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Introduction and Purpose

School Psychology Forum: Research In Practice (SPF) is a refereed journal published electronically on a semiannual basis by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). The primary purposes of SPF are to provide an efficient means for communicating and translating scholarly advances into practice and to offer the opportunity for scholarly commentary regarding the practical applications of key developments within the field. Each edition of SPF will be dedicated to offering information on timely, practice-focused topics to enhance the practice and delivery of school psychological services. Published two times a year, SPF will reflect current theory, research, and opinion related to school psychology, child and adolescent mental health, educational services, and other related areas.

SPF will publish articles including literature reviews, case studies, and concise reviews of evidence-based practices. Select original research articles will be considered for publication, given that authors write these articles in a manner that translates scientific data into specific suggestions and recommendations to enhance the practice of school psychology. The Editor and Associate Editor of SPF will solicit several articles for each edition from experts on the topical area of each issue. Proposals for unsolicited manuscripts can be submitted for review. In addition, the Editorial Advisory Board (EAB) will select several practitioners to provide commentary and practice-relevant reviews on the primary articles, which will be highlighted in the “Practitioner’s Corner” of SPF. In order for SPF to engage readers and be an interactive resource, readers have the option of discussing and posting questions regarding articles in SPF on the SPF blog, which will be located on the NASP website. Authors of primary articles, or their designees, will be asked to respond to several common questions or concerns raised by posting at this site.

All manuscripts submitted, as well as solicited commentary, are subject to a masked, peer-review process involving members of the EAB and ad hoc reviewers. In addition, unsolicited commentary will be accepted from readers; however, prior to publishing these comments must undergo the review process. Although the majority of the space for SPF will be dedicated to topic-specific articles, proposals for unsolicited manuscripts will be accepted for review, and a request for full articles will be based on the scientific merit and practical applications of the proposed article.

Given the unique electronic character of SPF, each issue will have a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) component. For each solicited article and commentary, several CPD questions will be developed and put into an online CPD test. This test can be taken via the NASP website, and upon successful completion (e.g., 100%), members will be able to print out a letter documenting this CPD activity.