Submission Preflight (devpsych-submission)

The last check before submitting through Editorial Manager (editorialmanager.com/dvl). Three things sink Developmental Psychology submissions most often: the developmental claim not being credible (age vs. cohort, invariance, attrition), JARS/length-tier non-compliance, and weak transparency. Verify volatile specifics (length numbers, abstract ceiling, policy wording, editor) on the official page first.

When to trigger

• "Submitting tomorrow" — last pass before upload
• Unsure what the length tier, abstract, and transparency requirements demand
• Confirming the Public Significance Statement, anonymization, and deposits are in order

Process facts (verify volatile items on the official page)

• Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA). ISSN: 0012-1649 (print); 1939-0599 (online).
• Editor: Koraly Pérez-Edgar (Penn State; editorship since 2023-01-01) (web-verified 2026-06-22; re-verify before submission).
• Portal: Editorial Manager, editorialmanager.com/dvl.
• Review: masked peer review available on request — keep author identity out of the manuscript and out of shared links; submit a masked copy via a stable link or supplemental material.
• Length tiers (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准): ~4,500 words (brief report), ~10,500 (larger report), ~15,000 (multi-study / comprehensive longitudinal); length counts cover page, abstract, text, references, tables, and figures.
• Front matter: APA-style abstract plus a Public Significance Statement (2–3 sentences, ~30–70 words) on the abstract/keywords page.
• Style: APA 7th edition; JARS reporting (JARS-Quant / JARS-Qual / MARS).
• Transparency: TOP guidelines — data-availability statement, persistent identifiers (DOIs), preregistration where applicable, sample-size justification.

Preflight checklist

Format & front matter

• Manuscript within the chosen length tier (total counts cover page, abstract, text, refs, exhibits)
• APA-style abstract within the current ceiling; developmental change foregrounded
• Public Significance Statement present: 2–3 plain sentences (~30–70 words)
• APA 7th edition style; tables/figures and references formatted per APA

Developmental credibility (JARS)

• Age vs. cohort addressed; change claim matched to the design
• Measurement invariance reported before interpreting change (configural→metric→scalar)
• Attrition analysis + principled missing-data model (FIML/MI)
• Sample-size justification for the change parameter (power/precision)
• Effect sizes + confidence intervals for major results; full JARS disclosure

Masked review (if requested)

• No author names/affiliations in the masked manuscript
• Repository / preregistration links anonymized (e.g., OSF anonymized view; Databrary view link)
• Identifying file metadata stripped

Transparency (TOP)

• Data-availability statement present (what is shared / restricted, why)
• Data + scripts deposited with DOIs (or a justified restricted-access archive); reproduce in a fresh session
• Minors'/identifiable data handled per consent/IRB (e.g., permission-based archive)
• Preregistration linked; confirmatory/exploratory consistent

Worked micro-example — preflight verdict (illustrative)

Running the three-wave effortful-control package through the gate the night before upload:

Tier:       larger research report; total 9,800 / ~10,500 words → PASS
Abstract:   within ceiling; foregrounds within-person growth → PASS
Public Sig: 3 plain sentences, 58 words → PASS
Credibility: scalar invariance reported; FIML + attrition analysis;
            power simulation for the interaction → PASS
Stats:      slope and interaction carry effect sizes + 95% CIs → PASS
Mask:       no names; OSF anonymized-view + Databrary view links;
            PDF metadata stripped → PASS
Transparency: data-availability statement present; data/scripts DOI'd;
            video via Databrary; prereg linked → PASS
Verdict:    ready to upload to Editorial Manager (editorialmanager.com/dvl).

Last-mile failure modes that trigger a return

Volatile specifics (length numbers, abstract ceiling, accepted article types, current editor) change. Re-confirm every number above against the journal's current submission guidelines before relying on it.

Anti-patterns

• Submitting over the length tier instead of using online supplemental material
• Missing or jargon-laden Public Significance Statement
• Interpreting change with no invariance test, or deleting dropouts
• Non-anonymized manuscript or links during masked review
• No data-availability statement / transient links instead of DOIs

Output format

【Tier】within the chosen length limit? [Y/N]
【Front matter】abstract + Public Significance Statement (2–3 sentences)? [Y/N]
【Credibility】age/cohort + invariance + attrition + sample-size justification? [Y/N]
【APA 7th + JARS】style + ES/CI + full disclosure? [Y/N]
【Masked】manuscript + links + metadata anonymized? [Y/N]
【Transparency】data-availability statement + DOIs + preregistration? [Y/N]
【Next】await decision → devpsych-rebuttal on R&R

Supplementary resources

• templates/checklist.md — the full pre-submission checklist for this venue
• ../../resources/external_tools.md — repositories, DOIs, papaja, power and SEM tooling
• ../../resources/official-source-map.md — official Developmental Psychology URLs behind every fact in this pack