Editorial Guidelines for The Group Circle

The Group Circle newsletter is published by the American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA), 25 East 21^st Street, 6^th floor, New York, NY 10010; phone: 212-477-2677; fax: 212-979-6627.

Goals for The Group Circle
The Group Circle is the "voice" of AGPA. It provides organizational news, research reports, perspectives and opinions about matters that pertain to group psychotherapy, letters to the Editor, and original feature articles in a visually exciting format.

Readership
Most of our readers are members of the American Group Psychotherapy Association. AGPA membership is open to all mental health professionals and students who have an interest in the practice of group psychotherapy. Eligibility for each of the levels of membership is based on professional training and experience.

Published four times a year (Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter), The Group Circle's articles are written in both a journalistic and academic style. Where appropriate, as in research papers, footnotes or references are used. Feature articles accepted for publication are selected on the basis of their relevancy to AGPA members, originality, readability, interest level, soundness, timeliness, and freshness of viewpoint. Except in unusual circumstances, writers are expected to be current members of AGPA.

What to write about
Personal experience is perhaps the best source of article ideas. The Group Circle seeks articles that can help readers better understand group psychotherapy issues, including dealing with specific client populations. How-to articles demonstrate how you have encountered a problem, developed a solution, or corrected a mistake. Case studies illustrate a process, event, or solution and the lessons learned from the experience.

• What kinds of therapy or delivery approaches have you instituted that have worked really well and why?
• Do you have a fresh approach to an old problem?
• Have you noticed any trends that are at work in the profession?
• Have you developed a cost-effective solution to a problem?
• Are there ethical issues that you have addressed?
• Have you provided group therapy in an unusual setting? To an unusual population?

As you begin to think about your own experiences and topics for an article, you'll probably come up with a hundred ideas. From these, you can distill the most important ones and then decide what topic you want to write about. Readers are looking for tools that help them solve problems and achieve new levels of understanding about group psychotherapy and trends in the field. If you have an idea, but don't know if it is really appropriate to an article, contact the Editor and discuss it.

The Group Circle also welcomes news about special awards or recognitions members have received, publications they have written, and other noteworthy items. Clinical questions are welcome for the Consultation, Please column.
The Group Circle does not publish articles that are self-promotional or market a product, service, or training opportunity other than those sponsored by AGPA and its Affiliates.

Manuscript specifications
Articles vary in length from 200 to 1,200 words; research submissions are generally longer. While The Group Circle accepts articles in a variety of formats, e-mail or disk is preferable. (If submitting articles on a 3 1/2 inch disk, please include the following, the file name of your manuscript, the specific version of the word processing program used (if not sent in ASCII), your name and phone number. A single hard copy should be included with the disk. If submitting an article by e-mail, please fax a hard copy to the Editorial Manager for verification.)

Bylines: All articles should include the author's name (no nicknames), degrees and certifications. Photos of authors are never used. The Group Circle does not pay authors for contributions.

All articles must be received by the publication deadline to be considered for a specific issue, though because of space limitations and other considerations, publication issue is not guaranteed.

Material should be submitted by mail to: Nicole Millman-Falk, CAE, Editorial Manager, c/o Millman-Falk Communications, Inc., 32 Franklin Place, Glen Rock, New Jersey 07452; phone: 201-652-1687; fax: 201-652-5980; or e-mail: mfc32@optonline.net.

Editorial procedures
All articles are reviewed for suitability by the Editor, Jerome Gans, M.D., CGP, FAGPA. Accepted materials are then edited for grammar and to conform with The Group Circle's editorial style. All attempts are made to preserve the author's writing style, however, The Group Circle has the right to edit for style, clarity, and to fit space allotments, and to make final selection on headlines, subheads, and graphic treatment. Manuscript submission implies author agreement with AGPA's Editorial Policies.

AGPA asks that you incorporate the following style rules in your article.

• When you refer to an association, corporation, or business for the first time, use its full name, followed by its acronym in parenthesis, for example: the American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA).
• Capitalize titles (John Smith, PhD, CGP, FAGPA, Associate Professor). Please verify the spelling of names and check that titles and academic degrees and certifications are complete and accurate.
• Use a person's name (Middle initials are not used.) and title in the first reference (John Smith PhD, CGP, FAGPA, Associate Professor, AGPA University). In subsequent references, use Dr., Mr., Ms., or Mrs.
• Do not use punctuation in academic degrees (PhD, EdD, MD).
• Spell out the numbers one through nine; use numerals from 10 on. Use numerals for addresses and dates.
• If citing reference materials, please provide in APA style.
• Include sidebars for pertinent facts or data that do not fit within the main body of the article.
• When submitting on disk or by e-mail, include only one space after a period, question mark, or other punctuation.

Copyright
The American Group Psychotherapy Association requires first serial rights for submitted articles. This means the author(s) grant The Group Circle the right to publish the article for the first time. Submission of an article also means that authors agree to electronic distribution on AGPA's website, www.agpa.org.

Written permission to reprint articles published in The Group Circle must be obtained in advance from AGPA. Reprints should be used only for educational purposes, and must include a credit line clearly identifying the author and the issue of Group Circle in which the article originally appeared. All authors of Group Circle articles are permitted to use their respective works for educational purposes without reprint permission. This includes paper and electronic media.

Disclaimer
The responsibility for accuracy remains with the author. The opinions and information in bylined articles in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor, Editorial, and other Staff, Officers and Board of Directors of the American Group Psychotherapy Association.

For additional information
For other questions about article submissions, contact the Editor.
Jerome S. Gans, M.D., CGP, FAGPA
55 Cleveland Road
Wellesley, MA 02481-2434
Phone: (781) 235-1546
Fax: (781) 239-0353
E-mail: jsgans@comcast.net