Child Development follows guidelines on requirements, format, style, and ethics explained in the Fifth Edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2001, hereafter "APA"). Below we provide some reminders of often-forgotten points, but we note that ultimately it is the author's responsibility to comply with APA regulations. We regret that failures to follow APA rules may well result in slowing down the production process and hence the publication of your manuscript.

Abstracts should "specify pertinent characteristics" of participants (including age, number, etc.) and should use third person (see APA, p. 14). Please remember to keep the abstract short (100-120 words) and a single paragraph. 

Section Headings: Child Development empirical articles must have the following major sections: INTRODUCTION (but should not be labeled as such, see APA, p. 16); METHOD (be sure to include demographic information about participants, including sex, SES, race/ethnicity, etc. See APA pp. 67-69.); RESULTS; DISCUSSION.

If subheadings are given under a higher-level subheading, there must be at least two subheadings at that level. For example, do not use only one level-three subheading under a level-two subheading. (See APA, pp. 113-115). 

Present/Past Tense: The past tense is used when referring to a past study; for example, "Smith (1998) examined factors…" is correct, not "Smith (1998) examines factors...." This also holds true for discussion of the research in the current article. The study has already been completed; thus, the information and results are presented in the past tense. It is acceptable to use the present tense when referring to results (i.e., "the results indicate…"), because these are present-day hypotheses that are being discussed in the present. Specific results, however, are written in the past tense. 

First Person; Active/Passive Voice: Child Development follows current APA recommendations in encouraging the use of the first person and active voice (see APA, pp. 37-40) in the text. (As noted above, the third person is preferred for the abstract.) Please avoid the use of the editorial "we" (see APA, p. 39). 

Sexism: Avoid sexist language (see APA pp. 66-67); use plural phrases such as, "children and their toys" for "a child and his toy." Refrain from referring to children with "it."

Footnotes: Footnotes should be avoided. Important information should be incorporated into the text. Exceptions must be approved by the Action Editor.

Statistical Information: Please be sure to consult APA Manual carefully for information on how to present statistics. 

References: As the final step before submitting the final revised manuscript, please review the reference list. All references cited in text must be in the reference list; and all references in the list must be cited in text. Various revision cycles can corrupt this list, and thus it is essential to recheck on final submission. A failure to reconcile citations in the text with the entries in the reference list now, may well mean a delay in the publication of your manuscript later. 

Figures: Please keep figures as clear and simple as possible. Do not, for example, use a 3-dimensional bar graph unless you are presenting data along three dimensions. Be sure that labels are large enough to be visible when the figure is reduced in size. Remember to provide figure numbers and captions separately, not on the figure itself. Blackwell publishers can use most electronic files for figures except Powerpoint. Thus, please avoid sending figures in Powerpoint.