Current Direction in Psychological Science: Guide

What it is

The journal Current Directions in Psychological Science (frequently searched as current direction in psychological science) is a bimonthly peer-reviewed publication dedicated to concise reviews spanning all of scientific psychology. Founded in 1992, the serial serves as a flagship review outlet for the Association for Psychological Science (APS), providing researchers, educators, and students with accessible overviews of developments across psychological subdisciplines.

Unlike empirical journals that report primary experimental data or clinical trials, Current Directions in Psychological Science focuses exclusively on synthesizing emergent literature, theoretical debates, and methodological advancements. Articles are written to be intelligible to non-specialists, undergraduates, and investigators working outside their immediate specialty, making the journal a widely adopted resource for graduate seminars and undergraduate instruction.

The journal operates under Print ISSN 0963-7214 and Online ISSN 1467-8721. Published six times per year (February, April, June, August, October, and December), each issue features concise review articles that distill experimental findings into clear conceptual frameworks.

Who runs it and what it covers

Current Directions in Psychological Science is published by SAGE Publications on behalf of the Association for Psychological Science (APS), an international organization founded in 1988 to advance scientific psychology. Editorial leadership is directed by an Editor-in-Chief appointed by the APS Publications Committee, supported by an international editorial board of Associate Editors and Consulting Editors.

The scope of the journal covers the full spectrum of scientific psychology:

• Cognitive and Perceptual Psychology: Memory systems, perception, attention, psycholinguistics, executive function, and decision-making architectures.
• Developmental and Educational Psychology: Cognitive and socioemotional development across the lifespan, childhood learning mechanisms, and pedagogical interventions.
• Biological and Neural Bases of Behaviour: Cognitive neuroscience, affective neuropsychology, neuroimaging paradigms, brain plasticity, and behavioral genetics.
• Social, Personality, and Cultural Dynamics: Intergroup attitudes, social cognition, emotion regulation, personality traits, and cross-cultural variation.
• Clinical Psychology and Psychopathology: Etiological frameworks, transdiagnostic cognitive mechanisms, and evidence-based diagnostic criteria.
• Quantitative and Methodological Science: Psychometrics, reproducibility practices, statistical modelling, and computational cognitive architectures.

The journal is indexed across major bibliographic databases, ensuring wide international discoverability. Indexing coverage includes Scopus, Clarivate’s Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) within Web of Science, PsycINFO, EBSCOhost Academic Search Premier, PubMed (MEDLINE selective indexing), and Current Contents/Social and Behavioral Sciences.

How to search or use it

Researchers, educators, and prospective authors interact with the journal through SAGE Journals and the SAGE Track manuscript management portal. SAGE and APS documentation define an eight-step workflow for searching content, evaluating policies, and submitting proposals:

1. Navigating the Journal Homepage: Users access the repository at journals.sagepub.com/home/cdp, where current issues, OnlineFirst articles, and archival backfiles dating to Volume 1 (1992) are cataloged.
2. Executing Targeted Literature Searches: Users employ the top search field to query keywords, article titles, author names, or DOIs, filtering by date range, thematic collections, or access status.
3. Consulting Author Guidelines: Prospective authors navigate to the “Journal Overview” menu and select “Author Instructions” or visit psychologicalscience.org to review word limits and policies before drafting.
4. Accessing the SAGE Track Submission Portal: Authors click “Submit Paper”, directing to the SAGE Track interface powered by ScholarOne Manuscripts (mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cdps), where users log in with their credentials or ORCID iD.
5. Preparing an Unsolicited Manuscript Proposal: Because full manuscripts are accepted by invitation only, uninvited authors must submit an “Unsolicited Proposal.” Under APS guidelines, the proposal must not exceed 3 pages and must outline the theoretical framework, relevance, timeliness, and key references.
6. Nominating Qualified Reviewers: In SAGE Track, the author selects the “Unsolicited Proposal” manuscript category and enters contact details for 4 to 5 suggested peer reviewers who possess domain expertise and hold no conflicts of interest.
7. Editorial Evaluation: The Editor-in-Chief evaluates the 3-page proposal against editorial standards and volume schedules. Approximately 10% of unsolicited proposals receive approval. If approved, the editorial office issues a formal invitation through SAGE Track detailing submission deadlines.
8. Peer Review and Production Licensing: Invited authors submit their full review article (typically 2,000 to 2,500 words of narrative text) through SAGE Track for independent peer review. Upon acceptance, authors choose between traditional subscription publication or open access distribution.

Strengths and limits

Evaluating Current Directions in Psychological Science requires understanding both its strengths as a pedagogical synthesis and its constraints as an academic publishing venue:

• Synthesis and Accessibility: The journal’s primary strength is rendering complex methodological debates and niche empirical findings accessible to non-specialists, students, and educators without sacrificing rigor.
• Editorial Prestige and High Visibility: Backed by APS and indexed in Scopus and Web of Science, articles achieve sustained visibility and long-term citation lifespans.
• Zero Mandatory Author Fees: Under traditional subscription publishing, authors pay no submission charges, page charges, or mandatory article processing charge (APC).
• Rigorous Commissioning Gate: The main limitation is the barrier to entry: full unsolicited manuscripts are rejected without review, and only about 10% of submitted 3-page proposals earn an editorial invitation.
• Strict Word Count Boundaries: Because articles are constrained to approximately 2,000 to 2,500 words of text, the format cannot accommodate comprehensive meta-analyses or exhaustive systematic reviews.
• Exclusion of Primary Empirical Data: Researchers seeking a venue for original empirical studies or laboratory findings must submit to alternative empirical journals rather than this review outlet.

Alternatives

Scholars seeking to publish or consult review literature in psychology have several established alternatives, each serving distinct lengths, methodologies, and editorial models:

Journal	Publisher / Society	Review Format	Typical Word Length	Submission Model	Primary Audience
Current Directions in Psychological Science	SAGE / APS	Concise, broad conceptual syntheses	2,000–2,500 words	Invited or 3-page proposal	Non-specialists, educators, students
Perspectives on Psychological Science	SAGE / APS	Theoretical essays, debates, meta-analyses	5,000–10,000+ words	Unsolicited and invited papers	Academic researchers, theorists
Psychological Bulletin	APA	Systematic quantitative reviews and meta-analyses	10,000–25,000+ words	Unsolicited submissions	Specialists, quantitative methodologists
Annual Review of Psychology	Annual Reviews	Comprehensive state-of-the-field surveys	7,000–10,000 words	Strictly editorial invitation	Senior faculty, graduate seminars
Trends in Cognitive Sciences	Cell Press / Elsevier	Concise reviews and opinion pieces	3,000–4,000 words	Presubmission inquiry or invitation	Interdisciplinary cognitive scientists

FAQ

What is the difference between Current Directions in Psychological Science and Psychological Science?

Psychological Science is the flagship empirical journal of the Association for Psychological Science, publishing rapid research reports that present novel experimental data. In contrast, Current Directions in Psychological Science does not publish original empirical data; it publishes concise, accessible review articles synthesizing recent advances across psychology for a broad audience.

Can authors submit an unsolicited full manuscript to Current Directions in Psychological Science?

No. The journal does not accept unsolicited full manuscripts. Prospective authors must submit an unsolicited proposal of up to 3 pages via the SAGE Track submission portal. Authors should only submit a complete manuscript if the Editor-in-Chief formally approves the proposal and issues an official invitation.

What is the acceptance rate for unsolicited proposals?

According to official APS editorial statements, approximately 10% of unsolicited proposals are approved for a full manuscript invitation. The low acceptance rate reflects strict page limits in each bimonthly issue and the need to maintain balanced topical coverage across diverse psychological subfields.

Does Current Directions in Psychological Science charge an article processing charge?

Publishing in the journal under the traditional subscription model requires no payment from authors. There are no submission fees, color charges, or mandatory page fees. Authors who choose open access under the SAGE Choice program, or who are mandated to do so by funding bodies, pay an article processing charge, which is frequently covered or discounted under institutional transformative read-and-publish agreements.

Where is Current Directions in Psychological Science indexed?

The journal is indexed in Scopus, Clarivate’s Web of Science Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), PsycINFO (American Psychological Association), EBSCOhost Academic Search Premier, Current Contents/Social and Behavioral Sciences, and selectively in PubMed/MEDLINE.

Sources

• Association for Psychological Science (APS). Current Directions in Psychological Science: Aims and Scope. APS Official Publications (read 2026-11-12). https://www.psychologicalscience.org/publications/current-directions
• Association for Psychological Science (APS). Current Directions in Psychological Science: Submission Guidelines and Proposal Protocols. APS Official Publications (read 2026-11-12). https://www.psychologicalscience.org/publications/current-directions/cdp-submission-guidelines
• SAGE Publications. Current Directions in Psychological Science: Journal Information and Author Instructions. SAGE Journals (read 2026-11-12). https://journals.sagepub.com/home/cdp
• ISSN International Centre. ISSN 0963-7214: Current Directions in Psychological Science. The ISSN Portal (read 2026-11-12). https://portal.issn.org/resource/ISSN/0963-7214