Multivariate Behavioral Research is the flagship journal of the Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology (SMEP). It is a journal devoted to the dissemination, evaluation, and application of quantitative methods to the behavioral sciences and. It aims to publish articles intended to cater to a wide audience of quantitative methodologists and substantive researchers who wish to use advanced methods in their work. Its goal is to have a long-term transformative effect on research in psychology and the behavioral sciences.


The journal is the result of the joint effort of a team of Associate Editors and seeks four kinds of contributions:


Regular contributions are research articles that advance or evaluate current quantitative methods. They are judged by their accessibility to a wide audience, potential to change the field, and innovativeness. Regardless of content, they are to include a numerical analysis to showcase the relevance of their contribution.


Software contributions provide an outlet for researchers who implement methods in software to disseminate their work and reach a wide audience. Contributions may consist of the dissemination of a new software program or package, or a major addition to existing software to cover a new area. They are judged by their potential to change the field, breadth, and accessibility.


Tutorials are articles suitable to be employed for teaching. Reviewsare articles that provide a summary of the state of the art of classic or new methods. They are judged by their potential to change the field, insightfulness, and breadth.


Quantitative applications provide an outlet for research in any area of the behavioral sciences to publish their work, unconstrained by the quantitative nature of its contribution. It seeks articles that otherwise may be difficult to publish in their substantive fields because the contribution is “quantitative” or too technical in nature. These articles showcase how the proper method can provide novel and potential far-reaching insights into a substantive problem. They are reviewed both by experts in the content area of the submission and by quantitative experts. They are judged by their potential to provide an exemplar of how the information provided by advanced methods can inform the content area and their ability to reach a wide audience.


In addition to these four areas, Multivariate Behavioral Research's goal is to publish a special topic issue once a year. This issue will cover a topic of interest to the journal's readership. The editorial team welcomes suggestions for important topics for special issues that have the potential for advancing our understanding of important methodological problems. The journal also publishes articles based on presentations of winners of the Society's Sells award recognizing an individual who has made distinguished lifetime contributions in our field, and the Early Career award recognizing early career contributions.


The publication of quantitative applications is a core mission of Multivariate Behavioral Research. Reflecting the submissions we have received, the journal has historically published few applications, tutorials, and reviews. We actively seek to publish more articles in these categories, as well as in the new category of software contributions.


The journal makes ample use of supplementary materials. Authors are encouraged to include their code, and whenever possible, their data, as supplementary materials so that their results can be better evaluated and understood by readers, as well as replicated.


The Society's Tanaka award recognizes the best article published each year in the journal. When preparing their submissions, authors are strongly advised to check the Tanaka, Sells, and Early Career articles as examples of successful publications in the journal, for guidance on the style and themes of interest to our readership.


As we aim to expand the scope of the journal, prospective authors are encouraged to contact the Editor-in-Chief ahead of submission for feedback about the journal's interest in a particular topic that may seem outside the scope of the journal. Similarly, authors interested in submitting a quantitative application or a software contribution may wish to contact the respective Section Editor ahead of their submission for feedback.


The field of quantitative methods in the behavioral sciences is thriving with new and exciting developments and opportunities, and the editorial team of Multivariate Behavioral Research is excited to actively contributing to its development.

RELATED LINKS

    Research Methods books
    Join the Routledge Research Methods mailing list!


Peer Review Policy: All review papers in this journal have undergone editorial screening and peer review.

Publication office: Taylor & Francis, Inc., 530 Walnut Street, Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106