Kentucky Counseling Association Journal

Guidelines for Authors

The Kentucky Counseling Association Journal publishes articles that inform counseling practice with diverse client populations in a variety of settings. Articles should be scholarly; be based on existing literature; and include implications for practice and, when appropriate, implications for public policy related to the counseling profession.

Practice. These manuscripts focus on innovative approaches, counseling programs, ethical issues, as well as training and supervision practices. Practice manuscripts are grounded in counseling or educational theory and empirical knowledge.

Theory. These manuscripts provide a new theoretical perspective on a particular issue or integrate existing bodies of knowledge in an innovative way.

Research. Both qualitative and quantitative studies are published in The Kentucky Counseling Association Journal.  In these manuscripts, the review of the literature provides the context and need for the study, logically leading to the purpose and research questions. The methodology includes a full description of the participants, variables and instruments used to measure them, data analyses, and results. Authors will discuss the clinical significance of the results. The Kentucky Counseling Association Journal  requires authors to follow the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.; American Psychological Association [APA], 2010).

Assessment & Diagnosis. These manuscripts focus on broad assessment and diagnosis issues that have direct relevance for the practitioner.

Profiles. These manuscripts focus on one or more persons who have made significant contributions to the profession through scholarship, leadership, and/or innovative practices. This section is also devoted to profiling organizational aspects of KCA.  Authors should contact the Editor prior to developing a manuscript for the Profiles section.

Submission of Manuscripts

Manuscripts are to be submitted electronically (in one attachment) in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx) to [email protected].  Editors can be contacted by phone (502-438-8711 or 214-699-9838). Manuscripts are reviewed by at least two editorial board members and typically undergo revision before final acceptance. The editor makes final decisions regarding publication.

All submissions are blind peer reviewed. Therefore, authors must submit a manuscript that contains no clues to the authors’ identity. Other subsequent pages should include an abbreviated manuscript title in the header, not to exceed 80 characters and spaces.

Authors submitting manuscripts to the journal should not simultaneously submit them to another journal, nor should manuscripts have been published elsewhere in substantially similar form or with substantially similar content.

Preparation of Manuscripts

Authors should carefully prepare their manuscripts in accordance with the following instructions:

All manuscripts should be prepared according to the APA Publication Manual. Manuscripts should be as concise as possible, yet sufficiently detailed to permit adequate communication and critical review. Consult the APA Publication Manual for specific guidelines regarding the format of the manuscript, abstract, citations and references, tables and figures, and other matters of editorial style. Tables and figures should be used only when essential.

Selected Sections and Page Limitations for Manuscript Submissions

Title Page:   The manuscript should possess an APA formatted title page.

Abstract: The abstract should express the central idea of the manuscript in nontechnical language. It should be on page 2 and is limited to 100 words.

Keywords: Keywords should follow the abstract on page 2 and are limited to 5 words.

Tables and Figures: No more than 3 tables and 2 figures with each manuscript will be accepted. Please be sure to indicate the table or figure callouts within the manuscripts. However, do not embed tables or figures within the body of the manuscript. Each table or figure should be placed on a separate page following the reference list. Figure captions are to be on an attached page, as required by APA style. Figures (graphs, illustrations, line drawings) must be supplied in electronic format.  (See APA Publication Manual, pp. 128-150, for more detailed information on table preparation and pp. 150-167 for further details on figure preparation.)

References: References should follow the style detailed in the APA Publication Manual. Check all references for completeness, including year, volume number, and pages for journal citations. Make sure that all references mentioned in the text are listed in the reference section and vice versa and that spelling of author names and years are consistent.

Footnotes or endnotes: Do not use. Incorporate any information within the body of the manuscript.

Other: Authors must also carefully follow APA Publication Manual guidelines for nondiscriminatory language regarding gender, sexual orientation, racial and ethnic identity, disabilities, and age. In addition, the terms counseling, counselor, and client are preferred, rather than their many synonyms.

Page Limitations

Research section submissions must not exceed 30 pages, including references. For submissions to the Practice, Theory, or Assessment & Diagnosis sections, manuscripts must not exceed 25 pages, including references. Profiles section manuscripts must not exceed 15 pages, including references. Manuscript titles are limited to 80 characters. Any submissions that do not adhere to length limitations will be returned without review.

Permission Requirements

Lengthy quotations (generally 500 cumulative words or more from one source) require written permission from the copyright holder for reproduction. Previously published tables or figures that are used in their entirety, in part, or adapted also require written permission from the copyright holder for reproduction. It is the author’s responsibility to secure such permission, and a copy of the publisher’s written permission must be provided to the Editor immediately upon acceptance for publication.

Accepted Manuscripts

Authors will receive information for submitting a final copy of their manuscript upon acceptance from the Editor. All authors will be expected to submit final, fully executed copyright release forms at the time their manuscript has been accepted. Page proofs for review will be sent to the corresponding author only via e-mail.