Update From JHSP Associate Editors

To the Journal of Health Service Psychology community, including our readership and contributing authors:

You are likely aware of a recent issue involving misattribution of material submitted by two researchers, Dr. Amy Barnhorst and Ms. Rocco Pallin, for a manuscript under the management of Dr. Gary VandenBos. Regrettably, the contributions of Dr. Barnhorst and Ms. Pallin were not acknowledged, and the resulting manuscript has been withdrawn from publication. Dr. VandenBos has subsequently resigned as Managing Editor of the journal.

Upon learning about what transpired, the three Associate Editors signed here, Drs. Abbey Hughes, Eva Woodward, and Damion Grasso, along with the Editor in Chief, Dr. Morgan Sammons, acknowledged a responsibility to recognize this error and to affirm our commitment to the promotion of restorative justice and the establishment of a more equitable and just process for the evaluation and dissemination of psychological science in psychological publishing, including our own journal, JHSP.

In responding to these recent events, we wish to continue listening and recognizing that in academia and health services, women and other marginalized groups have disproportionately and historically been academically disenfranchised. Collectively, we acknowledge these events harm our own colleagues and trainees and reflect broader cultures, practices, and systems that also cause harm. Your voices continue to be heard and have called us to action.

We are wholly committed to improving the systems that perpetuate these issues, starting within JHSP. We are re-evaluating our editorial structure and processes to address any ways in which JHSP perpetuates these issues and commit to preventing misconduct, minimizing harm, and publishing high-quality work worthy of our readership. These efforts include recruiting a new Editor, building a larger and more diverse Editorial Board, ensuring greater accountability of the Editor through expanded utilization of the Associate Editors, and increasing involvement of the Associate Editors through more intensive and transparent processes as we receive, track, and respond to potential manuscripts.

In closing, we commit to making JHSP responsive to readers, authors, and the broader scientific community, and we aim, through thoughtful restructuring of our editorial membership and processes, to make JHSP an inclusive journal that brings psychological science to practicing clinicians through ethical and just reviewing and dissemination practices.

Thank you for reading.

Sincerely,

Abbey J. Hughes, PhD, ABPP-RP
Associate Editor, JHSP

Eva N. Woodward, PhD
Associate Editor, JHSP

Damion J. Grasso, PhD
Associate Editor, JHSP

Morgan T. Sammons, PhD, ABPP
Editor in Chief, JHSP