Brief.
Articles are about a 5 to 10 minute read.
Authentic.
Articles reveal the passions and interests of experts in the field.
Enlightening.
Articles communicate to the general public the value of the science of existential psychology for better understanding important human experiences, events, art, and culture.
Features – Fascinating Ideas, Research, & Implications
Features
Spotlights – Research Findings, Life, & Lifestyles
Call for Feature Articles
ISSEP cultivates and publishes original material designed to communicate the value of the science of existential psychology to the general public. Feature articles are often invited, but unsolicited articles are also welcome and encouraged.
All articles must conform to the guidelines articulated below.
Guide for Authors
Your article will appear in ISSEP's "Features" article series, so feel welcome to check those out to see examples of how others have approached their articles.
Article guidelines:
Length:
Target length of about 1,500-3,000 words (3k words max). We can also provide hands-on editorial feedback along the way to help shape an effective article.
Scope:
Narrow: Some articles focus more narrowly on a particular study or package of studies (examples #1, #2, #3). This more narrow scope is often appropriate for graduate students, early career researchers, and recipients of ISSEP Seed Grants.
Broad: Other articles discuss a broad swath of ideas and a variety of studies, either covering career-long programs of research (examples #1, #2, #3) or highlighting the value of a particular topic area of existential psychology research from more of a birds-eye-view (examples #1, #2, #3, #4). These broader approaches are often preferred by advanced career researchers.
Content:
Please highlight the existential nature of your topic, and introduce the research question, relevant theory, hypotheses.
Please try to describe the methods/results of at least one relevant study in the context of your article, to emphasize the “science” part of the science of existential psychology. In other words, make it clear that the ideas you’re discussing are being meaningfully addressed through empirical research. Whenever possible, we’ll endeavor to create and include figures/graphs of discussed data patterns.
Audience and narrative style:
In contrast to an academic paper, the goal here is to communicate this stuff to the general public, so please do not write a stiff, technical, jargony article for an academic audience. Instead, feel encouraged to take creative liberties and write your article with accessible language, dramatic flair and poetic flourish, and engaging examples that would help psychologists and non-psychologists alike appreciate the broad relevance and importance of your work for better understanding everyday life.
In line with that goal, the narrative style should be informative and engaging, somewhere between an introductory textbook and an op-ed.
Illuminate and engage the real world!
Your topic is a super important part of what it means to be human, so naturally loads of people experience it, and/or it influences major events, and/or it shows up in art and culture. Thus, including accessible descriptions of how your work is related to such things can do a lot to highlight the inherent value of your research and the field in general. We therefore strongly recommend that you emphasize how your research can help to make sense of important human experiences or better understand current events, and/or how your topic might be easily seen in popular works of art and culture—books/literature, film, TV, performing arts (theatre, dance), visual arts (painting, sculpture), music, or other mediums.
Decorations:
We'll include images and videos relevant to the content of your article. So, if you have any in mind, please either include those or link to relevant media. If not, we've also had a lot of experience finding good images/videos to complement article content, as well as producing visually appealing charts/graphs to represent data patterns discussed in text; so we'll also help decorate your article with engaging images and videos.
FAQs
Why should I write a Feature article for ISSEP?
Advance existential psychology.
Help the general public learn about existential psychology theory, research, and practice, and illustrate how it can be used to better understand the human experience.
You might have done half the work already,
You wrote and delivered an oral presentation, you submitted an abstract for your poster or data-blitz, or you just finished that paper. Excellent! Now, revise that material to illustrate to a general public audience how your research – or other research in your area of expertise – can help to better understand important human experiences. Then submit it here; done!
Boost your career.
Add a publication to your CV! List your article in the “Pop-Science Publications” section of your CV.
Count it as service! Count your article as professional service to the public/community on grad school applications and tenure and promotions reviews.
Get paid!
A limited number of contributions may be supported through paid honorariums, depending on the length and quality of the piece, the number of submissions, and the available funding. To inquire, please contact: info@issep.org.
When should I submit my article?
Any time! We accept article submissions throughout the year and will publish them as soon as they are ready to be shared.
Where do I submit my article?
Submit your article and supplemental materials as an email attachment to info@issep.org with the subject line “Submitting article”