About the Journal

Focus & Scope

The mission of the European Journal for Qualitative Research in Psychotherapy (EJQRP) is to provide an accessible forum for research that advances the theory and practice of psychotherapy and supports practitioner-led research.

We, the Editorial Team, appreciate the limitations that currently govern opportunities for research and academic scholarship, including restricted access to international academic research journals. The hope is that the freely available, online format will help make research more widely available to practitioners. 

We celebrate our qualitative values of being open and inclusive by welcoming all forms of qualitative research and respecting diverse approaches and understandings.  We are mindful of the many cultures and languages within Europe and we appreciate the challenge of writing in English when it is not the author’s first language.  We encourage authors to submit parts of their research (abstract, data set, summary of findings, appendices) in the authors' first language if that is helpful. Extra support with writing and editing is available to all authors, particularly if English is not the author's first language. However, it is recommended that authors seek their own editing support to ensure clarity of content prior to submission.

The journal offers a space for any qualitative research which aims to explore psychotherapeutic practice, whether in Europe or further afield. We welcome contributions from different methodological and theoretical standpoints, as well as relevant literature reviews, critical explorations of methodology and philosophical research. Submissions of qualitative empirical research or reflective/creative examples are particularly encouraged towards evolving a robust pool of 'practice-based evidence'.

We wish to encourage dialogue and debate within our relatively young profession. As we see it, this involves not only exploring the richness of psychotherapy practice but also supporting and challenging one another. To this end, the Editorial Team will try to make themselves available to positively encourage a new generation of writers/researchers to share their research experience. If you have an idea for a possible article but you are unsure about how to proceed, please feel free to contact us.  

Ready to Submit a Paper? Please look at the Information for Authors page before submitting your article and familiarise yourself with our guidelines and processes. We accept empirical research papers or philosophical/reflective reviews of up to 9,000 words and short reports of research orientated papers of up to 1,000 words.  When you are ready to submit please click here Submit an Article.

 

Publication process

EJQRP aims to publish at least one volume (one issue of around 8-10 articles) each year, following a continuous publishing model, before collation into a volume at the end of the calendar year.

The Editors will ensure that papers published are suitable for the remit and readership of the journal and that papers will demonstrate methodological integrity and appropriate ethical/professional practice. To this end, it is expected that the Editors will engage in dialogue with authors (and prospective authors) to ensure suitable submissions. 

Publication decisions made will aim to be supportive, fair and based on an appropriate peer review process. On receiving a manuscript, the Editors may communicate with the author and explain the review process. The Editors will then send a blind copy (where possible) of the manuscript to relevant/appropriate reviewers – two or three reviewers will be approached. The Editors will then collate the reviewers’ comments (ensuring their anonymity where possible) and summarise these with a clear and constructive recommendation to publish with minor or major edits, or not. After the author has submitted their edits, it might be necessary to go through the review process again. Otherwise, authors will discuss further changes and engage in an iterative process of editing with the Editor/Production Editor.

With the ethos of the journal highlighting openness, inclusivity and respect of diversity, the Editors and Reviewers aim to be open to accepting diverse methodological and cultural approaches as well as creative presentations, providing the writing is clear/credible and the findings are of relevance/interest.  The Editor (along with Co-Editors and the team of reviewers) will aim to ensure that writing/publication process is experienced by authors as a supportive, rewarding one leaving authors with a sense that reviewers have read their work with care and understand what they were trying to accomplish. 

Being an online journal, all journal content is electronically backed up in the online Open Journal System, who archive all articles published.  

 

Publication Policy & Ethics

Authors of accepted papers must obtain and provide the editor with all necessary permissions to reproduce in electronic form any copyrighted work. Any conflicts of interest or competing interests need to be declared to the editor before publication. The editor, in consultation with co-editors, will make the final decision about any publication and/or the handling of any ensuing complaints. EJQRP policy prohibits an author from submitting the same manuscript for concurrent consideration by two or more publications.

After publication, should there be any ethical breach that comes to light, EJQRP reserves the right to require appropriate corrections to be made or to issue post-publication apologies or clarifications.  In extreme cases, EJQRP reserves the right to delete an article deemed to breach ethical codes.

The journal is currently financed and sponsored by the European Association for Integrative Psychotherapy (EAIP) (http://euroaip.eu/). EAIP have undertaken to ensure continuity of sponsorship by other institutions should EAIP wish to withdraw. The journal remains independent of the commercial interests of the EAIP and any views expressed in the journal by authors will not necessarily reflect those of the EAIP organisation.

Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), based in Liverpool, England, currently hosts the Journal as part of its Open Journals Service, providing both technical support and publication of the articles contained within the Journal.

These relationships are one of partnership, dialogue and collaboration with reciprocal independence of all partners. We share a joint mission with EAIP to encourage practitioner-oriented research.

Further information about publication ethics or editorial policy can be obtained from the editor.

 

Open Access Publishing

This journal provides immediate open access to its content with no submission or publication fees. The content in this journal is published under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial 4.0 Licence that allows others to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full text of works in this journal, or to use them for any other lawful purpose in accordance with the licence.  

 

Notice and Takedown Policy

If you are a rights holder and are concerned that you have found material in LJMU Open Journals which infringes UK law, please contact us by emailing openjournals@ljmu.ac.uk, stating the following:

  1. Your contact details and the reason for the withdrawal request, some examples are:
    1. Unauthorised use by reason of reproduction and/or making available the material
    2. Breach of moral right of [paternity/integrity/right not to have my work subjected to derogatory treatment]
    3. Other complaints, e.g. defamation, breach of confidence, data protection
  1. The full bibliographic details of the material and the full URL
  2. Proof that you are the rights holder or are an authorised representative.

Upon receipt of notification, the ‘Notice and Takedown’ procedure is then invoked as follows:

  1. LJMU will acknowledge receipt of your complaint by email or letter and will make an initial assessment of the validity and plausibility of the complaint. We aim to acknowledge and assess the complaint within seven days of receipt.
  2. Where grounds for complaint are plausible, the material will be temporarily removed from public view in LJMU Open Journals pending an agreed solution.
  3. LJMU will contact the contributor who deposited the material, if relevant. The contributor will be notified that the material is subject to a complaint, under what allegations, and will be encouraged to assuage the complaints concerned.
  4. The complainant and the contributor will be encouraged to resolve the issue swiftly and amicably and to the satisfaction of both parties, with the following possible outcomes:
    1. The material is replaced on LJMU Open Journals unchanged.
    2. The material is replaced on LJMU Open Journals with changes.
    3. The material is permanently removed from LJMU Open Journals.
    4. In some cases, a metadata record will remain. This will be on a case-by-case basis.

If the contributor and the complainant are unable to agree a solution from receipt of notification, the material will remain unavailable through LJMU Open Journals until a time when a resolution has been reached. It may be necessary for us to seek legal advice before the complaint can be fully resolved.