JOURNAL FOR SPECIALISTS IN GROUP WORK

MANUSCRIPT REVIEW FORM

Ms. Title __________________________________________________________________________________

Reviewer: _____________________ MS #: _________ Date Sent : ______________ Date Due : _____________

FOR ALL MANUSCRIPTS

CONTRIBUTION TO THE FIELD OF GROUP WORK

Yes No Uncertain
1. Does the manuscript contain new findings or ideas?
2. Does the manuscript provide a unique contribution?
3. If not, does it present old material better?
4. Are the findings or ideas important to the group work field?
5. Does this manuscript adequately address the impact of group dynamics, group therapeutic factors, and group stages?
6. Is the manuscript integrative in regard to theory and practice?
7. Is the manuscript appropriate for the Journal for Specialists in Group Work?
8. If not, which Journals might it be appropriate for?

FOR ALL MANUSCRIPTS

GENERAL ORGANIZATION AND CLARITY OF WRITING

Yes No Uncertain
1. Is the material clearly presented, without excessive jargon?
2. Are the major relevant references included?
3. Is the manuscript sophisticated enough for a professional audience?
4. Should the manuscript be shortened?
5. Should the manuscript be more comprehensive?
Yes No Uncertain
6. Is the purpose and scope of the manuscript clearly presented in the introduction?

    a. Are theoretical underpinnings identified for the project?

    b. Is relevant past research/theory cited?
7. Does the introduction adequately introduce the purpose of the manuscript in a logically compelling way?
8. Is a clear and strong rationale provided for the importance of this manuscript?
9. Is a purpose of the manuscript clearly stated in the introduction?
10. Is the literature discussed in the introduction adequate to introduce the purpose of the manuscript?
11. Is the literature discussed in the introduction directly related to the purpose of the manuscript and necessary to introduce the topic?
Yes No Uncertain
12. Is the body of the manuscript well-organized and substantive?
13. Are all the graphs or charts needed?
Yes No Uncertain
14. Are the conclusions properly discussed?
15. Does the discussion/conclusion section(s) adequately discuss the findings?
16. Does the discussion/conclusion section(s) relate the findings of this manuscript adequately to current literature?
Yes No Uncertain
17. Is the manuscript written in APA Style?
18. Are all of the citations in text APA Style?
19. Are all references in reference list APA Style?
20. Is the manuscript written with nonsexist language?

FOR RESEARCH MANUSCRIPTS (BOTH QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE)

Yes No Uncertain
1. Are the hypotheses clearly stated?

    a. Does this purpose flow from research cited and rationale given?
2. Are the sample and sampling method adequately described?
3. Are the procedures/questionnaires clearly described?
4. Are the measures clearly described? Adequate reliability and validity data provided?
5. Is a rationale clearly provided as to why this research design is appropriate for this study (either in the intro or methods section)?
6. Are methodology decisions (e.g., coding of data, significance levels, grouping of subjects) adequately explained? Does the rationale make sense?
7. Is the research design adequate to achieve the study's objectives?
8. Are appropriate statistical tests used?
9. Are the results clearly presented?
10. Are the tables/figures needed?
11. Are the tables/figures clearly presented?

FOR THEORETICAL AND PRACTICE MANUSCRIPTS

Yes No Uncertain
1. Does the manuscript provide a theoretical basis for its discussion?
2. Is there a need for such a model/review/guidelines?

    a. Are theoretical underpinnings identified?

    b. Is relevant past research/theory cited as support for the need?
3. Are the theoretical assumption/background of the model/ guidelines discussed so that the reader understands and is aware of them?
4. Are clear recommendations provided so that practitioners are able to implement this kind of group work and/or interventions?
5. If examples are used, are they clearly linked to a guideline and/or a theory?
6. Is this manuscript written so that the information is generalizable?

FOR ALL MANUSCRIPTS

OVERALL RECOMMENDATIONS

In its present version, this paper is:

    _____ publishable as is

    _____ clearly publishable, needs minor revisions

    _____ probably publishable; needs major revisions

    _____ not publishable

If accepted, this paper is appropriate for this section:

    _____ theory

    _____ research

    _____ practice of working with groups

    _____ history of the field

    _____ innovations and ideas

COMMENTS TO THE EDITOR: (Will not be sent to the author)

COMMENTS TO THE AUTHOR(S): (Will be sent to the author)

RETURN TO:

Editor : Donald E. Ward, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology and Counseling
Pittsburg State University
Pittsburg, KS 66762
(316) 235-4530
fax: (316) 235-4520
e-mail: dward@pittstate.edu

(Revised 7/01)