Skip to main content
Department of Psychology
Intuition

Special Issue: RACE and DIVERSITY

We are interested in your research, essays, and art!

Would you like to share thoughts about what your racial or ethnic group means to you and society? Do you have an idea for an interesting research thesis regarding race and diversity? Can you write a moving personal narrative about your experiences? Submit it to us! We hope to publish your work in a special upcoming edition on Race and Diversity. You do not need to be a psychology major, but the topic of your paper should be psychological.

Things that will increase your odds of acceptance:

  • You are from the group or group(s) you are researching (note, spending time on a mission in a different country or with people of a different race or ethnicity does not count).
  • You use antiracist-compatible ideas and language in your paper
  • We are hoping to represent a range of experiences.  We would love to accept papers focusing on protective or positive factors of race and diversity in addition to our usual submissions about microaggressions and trauma.  If you want your paper to stand out, tell us why your race or ethnicity is important (ie. how an Indigenous Mayan Guatemalan heritage can positively impact spirituality).

Things that will decrease your odds of acceptance:

  • Using coded racist language, such as “urban youth” to describe BIPOC in the school system (see this APA website on race and ethnicity for more information).

  • Writing only about white privilege. While this an important and necessary topic, it will detract from our overall goal of this edition which is to celebrate race and diversity. An acceptable topic could be something like this:

    • Arguing a case for defining American (U.S.) white culture in a way that doesn’t revolve around its difference from other races and cultures.
  • Confusing the terms “race” and “ethnicity.”  They are different.  Please do your research to understand why.
  • Topics that are too broad, such as “racial inequality causes bad outcomes.”
  • Referring to culture in overly simplistic groups.  For example, do not use the phrase “Native American Culture.”  There are over 500 tribes just in the US, each with unique—and sometimes conflicting—cultural histories and traditions.

To submit a manuscript:
Send it in an email to byupsychjournal@gmail.com. Please put "special issue submission" in the subject line and include a short explanation of whether/how your manuscript follows the items on our list of things that will increase your odds of acceptance.

To help with this issue:
If you are a Person of Color or have relevant knowledge and would like to help with the publication of this edition (editing and approving manuscripts), please reach out to byupsychjournal@gmail.com with “help with special issue” in the subject line.

Resources:

Being Antiracist, by the NMAAHC
Why We Don’t Have White History Month, by Jenée Desmond-Harris
On Whiteness, by the NMAAHC
Race and Ethnicity Style Guide, by the APA
Myths About American Indians, by Kevin Gover
Communicating the Value of Race and Ethnicity in Research, by Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable

We are learning and want to improve. Please reach out with feedback, questions, or advice on your topic to byupsychjournal@gmail.com