Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity

Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity (PSOGD), Div. 44's journal, began publication in 2014, with issues in March, June, September and December. Because of the broad mission of the journal, PSOGD has a large editorial board with over 75 consulting editors and eight associate editors. PSOGD has, since its inception, published about 500 journal pages per volume year, more than the 400 pages that is typical for quarterly journals. (One journal page translates to approximately 3.5 manuscript pages). APA Journals publishes PSOGD through contractual arrangement with Div. 44, which owns PSOGD .

Typically, new journals average 50-70 submissions per year; PSOGD 's submissions have been running roughly double that. Rejection rate was 37 percent in 2015, 52 percent in 2015 and 58 percent in 2016. I expect it will be slightly higher once 2017 is calculated. New journals that survive their initial years usually become profitable around the fifth year of publication. PSOGD became profitable in 2016, in its third year, thereby producing income for Div. 44. Impact factor requires three to five years of steady publication for accurate assessment, and PSOGD will undergo such assessment in the next year or so. By standard rubrics then, PSOGD 's first years have been successful. I believe this is primarily due to the conscientious work of the consulting and associate editors. I have reviewed for various journals over the years, and the level of detail, quality and precision that PSOGD 's reviewers provide is the best I have seen.

Volume 1 had two special sections on positive psychology (spearheaded by Michelle Vaughan), and weight (both in Issue 4), and a series of reaction pieces to an article by Kristin Hancock, in Issues 2 and 4. One Special Issue in Volume 2: Issue 3 (September) was devoted to resilience, guest edited by Ilan Meyer. In Volume 3; Issue 2 (June) there was a special section on implementation of TNGC guidelines, edited by lore dickey and Anneliese Singh; Issue 4 contained a special section on LGBTQ youth in schools, guest edited by Nicholas Heck, Paul Poteat and Carol Goodenow. In 2017, there will be two special sections: responding to the Orlando massacre (guest editor is Kristin Hancock) and psychotherapy (guest editors are Shara Sand, Stephanie Budge and John Gatermann, with Charles Silverstein as consulting editor). In 2018, there will be two special sections: bisexuality (guest dditors are Melanie Brewster, Lori Ross, Amanda Pollitt and Andrew Brimhall) and LGBT issues across the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking Americas (chief guest editors are Jaime Barrientos and Caleb Esteban with associate guest editors Karen Nieves-Lugo and Hector Torres).

Two associate editors, Sari van Anders and Paul Kwon, are conducting a quality assurance review of PSOGD, at my request. This will be completed later in 2017. This addresses questions such as whether PSOGD is meeting its stated mission, its overall quality, whether any changes might be recommended, etc. In June 2017, PSOGD 's webpage will be significantly updated based on the first three years of experience, with a focus on providing more explicit guidance to authors. Early in the journal's history, I had hoped to develop a formal mentoring program, with early career psychologists and psychology graduate students paired up with consulting editors. Given the high volume of manuscript submission and hence the greater demands on consulting editors' time, I have abandoned this idea. Some consulting editors, however, do this on an informal basis, which I encourage.

As is typical in current journal publishing, the great bulk of PSOGD's income derives from paid downloads of individual articles. Subscriptions for paper copies do a little better than breaking even. This poses a challenge for all professional journals in that pirating of journal content electronically undermines the financial viability of professional journals. It is therefore important that all Div. 44 members do what they can to discourage such pirating of journal content. PSOGD has had a strong and broad international presence, based on the number of article downloads outside the United States.

It has been a privilege to serve as founding editor, and it has been gratifying for me to observe and participate in the growth and maturation of the psychology of sexual orientation and gender diversity. Particularly now in these reactionary times with misinformation and organized disinformation targeting the civil rights and public health of sexual minorities, a journal like PSOGD is sorely needed.

Please do what you can to promote PSOGD with colleagues, and consider submitting your work to PSOGD. I am also always interested in special section ideas. I can be reached by email. Thank you.