For Authors

PSY.one is a popular psychology journal written by practising psychologists. Before publication, every article is read by reviewers — your colleagues in the community. Here is everything an author needs to know: who can write, what makes a good article and how an article reaches its readers.

Who can write

Articles are written by community specialists whose qualifications have been verified: a university degree in psychology (bachelor’s, specialist or master’s degree from a state-accredited university), practice and supervision. Master’s students in psychology can write too.

How to become an author:

• register on the site;
• fill in the “Author application” in your account and submit it for review;
• once it is approved, a “My articles” section will appear in your account.

The detailed requirements for specialists are in the Community Guidelines: psy.one/community/rules.

Who we write for

Our reader is not a fellow psychologist but someone who is tired, anxious, tangled up in a relationship or simply wants to understand themselves better. They read on their phone, on the metro or before bed. They don’t have to know what “introjection” or a “cognitive distortion” is.

We are a popular journal. An article should be clear, lively and useful; being scientific means being accurate, not using difficult words.

What makes a good article

• Plain language. No professional jargon; if you can’t do without a term, explain it in simple words.
• One article — one question from the reader. “Why do I put off important things”, not “Procrastination: a review of theories”.
• Start with life, not with a definition: with a situation the reader will recognise.
• Composite examples, so that nobody can be identified.
• Usefulness: what the reader can understand or do today — and when it’s time to see a specialist.
• An honest headline. No clickbait, no promises of “for ever” or “in three steps”.
• Structure: a headline, a lead of two or three sentences, subheadings, short paragraphs, lists where they help.
• Length: 150 words is the technical minimum. A good article is usually 1,000–2,000 words, 5–10 minutes’ reading.
• Care. No scaremongering, stigma, moralising or diagnosing from the text. Suicide and self-harm only with helpline details and without describing methods.

Sources, honesty and plagiarism

• Statements of fact are backed by research. Every article has a list of sources — without one, it doesn’t go to review.
• The author’s opinion is presented as opinion, not as scientific fact.
• Plagiarism is forbidden. Someone else’s text, a retelling without a reference, a “rewrite” — all of these are plagiarism. Each time you submit an article for review, you confirm that you wrote it and that all sources are cited.
• AI is only an assistant: for checking the text or finding the right word. We don’t publish articles written by AI.
• An article is not an advertisement. The text contains no links to your services, courses, marathons or social media, and no promo codes. Your profile under the article tells readers about you.
• Cases from practice must be composite or fully anonymised, or used with the client’s written consent.

Breaking these rules is grounds for removing an article from publication; plagiarism and repeated violations are grounds for losing specialist status (Community Guidelines, section 9).

How an article reaches readers

• Draft. You write the article in “My articles”; the editor saves your text automatically. There is a short checklist at the top of the editor.
• Submission for review. You confirm that the text is yours, free of plagiarism and with sources cited, and accept the terms of publication.
• Review. The article is read by practising specialists from the community. A reviewer may approve the text, ask for changes or reject it — always with an explanation. The discussion takes place right in the article.
• Revisions. You revise the text and submit it again.
• Editing. The editor-in-chief reads every article before it goes out and helps with the headline, lead and illustration. We agree the final version with you.
• Publication. The article comes out marked “Reviewed by PSY.one experts”, with the reviewers’ names. You get an author card in the journal.

Illustration

Each article has one landscape illustration: 16:9, 2560×1440 pixels. Keep the key part of the image close to the centre: the journal’s cards crop it at the edges, and the editor shows this area with a dotted frame.

You can upload a photo — the site will process it in the journal’s style, in the colours of the rubric. If the image was created by AI, say so: it will carry a caption. If you don’t have a suitable illustration, talk to the editors.

Rights to your article

You keep the rights to your article. You grant the journal a free non-exclusive licence to publish it on the PSY.one website, in the newsletter and on PSY.one’s social media. You may publish the article elsewhere, stating that it first appeared in PSY.one. Details are in the Terms of Use, section 6: psy.one/terms.

A published article stays in the journal under your name, even if you delete your account.

Review your colleagues

Community specialists don’t just write — they also review each other’s articles. A review assesses the text, not the author: its accuracy, its grounding in sources and the safety of its advice for the reader. Don’t review texts by relatives, co-authors, students, your supervisees or your supervisors — tell the editor about the conflict of interest.

What comes next

For articles, reviews and answers to readers, provided the Community Guidelines are followed, the editor-in-chief invites a specialist to a personal interview and, based on its results, grants them expert status. Experts are listed in the journal’s catalogue and can offer consultations through PSY.one.

Questions? Write to psy@psy.one.