Psychology Across Development is a lifespan developmental psychology journal that aims to publish articles making empirical and theoretical contributions to understanding the development of human affect, behavior, perception, cognition, and psychobiology across the lifespan. Empirical contributions can focus on any level of analysis (from biology and behavior to social-environmental factors) and any developmental stage (from the prenatal period to aging). Eligible methods and approaches include observational and naturalistic studies, experiments and randomized controlled trials, computational modeling, data simulations, and others if they examine mechanisms of human development. Longitudinal and cross-sectional studies will both be eligible for publication. Review papers (e.g., narrative, systematic, and meta-analytic reviews) will be considered for publication. Scoping reviews and rapid reviews require a strong justification for not conducting a systematic review. Novel theoretical perspectives, hypotheses, frameworks, and models related to human developmental psychology will also be considered. The journal will publish methodological articles if they pertain to developmental psychology and are likely to be impactful for the field. The journal will consider registered reports. Contributions have a higher probability of being accepted if they connect the findings to the promotion of human well-being across the lifespan or broader impacts on society.

Open and Reproducible Science

Psychology Across Development is committed to the principles of open and reproducible science. Authors are required to include a Data Availability Statement in every empirical submission, indicating where the underlying data, analysis code, and study materials can be accessed, or providing a clear and ethically grounded justification for any restriction (e.g., participant confidentiality, data-protection law, or third-party agreements).

Where possible, data and materials should be deposited in a recognised, FAIR-aligned repository (e.g., OSF, PsychArchives, ICPSR, or a domain-appropriate alternative) and cited in the manuscript with a persistent identifier. Preprints on OSF, PsyArXiv, bioRxiv, SocArXiv, or comparable servers are explicitly permitted and welcomed at any stage of the review process.

The journal supports preregistration and offers a Registered Reports submission track, in which study designs are peer-reviewed prior to data collection and accepted in principle before results are known. Submission guidelines for Registered Reports will be published alongside the journal's author instructions.