part time while holding academic positions in different parts of the world including New Zealand, Canada, and Fiji. After being granted a Personal Professorship in Human Development at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji, I returned in 1989 to my native New Zealand, and continued the work of the journal.
In 1973 I wrote “It is envisaged that these pages will see the publication of superior papers on all aspects of social, developmental, and personality psychology, of relevance to a wide range of disciplines; educational psychology, developmental psychology, social psychology, psychology of personality, clinical psychology, psychiatry, sociology, industrial and community psychology, cultural anthropology, and management science”. We have seen these expectations fulfilled, and look forward with enthusiasm to providing continued service over the years to come.
One factor that has not changed is the power of the “word of mouth” recommendation, as authors share their publishing experience with colleagues and their graduate students. A good number of
these authors have been published multiple times in the journal and we would like to give some of these the last word. Their statements appear below.
Robert A. C. Stewart, PhD
Editor
Comments from Authors
Nicholas F. Skinner, PhD, Professor, Chair of the Section on Teaching of Psychology, Canadian Psychological Association, writes: “I have been published in SBP well over a dozen times since 1973, and have been steadfastly loyal over the years because of the unfailingly positive nature of my experience – instructive manuscript reviews, timely editorial responses, helpful administrative support; all in all, admirable author treatment. I realized early on that Bob Stewart was an Editor to be reckoned with when he moved from the climatalogical vagaries of Laurentian University (not too far from the Arctic Circle in northern Canada) to the University of the South Pacific in Fiji! Congratulations to SBP on 40 exemplary years, and best wishes for many more”.
Marta Gil-Lacruz, PhD, Professor, Zaragoza University, Spain, and Ana Gil-Lacruz, PhD, Assistant Professor, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain, writes: “We would like to thank SBP Journal and especially the editorial team. In publishing our articles, they were always very friendly, patient, and supportive. The revision process was also very transparent, fast, and provided us with a good opportunity to learn”.
Romualdas Malinauskas, PhD, Professor, Lithuania State University of Physical Education, Lithuania, writes: “I have been given the chance to reflect on the 40 years that SBP Journal has been publishing papers of exceptional interest across the full spectrum of scientific problems in the disciplines of social psychology, developmental, and personality psychology. Consistently high quality social psychology research has been published in these 40 years. The celebration of 40 years of publication is a tribute to the wisdom of the editor, Dr. Robert A. C. Stewart, and of the staff at Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, in establishing and promoting the journal’s growth. This journal has succeeded due to the outstanding Editorial Board members who have given of their time to efficiently and effectively review manuscripts.. A comparative analysis of the characteristics of SBP Journal over the last five years, and those of the previous five years shows significant advances in the visibility of the journal, as a result of brilliant editorial policies, and encouragement of active research involvement. Authors across the world are encouraged to publish their manuscripts in the disciplines of social psychology, developmental, and personality psychology, which remain areas of strong international interest. My personal publishing experience with SBP as an author was unforgettable and pleasant from beginning to end. The publication process was very efficient and rapid and I was met with highest quality of communication and positive responses to my manuscripts. I am very satisfied with the work of the whole journal team. I cannot predict how the journal will evolve in the next 40 years, but I believe there will be further reasons for celebration”.
Torsten Norlander, PhD, Professor, Karlstad University, Sweden, writes: “Forty years of publication! That is truly something to celebrate. Congratulations to Editor Dr. Bob Stewart and the whole staff at Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal! Since 1999 I have made numerous contributions to the journal. My team has always appreciated the journal's openness to different perspectives and the quick and professional handling of manuscripts. The journal also works with experienced reviewers to provide valuable suggestions for improvement of manuscripts. Social Behavior and Personality has evolved into a truly global forum for researchers from different cultural backgrounds. I have had the honor to publish 12 articles in the journal with a variety of co-authors. I wish the SBP team good luck with the continued development of your journal!”