About the Journal

Focus and Scope
The Contemporary Phenomenological Psychopathology Journal, ISSN 2316-2449, is managed by the Brazilian Society of Phenomenon-Structural Psychopathology (SBPFE). It is published semiannually. Its scope covers the full breadth of the phenomenological movement, including its structural, existential, descriptive, and transcendental branches, as well as its philosophical foundations.

The journal aims to refine and deepen knowledge in the clinical sphere and human existence, exploring relationships with oneself, others, temporality, and spatiality. It is an open-access journal, published exclusively online. Contemporary Phenomenological Psychopathology welcomes contributions from authors outside the publishing institution.

Mission
The journal's mission is to promote works guided by the phenomenological perspective in psychopathology, with a psychiatric, psychological, or philosophical focus.

Target Audience
Psychiatrists, psychologists, philosophers, and other students or professionals interested in mental health from a phenomenological perspective.

Thematic Coverage
Classified according to CAPES classification:

  • Knowledge area: Psychology (70700001)
  • Psychiatry (40104001)

Periodicity
The Contemporary Phenomenological Psychopathology Journal follows a semiannual publication schedule, with issues released in June and December. Articles are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year.

History
The journal was founded in 2012 as part of a movement within the Brazilian Society of Phenomenon-Structural Psychopathology (SBPFE), spearheaded by its founding president, Prof. Dr. Guilherme Messas. Its mission has always been to develop and promote phenomenological psychopathology both in Brazil and globally. Since its inception, the journal has been dedicated to the subject, publishing translations of works by classical authors in phenomenological psychopathology, alongside original articles by contemporary scholars, while fostering academic development among new researchers in the field.

The journal aims to strike a balance between tradition and innovation, publishing both classical texts and new research perspectives in psychopathology. Committed to dialogue and the democratization of knowledge, Contemporary Phenomenological Psychopathology provides free online access to its content and welcomes publications in Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, and Italian.

With more than a decade of experience, the journal has established itself as a thriving platform for psychopathology research in Brazil and beyond, consistently maintaining its commitment to two annual issues. Over the years, two special editions have been particularly noteworthy. In 2016, in celebration of the 18th International Conference on Philosophy, Psychiatry and Psychology (INPP 2016) held in Brazil—co-organized by SBPFE and the Faculty of Medical Sciences of Santa Casa de São Paulo—a special issue was published, featuring 11 selected articles with the contribution of Associate Editor Dr. Melissa Tamelini. In 2018, another special issue was released, focused on the Portuguese translation of the Examination of Anomalous World Experience (EAWE).

Beyond its founder, the journal has counted Prof. Dr. Virgínia Moreira (2016-2017) among its editors. Currently, the editorial team includes Dr. Flávio Guimarães-Fernandes (2018-present), Dr. Daniela Ceron-Litvoc (2018-present), and Dr. Gustavo Bonini Castellana (2020-present) from the Institute of Psychiatry at the University of São Paulo. Additionally, Dr. Lucas Guimarães Bloc represents the University of Fortaleza.

Peer Review Process
Initially, manuscripts are evaluated by the editors to ensure compliance with the journal’s guidelines and editorial line. Articles that do not meet these criteria are rejected, and authors are informed of the reasons. Approved submissions are then forwarded to the Editorial Board for review, with at least two expert reviewers in the field.

Authors can choose between two peer review models:

  • Double-blind review: Reviewers do not know the identity of the author, and vice versa.
  • Open review: Authors and reviewers are identified, provided both parties agree.

This policy aligns with Open Science communication practices adopted by the journal. If requested by the editors, authors may interact with reviewers to clarify concerns regarding article revisions.

Editors may invite external specialists as ad hoc consultants/reviewers, particularly when the journal’s current reviewers lack expertise on a specific submission. The journal remains open to the participation of external reviewers and authors.

Reviewers can suggest modifications, request clarifications, and make recommendations. Their feedback is shared with authors to guide text revisions. Authors may provide explanations or justifications regarding aspects of their manuscript. Revised versions undergo further rounds of evaluation until deemed suitable for publication. Acceptance decisions are based on reviewer assessments, ad hoc consultants, and editorial analysis. The final decision rests with the editorial team.

Authors are notified via email regarding acceptance, rejection, or required modifications. Suggested revisions do not guarantee acceptance but allow the article to undergo further assessment. Accepted authors receive editorial guidelines for final publication steps. Editors may introduce minor changes for standardization purposes. Submitted manuscripts under review cannot be sent to other publications until a final decision is made. The average time between submission and the first response is five weeks.

Authors can access all evaluations and questionnaires related to their manuscripts via the journal’s Open Journal Systems (OJS) submission platform. Additionally, the dates of submission and acceptance are specified in published articles to ensure transparency regarding author priority.


Guidelines for Special Issues or Content Curated by Guest Editors
The Contemporary Phenomenological Psychopathology Journal fully adheres to the rigorous standards established by DOAJ for journals publishing special issues or content curated by guest editors. Below are the key points that highlight our commitment:

  1. Editorial Responsibility:
    Editors are fully responsible for the entire journal content, including all special issues or guest-edited volumes, ensuring alignment with the journal’s scope.
  2. Editorial Oversight:
    Articles in special issues or guest-edited collections undergo the same level of editorial supervision as regular articles, including external peer review, ensuring quality and validation.
  3. Guest Editors' Credentials:
    The credentials of guest editors are thoroughly verified and approved, ensuring they possess the necessary expertise and qualifications relevant to the issue’s scope.
  4. Supervision of Guest Editors:
    Editors oversee guest editors to ensure compliance with the journal's editorial policies and ethical standards. Articles submitted by guest editors undergo external peer review to maintain impartiality, preserve content quality, and ensure diversity. These articles represent a maximum of 25% of the total content in a special issue or guest-edited volume.

Plagiarism Verification Policy
Since 2021, all accepted submissions undergo plagiarism analysis using Plagius software. Submissions identified with plagiarism and/or self-plagiarism are handled in accordance with the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Ethical Guidelines
The Contemporary Phenomenological Psychopathology Journal follows the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) (www.icmje.org) regarding authorship, conflicts of interest, and research involving human subjects.

For studies involving human subjects (including medical record reviews or institutional documents), it is mandatory to cite the approval number from the Ethics Committee and affirm that all participants (or their legal representatives) signed the Informed Consent Form (Resolution MS/CNS/CNEP No. 466/12, December 12, 2012).

Author Guidelines
Submission guidelines, general recommendations, templates, and formatting examples are available in the journal's Author Guidelines.

Open Access Policy
This is an open-access scientific journal, meaning that all content is freely available at no cost to users or their institutions. Users may read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles or use them for any other lawful purpose without prior permission from the editor or author.

Similarly, the journal does not charge authors any fees for submission, peer review, or publication. All published works are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, and authors are permitted to deposit all versions of their articles in an institutional repository.

About the License
All published works are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. This license allows users to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format solely for non-commercial purposes, provided that proper credit is given to the creator.

Copyright Statement
Authors retain unrestricted copyright ownership and must acknowledge the journal as the initial publisher if their work is republished elsewhere.

Interoperability Protocol
The journal adheres to integration/interoperability standards through the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH).

Article Archiving
The journal has enabled archiving options (LOCKSS and CLOCKSS), allowing content to be stored and distributed across participating libraries. Additionally, the journal's digital preservation is ensured through the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN).