Reporting Guidelines
The Journal of Child and Youth Psychology (JCYP) supports the clear, complete, transparent, and scientifically assessable reporting of research. Authors are expected to consider international reporting guidelines appropriate to the design and methodology of their study.
Reporting guidelines are not methodological rules prescribing how a study should be designed. Their purpose is to ensure that completed research is reported with sufficient detail, transparency, and clarity to permit critical assessment and replication where applicable.
Psychological Research
APA Style JARS
APA Style JARS
Randomised Trials
CONSORT 2025
CONSORT 2025
Observational Studies
STROBE
STROBE
Systematic Reviews
PRISMA 2020
PRISMA 2020
1. General Principle
Authors are encouraged to use reporting guidelines appropriate to their study design from the manuscript preparation stage onwards.
Depending on the nature of the study, the editorial office may request that the relevant completed reporting checklist be uploaded during initial submission or revision.
Where more than one reporting guideline applies to a study, authors are encouraged to use the main reporting guideline together with any relevant extension or complementary guideline.
2. APA Style Journal Article Reporting Standards (JARS)
Because the primary disciplinary focus of JCYP is psychology and related fields, authors are particularly encouraged to follow the APA Style Journal Article Reporting Standards (JARS).
APA JARS provides reporting standards for:
- JARS–Quant: Quantitative research,
- JARS–Qual: Qualitative research,
- JARS–Mixed: Mixed methods research.
APA JARS supports transparent reporting of research questions, participants, sampling, measures, data collection, analytic strategies, preregistration, results, and information relevant to reproducibility.
3. Reporting Guidelines by Study Design
Randomised Controlled Trials — CONSORT 2025
Authors reporting randomised controlled trials are encouraged to follow the CONSORT 2025 Statement.
CONSORT addresses key information related to randomisation, study groups, interventions, outcomes, sample size, analyses, participant flow, and reporting of results.
Observational Studies — STROBE
Authors reporting cohort, case-control, or cross-sectional observational studies are encouraged to follow the STROBE Statement.
Nonrandomised Intervention Studies — TREND
For nonrandomised evaluations of behavioural, psychosocial, or public-health interventions, authors are encouraged to consider the TREND Statement.
Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses — PRISMA 2020
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses should be reported in accordance with PRISMA 2020.
Where applicable, authors are expected to provide the PRISMA checklist and a flow diagram describing the study-selection process.
Scoping Reviews — PRISMA-ScR
Authors reporting scoping reviews are encouraged to follow the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR).
Qualitative Research — COREQ and SRQR
Authors of qualitative studies are encouraged to use COREQ or SRQR, depending on the research approach.
- COREQ: Particularly applicable to qualitative studies using interviews and focus groups.
- SRQR: A broader reporting framework applicable across a range of qualitative research approaches.
Detailed Description of Interventions — TIDieR
For psychological, psychoeducational, behavioural, or other intervention studies, authors are encouraged to use the TIDieR checklist to describe the intervention in sufficient detail to support replication.
TIDieR complements rather than replaces CONSORT or another main study-reporting guideline.
Diagnostic Accuracy Studies — STARD
Studies evaluating the diagnostic accuracy of a test, measure, or assessment procedure should consider the STARD reporting guideline.
4. Submission of Reporting Checklists
Authors are expected to use the relevant reporting checklist during manuscript preparation.
The editorial office may request a completed reporting checklist as a supplementary submission file, particularly for randomised controlled trials, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, scoping reviews, and other methodologically specialised study designs.
Where possible, authors should indicate the page, section, or paragraph of the manuscript corresponding to each checklist item.
5. Selecting the Appropriate Guideline
The guidelines listed on this page represent commonly used examples. Where a more specific reporting guideline exists for a particular design, methodology, or research area, authors are encouraged to use the most appropriate guideline.
Authors may use the EQUATOR Network Reporting Guidelines Library to identify additional reporting standards relevant to their research.
6. Author Responsibility
Compliance with a reporting guideline does not, by itself, guarantee the scientific or methodological quality of a study. Authors remain responsible for the design, conduct, analysis, ethical integrity, and accuracy of all information reported in their research.
JCYP regards the use of appropriate reporting standards as an important component of transparency, reproducibility, scholarly assessment, and research quality.
