Editorial, September 2025

In the 2021 editorial, Yukiko Uchida, Editor in Chief of Psychologia, set a new direction for the renewal of Psychologia: “Psychologia can be more interdisciplinary than other journals while remaining true to its core concept.” In other words, Psychologia will continue to uphold its tradition of publishing psychological research on the functions of the human mind, established when the journal first began, while welcoming other interdisciplinary
research.

To achieve this goal, various reforms have taken place over the past four years. The most significant of these reforms is that since April 2022, Psychologia has been officially edited by Kyoto University Institute for the Future of Human Society (IFOHS) as part of its efforts to promote international academic exchange. Kyoto University has a history of leading important research in the humanities and social sciences, including the Nishida Philosophy, which had a global impact. The mission of IFOHS is to carry on and develop the unique intellectual property of Kyoto University, by supporting research development in the humanities and social sciences at Kyoto University and to actively disseminate the results of that research through Psychologia. IFOHS is strongly expected to be a medium for disseminating the results of wide-ranging research, not only in psychology but also in the humanities and social sciences in general. Hence, Psychologia is positioned as a project that plays a central role in this mission, by being more interdisciplinary and serving the institutional goal of IFOHS.

Currently, as part of our efforts in this direction, we are promoting the publication of special issues in academic fields other than psychology. Our goal is to share diverse research in the humanities and social sciences internationally by regularly publishing special issues in English. These special issues feature the results of “Research Projects in the Humanities, Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Fields” organized by IFOHS. These
projects were originally started by the Kokoro Research Center, IFOHS’s predecessor.

In addition, we have reformed the editorial structure to achieve the other goal of strengthening the journal’s rigor for psychological research. First, three associate editors were appointed starting in April 2023. This has established a system that can respond more accurately and efficiently to the increasing number of submissions. The associate editorship enables us to conduct initial checks of submitted papers and desk reject those with low chances of acceptance in a short period of time, so that contributors can look for alternatives for their next submission. In addition, unlike many journals that do preliminary reviews and simply convey the rejection decision, Psychologia also provides feedback on the submission through comments by the assigned editor dedicated to initial checking. This practice serves as an educational opportunity for contributors from regions including Asia and Africa, where psychological research is currently in its developing stage.

Another major reform to strengthen the editorial system was the introduction of Editorial Manager® as the online submission system in March 2024. Although there were associated monetary costs, it has greatly reduced the workload of the editorial office and improved the efficiency of editorial work. This has shortened the time required to review papers and meet the needs of contributors.

Thus, since the declaration of the renewal of Psychologia in 2021, we have been making gradual changes toward our goal of being a journal that publishes psychological research and is also open to interdisciplinary research. However, we still have a long way to go. At present, while psychological research and research in the broader humanities and social sciences coexist, they remain rather segregated in the journal. Our ultimate goal is to actively publish new research that is only possible through the collaboration of research in various academic fields, and serve as a catalyst for such interdisciplinary collaboration.

Not only is interdisciplinary research of practical importance in terms of solving various social issues, but there also exist a strong demand within academia for the creation of a forum for the dissemination of interdisciplinary research. In Japan, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) is promoting large-scale research projects called “Grant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Areas,” which is designed to transform academic fields by crossing borders and integrating them. For example, in the research area of “Materia-Mind,” the dichotomous approach of “material and mind” is being overcome by the concept of “co-creation of material and mind.”
Hence, research that integrates many academic fields, including archaeology, anthropology, psychology, and neuroscience is being promoted. Many researchers involved in these projects have noted that while interdisciplinary research can yield important but exploratory findings, it is extremely difficult to publish in existing academic journals. Such new and innovative research may not be accepted because it falls outside the “standards” of existing academic fields and may end up being metaphorically treated like a bat—that is alienated from both birds and animals.

The long-term goal of Psychologia is to become a force that encourages and promotes boundary crossing research between academic disciplines, with psychology at its core, by discovering and actively disseminating the value of research that does not fit within the existing frameworks of interdisciplinary research. Such a journal would be unique and would embody the mission of the IFOHS. Many additional reforms will be necessary to achieve this goal, but we will continue to move forward, laying the foundation stones toward that goal. Psychologia is a journal open to continual improvement and we always welcome your various opinions and ideas as readers and contributors.

Jun Saiki, Editor in Chief