Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

The Journal of Social and Personal Relationships (JSPR) is an international, peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to empirical and theoretical research on human interpersonal connections. Founded in 1984, the journal publishes multidisciplinary scholarship across social psychology, communication studies, developmental psychology, family studies, and sociology. Operating in formal affiliation with the International Association for Relationship Research (IARR) and published by SAGE Publications, the journal serves as a core outlet for research on friendship, romantic partnerships, family systems, social support, and relational communication.

What It Is

The Journal of Social and Personal Relationships is a monthly, peer-reviewed journal investigating the life cycle of interpersonal relationships, including attraction, relational formation, maintenance, conflict, and dissolution. As an official publication of the International Association for Relationship Research (IARR), it provides a dedicated venue for relationship science.

Bibliographically, the journal is registered under Print ISSN 0265-4075 and Electronic ISSN 1460-3608 (NLM Unique ID 8409448, Medline abbreviation J Soc Pers Relat). For researchers managing citations and repository deposits, understanding the distinction between print and digital serial records is essential; see our reference on ISSN vs. eISSN. The journal publishes twelve issues annually, producing print editions and digital releases hosted on SAGE Journals.

Terminology: Journal of Personal and Social Relationships

In literature searches and citation tools, the publication is occasionally cited colloquially as the “journal of personal and social relationships.” While this transposed phrasing is common, the official title registered with Crossref, the National Library of Medicine, and SAGE Publications is strictly the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. Authors configuring citation alerts should use the authoritative title and ISSN to ensure complete indexing retrieval.

Who Runs It and What It Covers

The journal is published by SAGE Publications in partnership with the International Association for Relationship Research (IARR), a learned society dedicated to advancing relationship scholarship. Editorial direction is led by an appointed Editor-in-Chief supported by an international board of associate editors and reviewers.

The journal’s scope encompasses empirical investigations and theoretical work in several core domains:

Interpersonal Communication: Nonverbal dynamics, disclosure, relational conflict, digital interaction, and communicative patterns in close relationships.
Social and Personality Psychology: Attachment processes, relationship satisfaction, empathy, interdependence, and emotional regulation.
Developmental and Family Contexts: Parent-child dynamics, sibling interactions, friendship across the lifespan, and family transitions.
Clinical and Health Processes: Dyadic coping during illness, interpersonal trauma, mental health, and relational support.
Methodological Innovations: Dyadic analysis models, actor-partner interdependence modeling (APIM), and longitudinal designs.

Crossref registry records show over 3,200 peer-reviewed articles deposited under the journal’s DOI prefix. JSPR adheres to publishing standards established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) regarding research integrity and data provenance.

How to Search or Use It

Authors and researchers interact with the journal’s infrastructure through the SAGE Journals portal and ScholarOne Manuscripts. Follow these six steps to navigate the submission workflow:

Locate the Official Gateway: Access the official SAGE portal for the publication. Verify ISSN 0265-4075 to confirm you are using the authenticated publisher gateway.
Review Manuscript Guidelines: JSPR considers empirical research articles, review papers, and brief research reports. Submissions must adhere strictly to American Psychological Association (APA style) formatting.
Access the ScholarOne Submission Portal: Author submissions and peer review are managed via ScholarOne at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jspr. New users select “Register Here”; returning authors log in directly.
Prepare Anonymized Files for Double-Blind Review: JSPR uses double-blind review. Prepare an anonymized main text file omitting author names, affiliations, acknowledgments, and revealing citations. A separate title page must contain author details, affiliations, ORCIDs, and funding sources.
Submit via the Manuscript Wizard: Complete the ScholarOne submission tabs: select the manuscript type, enter title and abstract, assign keywords, input co-author details, and upload the blinded main text and separate title page. Review the generated PDF proof before submitting.
Track Review and Retrieve Sourced Articles via Persistent DOIs: Authors can track editorial status stages in ScholarOne. Accepted articles receive an official Digital Object Identifier (DOI) registered with Crossref. For citing persistent identifiers, consult our guides on what is Crossref and formatting a DOI link.

Strengths and Limits

Evaluating whether the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships is the optimal venue for a manuscript involves weighing its editorial strengths against practical considerations.

Scholarly Strengths

Interdisciplinary Visibility: Articles reach an international readership spanning communication, psychology, and sociology departments.
Double-Blind Review Rigor: Blinded evaluation minimizes institutional bias, providing equitable review for emerging scholars.
Extensive Indexing: JSPR is indexed in major bibliographic databases, including the Social Sciences Citation Index (Web of Science), Scopus, and PsycINFO. Researchers conducting literature reviews can query the journal using structured syntax; see our guide on Scopus advanced search syntax.
Metadata Integrity: Crossref deposits for JSPR maintain complete compliance for license metadata, Crossmark policy updates, and similarity checks.
Hybrid Publishing Model: Authors can publish under traditional subscription models without mandatory page charges or opt for open-access dissemination via SAGE Choice.

Editorial and Practical Limits

Strict Relational Focus: The journal requires a direct interpersonal component. Studies focused purely on individual cognitive processes or broad macro-demographics without dyadic mechanisms are typically out of scope.
Methodological Scrutiny: Submissions undergo rigorous scrutiny regarding statistical power, dyadic interdependence, and measurement validity.
Open-Access Fees: While subscription publication incurs no author-facing fees, selecting Gold Open Access via SAGE Choice requires an Article Processing Charge (APC) unless supported by an institutional waiver.

Alternatives

When selecting a target journal, researchers frequently compare JSPR with peer-reviewed publications that share overlapping disciplinary boundaries. The table below outlines key editorial alternatives in relationship science, family studies, and social psychology.

Journal Title	Publisher / Sponsoring Body	Primary Scope & Focus	Publishing & Access Model	Peer Review Model
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships	SAGE Publications / IARR	Interdisciplinary empirical and theoretical research on social and personal relationships across psychology and communication.	Hybrid (Subscription with SAGE Choice open-access option; monthly)	Double-blind peer review
Personal Relationships	Wiley / IARR	Close interpersonal relationships, dyadic dynamics, attachment processes, and socio-emotional development.	Hybrid (Subscription with Wiley OnlineOpen option; quarterly)	Double-blind peer review
Journal of Marriage and Family	Wiley / National Council on Family Relations (NCFR)	Sociological, developmental, and demographic research focused on marriage, family relationships, and household structures.	Hybrid (Subscription with open-access option; bimonthly)	Double-blind peer review
Interpersonal: An International Journal on Personal Relationships	PsychOpen / Leibniz Institute for Psychology (ZPID)	Peer-reviewed research on personal relationships and interpersonal psychology.	Diamond Open Access (No APC for authors, free public access)	Double-blind peer review

FAQ

Is the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships peer-reviewed?

Yes. The journal employs a double-blind peer-review model. Submitted manuscripts are evaluated by independent academic referees who do not have access to author names or institutional affiliations, ensuring objective appraisal of methodology and theoretical contributions.

What is the difference between JSPR and Personal Relationships?

Both journals are official publications of the International Association for Relationship Research (IARR). However, the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships is published monthly by SAGE Publications and features a broad interdisciplinary scope across communication, psychology, and sociology. In contrast, Personal Relationships is published quarterly by Wiley with a primary focus on psychological and socio-emotional processes.

Does the journal charge author submission fees or mandatory page charges?

No. Authors publishing under the standard subscription track do not pay submission fees, page fees, or color figure charges. Authors electing Gold Open Access can choose the SAGE Choice option upon article acceptance, which requires an Article Processing Charge (APC) or institutional waiver.

Where do authors submit manuscripts for JSPR?

Manuscripts must be submitted through the official ScholarOne Manuscripts web portal at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jspr. Submissions sent via direct email to editors are not accepted.

What citation and formatting style does the journal require?

The journal requires manuscripts to adhere strictly to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA style). References, in-text citations, statistical abbreviations, headings, and data tables must follow APA conventions.

Sources

SAGE Publications. “Journal of Social and Personal Relationships: Overview, Scope, and Subscriptions.” Official journal record on SAGE platform, accessed November 8, 2026. https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/journal-of-social-and-personal-relationships/journal200790
National Library of Medicine. “NLM Catalog: Journal of social and personal relationships.” NLM Unique ID 8409448, Medline TA: J Soc Pers Relat, accessed November 8, 2026. https://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/esummary.fcgi?db=nlmcatalog&id=8409448
Crossref. “Crossref Metadata API: Journal Record for ISSN 0265-4075 / 1460-3608.” SAGE Publications depositor statistics, accessed November 8, 2026. https://api.crossref.org/journals/0265-4075
International Association for Relationship Research (IARR). “IARR Publications: Official Journals and Monographs.” Accessed November 8, 2026. https://iarr.org/publications.html
ScholarOne Manuscripts. “JSPR Manuscript Central Submission Portal.” SAGE Publications / Silverchair, accessed November 8, 2026. https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jspr