Go to journal home page - Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

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Aims and Scope
The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology (JESP) aims to publish articles that extend or create conceptual advances in social psychology. As the title of the journal indicates, we focus on publishing primary reports of research in social psychology that use experimental or quasi-experimental methods, although not every study in an article must be experimental. We thus define "experiments" rather broadly to include between-participants manipulations or interventions; within-participants comparisons between different contexts or stimuli; longitudinal designs; quasi-experiments where random assignment is not completely achieved; and "natural experiments" involving observations before and after a critical event. Purely correlational research would likely not interest JESP's particular readership, however.

We also encourage submissions explaining methodological or statistical considerations relevant to the kind of research published here that are usable by the typical person who carries out and evaluates social psychology research. Finally, we encourage authors to submit reports of replication studies in experimental social psychology that meet the high standards at JESP (for guidance, see (Brandt et al., 2014). We do not normally consider purely theoretical papers or literature reviews (unless they are quantitative? i.e., meta-analyses).

JESP editors start from an attitude that is positive about efforts to advance the field, but rigorous in terms of evaluating evidence supporting a submitted paper?s conclusions. With this attitude in mind, the following points may help authors to decide what points to address when preparing their manuscripts for JESP.

Presubmission: JESP's 10-item checklist

Before submitting your manuscript to JESP, there are specific criteria that it should meet. Although these criteria cannot address all substantive issues, they reflect the editors' experiences with having to reject papers, or engage authors in lengthy and uncertain revisions. Satisfying these criteria will substantially help to assure a smooth review process. The brief list below shares with you the basic elements necessary to consider the manuscript for review. Not meeting one or more of these criteria will require that the Editor returns the manuscript to you, which will delay processing or potentially result in rejection of the submission without review:

1) Disclosure Statement. The manuscript's main text contains an explicit statement that all studies, measures, manipulations, and data/participant exclusions are reported in the manuscript or its Supplementary Material.
(See (Simmons et al.'s 2012), "21 word solution" for a model)

2) Sample Size Determination. The manuscript indicates how the participants were sampled for each study, including whether the results catalyzed additional data collection.
(For instance, was sample size determined based on an a priori power analysis, a heuristic judgment [e.g., Simmons et al., 2011], the number of available participants in a given pool, etc.?)

3) Double-Blind Review. The manuscript contains no information that can identify the authors, neither in its main text, Supplementary Materials, nor linked resources (e.g., OSF pages).
See https://www.elsevier.com/reviewers/what-is-peer-review/peer-review-guidelines for preparation instructions.)

4) Power Analysis. The manuscript reports sensitivity power analyses that describe the minimum effect size that could be obtained under standard criteria (usually alpha = .05 and beta = .20), given the final (i.e., analyzed) samples in each of the studies. These analyses provide enough information about the parameters contributing to the power analyses such that a reader can easily reproduce them and report effect sizes in the same metric as that reported in the test results. (For example, "This sample size provided 80% power to detect an effect size of r = .21 or greater in an independent-samplesttest with a 5% false-positive rate.")

5) Full Statistics. The manuscript and any Supplementary Materials include full results for every test, including tests with nonsignificant p values. Specifically, the test statistic (e.g., t, F, r), degrees of freedom (including for correlations), exact p value (to either two or three digits), effect size estimate (e.g., r, d, phi), and any parameter estimates (e.g., the unstandardized regression coefficient, b, with its corresponding standard error or standardized regression coefficient, beta). Moreover, the manuscript includes descriptive statistics in either the written text, a table, or a figure. Where a measure of central tendency is reported to describe the data (i.e., mean, median, or mode) a corresponding measure of variation accompanies it (e.g., standard deviation, confidence interval) and, if displayed using figures, their captions denote the type of error bars (e.g., standard error, 95% confidence interval, etc.).


6) Correlational Designs. Although JESP primarily publishes experimental work, all studies in the manuscript that employ or include correlational designs provide a correlation matrix or variance-covariance matrix showing the associations between all of the variables in the correlational, regression, or structural equation model, either in the main text or Supplementary Materials.

7) Mediation Analysis. For manuscripts that include one or more mediation analyses, the main text includes sections clearly explaining how each mediation model presented surpasses other alternative models (or how such alternatives may be equally viable), methodologically and conceptually justifying each variable and its sequence (e.g., where the predictor is an experimental manipulation and the mediator also clearly causes the outcome variable rather than the other way around.
(See Harris et al., 2018, and Spencer et al., 2005, for further elaboration and guidance.)

8) Linked Materials. All links to external sources for data and materials (e.g., pages hosted by the Center for Open Science's Open Science Framework) are accessible (i.e., not locked) and anonymized (e.g., by using a view-only link find out how to do this here).
(Note that JESP prefers that authors attach supplementary materials using the Journal's Supplementary Materials feature, which conveniently provides the materials to reviewers when they receive the manuscript's main text.)

9) Preregistered Studies.The manuscript reports all deviations from the original plans for any preregistered studies, either within the narrative of the main text or in the form of a table in the Supplementary Materials.

10) Registered Reports. Manuscripts submitted as Registered Reports include a cover letter attesting that ethics approval has been secured, that the researchers possess the funding and resources needed to conduct the work, that the research is designed to detect adequate effects with 90% power, and a commitment to publish the results regardless of the outcome.

Types of Contribution
The JESP considers three types of submissions:
Full length research articles.No length restrictions but normally consisting of 30-40 pages of text or roughly 10,000 words.
Case Reports. No longer than 5,000 words of main article text, excluding the Abstract, Footnotes, and References.
Registered Reports. Articles in which the rationale, method, and analysis plan undergo peer review before data collection (see JESP Registered Report Guidelines for more information).

JESP also commissions Special Issues by invitation or through calls for proposals. For more information, please contact the Associated Editor for Special Issues via email.

Because single-study manuscripts typically do not give much latitude to develop an investigation of theory, process, or application, they often leave many questions unanswered. We therefore only consider single-study manuscripts on an exceptional basis. Successful manuscripts reporting only a single study normally boast a strong foundation in theory and an exceptional method (possibly including high power to detect a small-to-medium effect size, preregistered methods and analyses, and unusual or highly representative samples).

Data Visualization

Follow the instructions here to learn about data visualization options and how to include them with your article.

Open Practice Badges

In recognition of authors' efforts to make their research output more accessible, authors have the option to request up to three badges recognizing open scientific practices. The three badges, created by the Open Science Framework (OSF), are:

  • Open Data
  • Open Materials
  • Preregistered

The badges are optional, and authors can continue to publish their work without any badges if they wish. To request any (or all) of these badges, authors must select the appropriate badges in the submission form when submitting their manuscript and include an "Open Practices" section in their manuscript before the References section. This should include links to any data, materials, and preregistration documents.
Data statement

If your data are unavailable to access or unsuitable to post, then we require you to state this in during the submission process (note that your funding body or institution may also require such a statement). This data statement will appear with your published article. Visit the Data Statement page for more information.

Elsevier Researcher Academy. Researcher Academy is a free e-learning platform designed to support early and mid-career researchers throughout their research journey. The "Learn" environment at Researcher Academy offers several interactive modules, webinars, downloadable guides, and resources to guide you through the process of writing for research and going through peer review. Feel free to use these free resources to improve your submission and navigate the publication process with ease.

Submission

Our online submission system guides you stepwise through the process of entering your article details and uploading your files. All submissions will be initially assessed by an Editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then typically sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The handling Editor is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. The Editor's decision is final (more information on types of peer review).

You will also be asked several standard questions during the submission process. Preparing yourself and your manuscript to address these questions will help to ensure a smooth submission experience.

Previous submission. Please note that JESP will not consider resubmissions of previously rejected research unless explicitly allowed by the rejecting Editor. Substantive new evidence should be added in a way that directly addresses the concerns of that Editor. We strongly advise that authors make their case for how the new evidence improves the paper in the cover letter, referring to specific points in the previous Editor's decision.

Prior publication. You must confirm that the manuscript and the data reported within it have not been previously published (except in the form of an abstract, as part of a published lecture or academic thesis, or as an electronic preprint, see https://www.elsevier.com/postingpolicy), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and by the authorities responsible for where the work was conducted, and that it will not be published elsewhere if accepted by JESP (including electronically in the same form, or in a language other than English) without the written consent of the copyright-holder. For further information on ethics in publishing and ethical guidelines for journal publication see https://www.elsevier.com/publishingethics

Competing interest. All members of the authorship team must disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest including any financial, personal, or other relationships with people or organizations that could have (or be perceived to have) influenced their work from within three years of beginning the research submitted. See also https://www.elsevier.com/conflictsofinterest and https://service.elsevier.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/286/supporthub/publishing for an example of a Conflict of Interest statement.

Funding sources. Please identify any sources of financial support for the conduct of the research or preparation of the article in the Author Note of the article. If such a funder exists, then briefly describe in the cover letter the sponsor's role in each of (a) study design; (b) the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; (c) the writing of the report; and (d) the decision to submit the article for publication.

Human and animal rights. Authors must confirm that all empirical research with human participants submitted for consideration has been conducted in a manner consistent with the American Psychological Association's Ethical Principles in the Conduct of Research with Human Participants, and that any experiments involving nonhuman animals (rare but not unprecedented at JESP) satisfied APA guidelines for animal research.

Data retention and disclosure.Per APA ethical standards, authors must affirm that they will retain the raw data for five years after publication and share them on request for scientific purposes. Authors can explain any reasons why they cannot meet these requirements in the Manuscript Notes box during submission.

Manuscript Preparation
Follow the most recent Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition, ISBN 978-1-4338-3215-4 to satisfy most of the journal's production requirements. Most important, this edition specifically asks authors to embed all figures, tables, and footnotes in the body text of the manuscript rather than placing them in separate sections at the end. Below, we review the primary elements of a JESP manuscript in the typical sequence that they appear:

Title Page
Title Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems; thus, they should be concise and informative. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.
Author names and affiliations Please clearly indicate the given names and family names of each author. If your name does not use English letters, you can add it between parentheses in its original script after the English transliteration. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name and e-mail address of each author.
Corresponding Author Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing, publication, and post-publication. This responsibility includes answering any future queries about the work's method and materials.
Present/permanent address The address at which the author did the work should constitute the main affiliation address. If an author has moved since the submitted work was conducted (including if they were visiting a different institution when conducting the work), a "Present address" (or "Permanent address") may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name using superscript Arabic numerals.
Funding sources List funding sources in the following standard way:
Funding: This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [grant numbers xxxx, yyyy]; the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA [grant number zzzz]; and the United States Institutes of Peace [grant number aaaa].

You do not need to include detailed descriptions about the program or type of grants and awards. Funding from block grants or other resources available to a university, college, or research institution should include the name of the institute or organization that provided the funding. Please include the following sentence if the research has not received funding:
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Highlights
Highlights help to increase the discoverability of your article via search engines and are mandatory for JESP submissions. They consist of a short collection of bullet points that capture the novel results of your research, as well as any new methods used in the research (see here for example Highlights). Highlights should be submitted in a separate file in the online submission system. Please use "Highlights" in the file name and include 3 to 5 bullet points (maximum 85 characters, including spaces, per bullet point).

Abstract
Abstracts should not exceed 250 words.


Graphical Abstract
Though optional, Graphical Abstracts draw more attention to the article. Graphical Abstracts should summarize the article contents in a concise, pictorial form designed to capture the attention of a wide readership and be submitted as a separate file in the online submission system. Please provide an image with a minimum of 531 x 1328 pixels (h x w) or proportionally more. The image should be readable at a size of 5 x 13 cm using a regular screen resolution of 96 dpi. Preferred file types: TIFF, EPS, PDF or MS Office files (see here for Example Graphical Abstracts).

Keywords
Keywords are used for indexing purposes. Provide a maximum of six keywords immediately after the Abstract. Use US English spelling and avoid general terms, plural terms, and multiple concepts (for example, avoid conjunctions and prepositions, such as "and" and "of"). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible.

Mathematical Formulae
Please submit math equations as editable text rather than as images. Present simple formulae in line with normal text where possible and use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line for small fractional terms (e.g., X/Y). Variables should normally appear in italics. Powers of e are often more conveniently denoted by exp. Consecutively enumerate equations that must be displayed separately from the text (but only if they are explicitly referenced in the text).

Figures and Illustrations
Please ensure that each figure or illustration has a caption separate from (cf. attached to) the figure or illustration. A caption should comprise a brief title (which should not appear on the figure itself) and a description of the figure or illustration. Keep text in figures and illustrations to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used. The detailed guide on electronic artwork contains important formatting information and file types for figures and illustrations. However, please consider the following general points:

  • Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing
  • Embed the fonts you use if the application provides that option
  • Aim to use Arial, Courier, Times New Roman, Symbol, or fonts that resemble these
  • Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text
  • Use a logical naming convention for files
  • Captions should appear separately from the figure or illustration
  • The dimensions of the figure or Illustration should approximate the published version
  • Submit each figure or illustration as a separate file
  • Ensure that color images are accessible to individuals with impaired color vision

References
As noted above, citations should follow the referencing style used by the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition, ISBN 978-1-4338-3215-4.
Data References. Cite underlying or relevant datasets in your manuscript in the text and include a data reference in the References list. Data references should include the authors' names, dataset title, data repository, version (where available), year, and global persistent identifier. Add "[dataset]" immediately before the reference to properly identify it as a data reference. The [dataset] identifier will not appear in the published article.


Reference management software JESP has a reference template available in most popular reference management software products. These include all products that support Citation Style Language styles, such as Mendeley. By using citation plug-ins from these products, authors need only to select the appropriate journal template when preparing their manuscript, after which citations will be automatically formatted in the correct style. Please ensure that you remove all field codes before submitting the electronic manuscript (see More information on how to remove field codes from different reference management software).
References in a Special IssueIf preparing a manuscript for a Special Issue, please add the words "this issue" when referencing other articles in the same Special Issue.

Video
Authors who have video or animation files that they wish to submit with their manuscript should embed still frames from the videos as separate images that can be embedded in the text in their ideal place of presentation (as one would with a table or figure), along with links to the video files. Please label all video files descriptively, such that they directly relate to the video file's content, and use one of our recommended file formats with a maximum size of 150 MB per file, 1 GB in total. For more detailed instructions please visit our video instruction pages.

Author contributions

For transparency, we require corresponding authors to provide co-author contributions to the manuscript using the relevant CRediT roles. The CRediT taxonomy includes 14 different roles describing each contributor’s specific contribution to the scholarly output. The roles are: Conceptualization; Data curation; Formal analysis; Funding acquisition; Investigation; Methodology; Project administration; Resources; Software; Supervision; Validation; Visualization; Roles/Writing - original draft; and Writing - review & editing. Note that not all roles may apply to every manuscript, and authors may have contributed through multiple roles. More details and an example.

Open access

Please visit our Open Access page for more information about open access publishing in this journal.

Research Data

To facilitate reproducibility and data reuse, JESP encourages you to share your software, code, models, algorithms, protocols, method, and other useful materials related to the project (please refer to the "References" section for more information about data citation). For more information on depositing, sharing, and using research data and other relevant research materials, visit the research data page. For more information about making your research data available in a data repository, visit the database linking page.

Research Elements. JESP enables you to publish objects related to your research (e.g., data, methods, protocols, software, and hardware) as an additional paper in a Research Elements journal. Research Elements is a suite of peer-reviewed, open access journals that make research objects findable, accessible, and reusable. Such articles place research objects into context by providing detailed descriptions of objects and their application; they also link to the original research article. You will be alerted to the opportunity to prepare and submit a manuscript to one of the Research Elements journals during submission (e.g., Data in Brief). See the Research Elements page for more information.

Additional Considerations

Supplementary Materials. Authors may submit additional material with their documents that they would like reviewers to consider, subject to reasonable limits at the discretion of the Editor (e.g., 10,000 words). Examples commonly include the summary of additional statistical analyses not reported in the original document, a fuller description of the procedure, or a summary of additional conditions or dependent variables not considered essential in the published document. However, supporting applications, high-resolution images, background datasets, sound clips, and more can also support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary Materials are not required, only appear online, and are posted exactly as submitted (i.e., there is no typesetting involved). For more detailed instructions, please visit https://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions

Writing. JESP is an English-language journal. US spelling is preferred to British/Commonwealth English. Authors whose English language manuscript may require editing to conform to correct scientific English, improve spelling, and avoid grammatical errors may wish to use the English Language Editing service available from Elsevier's WebShop (https://webshop.elsevier.com/language-editing-services/language-editing/).

Language. JESP is committed to research reporting that acknowledges diversity, conveys respect to all people, is sensitive to differences, and promotes equal rights. Manuscripts should therefore refer to gender, sexuality, ethnicity, disability, religion, and other demographic differences using accurate and sensitive language. The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition, ISBN 978-1-4338-3215-4 contains useful guidelines from a US perspective. When reporting research in or about other countries, language should balance local and international standards for respectful treatment.

In particular, we request authors to use the singular "they" as a pronoun to refer to people without specifying gender, and to refer to demographic groups wherever possible using "adjective + people" framed language instead of plain nouns (e.g., "Black people/participants" instead of "Blacks," "gay men" instead of "gays"). To help readers assess representativeness and generalizability, Method sections should identify participants' gender distribution, age central tendency (e.g., mean with variation), and the national contexts from which participants were drawn. Where appropriate, we encourage reporting other important demographics within the national context that would inform the social context of responses (e.g., racial identity, religion, citizenship).


Note that sex generally refers to a set of biological attributes that are associated with physical and physiological features (e.g., chromosomal genotype, hormonal levels, internal and external anatomy). A binary sex categorization (male/female) is usually designated at birth ("sex assigned at birth"), most often based solely on the visible external anatomy of a newborn. Gender, in contrast, generally refers to socially constructed roles, behaviors, and identities of women, men and gender-diverse people that occur in a historical and cultural context and may vary across societies and over time. Gender influences how people view themselves and each other, how they behave and interact and how power is distributed in society. Sex and gender are often incorrectly portrayed as binary (female/male or woman/man) and unchanging whereas these constructs actually exist along a spectrum and include additional sex categorizations and gender identities, such as people who are intersex, have differences of sex development (DSD), or identify as nonbinary. Moreover, the terms "sex" and "gender" can be ambiguous-thus it is important for authors to define the manner in which they use them. The resources on this page offer further insight around sex and gender in research studies.

Moreover, no single sample should be treated either as especially representative of humanity, or as needing special explanation for having been selected. JESP instructs its Editors and reviewers not to question samples purely on the basis of having been drawn from specific countries or demographics, and not to ask for more traditional types of samples if a comparative point is not being made.

Finally, authors should write with an international audience in mind. They should explain and contextualize nation-specific references (e.g., "a midwestern US university" instead of "a midwestern university"), and recognize that characteristics of their nation (e.g., political party identification) may not be universal psychological concepts.


Generative AI. Authors should only use generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process to improve readability and language. Authors are ultimately responsible and accountable for the contents of the work and should thus apply the technology with human oversight and control: AI can generate authoritative-sounding output that can be incorrect, incomplete, or biased; thus, authors should carefully review and edit the result. AI and AI-assisted technologies should not be listed as an author or co-author, or be cited as an author. Authorship implies responsibilities and tasks that can only be attributed to, and performed by, humans-as outlined in Elsevier's AI policy for authors.

Authors must disclose the use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process by adding a statement at the end of their manuscript in the core manuscript file before the References list in a new section entitled "Declaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process." We recommend adapting the following statement for this section: "During the preparation of this work the author(s) used [NAME TOOL / SERVICE] in order to [REASON]. After using this tool/service, the author(s) reviewed and edited the content as needed and take(s) full responsibility for the content of the publication." This declaration does not apply to the use of basic tools for checking grammar, spelling, references etc. If there is nothing to disclose, there is no need to add a statement. Note that this guidance only refers to the writing process, and not to the use of AI tools to analyze and draw insights from data as part of the research process.)

Article transfer service. JESP uses the Elsevier Article Transfer Service to find the best home for your manuscript. This means that if an Editor feels your manuscript would better suit an alternative journal, you might be asked to consider transferring the manuscript there. The recommendation might be provided by a journal Editor, a dedicated Scientific Managing Editor, a tool-assisted recommendation, or a combination. If you agree, your manuscript will be transferred, though you will have the opportunity to change the manuscript before the submission is complete. Please note that your manuscript will be independently reviewed by the new journal (see here for more information).

Between acceptance and publication

Preprints. Preprints provide early registration and dissemination of your research, which facilitates early citation and collaboration. Per Elsevier's sharing policy, preprints can be shared anywhere at any time and will not count as prior publication. Indeed, to support Open Science, JESP offers its authors a free preprint posting service: During submission via Editorial Manager, you can choose to release your manuscript publicly as a preprint on the preprint server SSRN once it enters the peer review process (please note that the corresponding author must attain approval from all co-authors before agreeing to release the manuscript publicly on SSRN). You will receive notification via email when your preprint is posted online with an assigned Digital Object Identifier (DOI). Your choice will not affect the editorial process or publication decision, and your preprint will remain globally available and free to read whether the journal accepts or rejects your manuscript. Please consult the SSRN Terms of Use and FAQs for more information.

Authorship changes. Editors will consider the addition, deletion, or rearrangement of authors after a manuscript has been accepted for publication only in exceptional circumstances. Publication of the manuscript will be suspended while the Editor considers the request. Requests approved after the manuscript has already been published in an online issue will require a corrigendum.

Copyright. As an author, you (or your employer or institution) have certain rights to reuse your work (see here for more information). Authors will be asked to complete a Journal Publishing Agreement upon acceptance of their manuscript for publication. Authors require the Publisher's Permission for resale or distribution of an accepted article outside the authors' institution, and for all other derivative works (e.g., compilations, translations). If excerpts from other copyrighted works are included in the article, the authors must obtain written permission from the copyright owners and credit the sources in the article (see here for preprinted forms). Exceptions exist for open access articles (please visit the Open Access page for more information). See here for more information on how you can share your research published in Elsevier journals.

Online proof correction. We will do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately. Please use the proof only for checking the typesetting, editing, completeness, and correctness of the text, tables, and figures. Significant changes to the article as accepted for publication will only be considered at this stage with permission from the Editor. It is important to ensure that all corrections are sent back to us in one communication, which we kindly ask you to send within two days to ensure quick publication of your article. Please check carefully before replying-inclusion of any subsequent corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofreading is solely the author's responsibility.

Corresponding authors will receive an e-mail with a link to the online proofing system, allowing annotation and correction of proofs online. The environment resembles MS Word: in addition to editing text, you can also comment on figures and tables, and answer questions from the Copy Editor. Web-based proofing provides a faster and less error-prone process by allowing you to directly type your corrections, eliminating the potential introduction of errors. If preferred, you can still choose to annotate and upload your edits on the PDF version. The e-mail will include all instructions for proofing, including alternative methods to the online version and PDF.


Offprints. The corresponding author will receive a customized Share Link providing 50 days of free access to the final published version of the article on ScienceDirect. The Share Link can be used for sharing the article via any communication channel, including email and social media. For an extra charge, paper offprints can be ordered via the offprint order form sent when the article is accepted for publication. Corresponding authors who have published their article gold open access do not receive a Share Link because the final published version of their article is available open access on ScienceDirect and can be shared through the article DOI link.

Queries

Please visit our Support Center for questions about the editorial process (including the status of manuscripts under review) or for technical support on submissions.