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American Psychologist is the flagship peer-reviewed journal of the American Psychological Association (APA). First published in 1946, it appears nine times per year and carries synthesized reviews, policy analyses and broad theoretical contributions that cut across the discipline of psychology. This guide covers who publishes it, how it is edited, how to read its citation metrics responsibly, where it is indexed and what to check before you submit.
Aims, Scope, and Editorial Leadership
As the association’s primary journal, American Psychologist focuses on contributions that matter to the broader discipline rather than narrow subspecialties. Readers exploring what is psychology will find that its articles address disciplinary debates, science-policy questions and professional practice.
The journal is published by the American Psychological Association and edited by Editor-in-Chief Harris Cooper (Duke University). Its Print ISSN is 0003-066X and its Electronic ISSN is 1935-990X.
Submitting to American Psychologist: What to Check
Page limits, abstract limits, article types and formatting rules are set by the journal and can change between volumes. Read the current Instructions for Authors on the APA journal page before you prepare a manuscript, and follow the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association for style.
APA also publishes the Journal Article Reporting Standards (JARS), which describe what to report for quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods research. Confirm on the journal’s author page which reporting standards and open-science practices apply to your article type.
If you circulate a preprint before peer review, a server such as PsyArXiv gives it a public record, and a CrossRef DOI gives each version a persistent identifier.
American Psychologist Impact Factor and Metrics
The journal impact factor is published each year in Clarivate’s Journal Citation Reports (JCR) and is a ratio of citations to citable items over a two-year window; JCR also reports a five-year figure. Scopus reports a separate indicator, CiteScore. Values change with every annual release and differ between databases, so quote the figure together with its release year and source, and check the current release in JCR or Scopus rather than relying on a number copied from a web page.
| Question | Where to look |
|---|---|
| Journal Impact Factor (two-year and five-year) | Clarivate Journal Citation Reports, current release |
| CiteScore | Scopus source record for American Psychologist |
| Publication frequency | APA journal page (nine issues per year) |
Under the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), journal-level metrics should not substitute for assessing the quality of an individual manuscript.
Literature Retrieval and Bibliographic Indexing
The journal is indexed in PsycINFO, PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science and Scopus. For systematic reviews, a structured PsycINFO search strategy using the APA Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms helps retrieve its articles reliably. Authors thinking about authorship ethics can also read gift and ghost authorship in psychology.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the impact factor of American Psychologist?
The impact factor is reported by Clarivate in the Journal Citation Reports and changes with each annual release. Check the current JCR release and cite the value with its year; Scopus CiteScore is a separate metric.
Who publishes American Psychologist?
The American Psychological Association publishes it. The journal was first published in 1946.
How often is American Psychologist published?
Nine issues per year.
What is the page limit for submissions?
Limits are set in the journal’s Instructions for Authors and can change, so confirm the current figure on the APA journal page before you submit.
Where is American Psychologist indexed?
PsycINFO, PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science and Scopus.
Sources
Checked 2026-11-07.
- American Psychological Association. American Psychologist journal page and instructions for authors. https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/amp
- American Psychological Association. Journal Article Reporting Standards (JARS). https://apastyle.apa.org/jars
- Wikipedia. American Psychologist (publisher, frequency, ISSNs, editor, indexing). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Psychologist
- DORA. San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment. https://sfdora.org/read/
