Book Series

Series Editor: Christopher Liang, PhD

Cultural, Racial, and Ethnic Psychology is the official book series of the Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues (Division 45) of the American Psychological Association. The series is designed to advance our theories, research and practice related to cultural, racial and ethnic psychology. It will focus on, but not be limited to, the major racial and ethnic groups in the United States (i.e., African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and American Indians). For example, book proposals concerning Asians and Asian Americans will also be considered.

About The Series

The books in the series will contain original materials that address the full spectrum of methodological, substantive, and theoretical areas related to cultural, racial and ethnic psychology in the United States. This would include topics in Behavioral Neuroscience, Cognitive, Developmental, Personality, and Social psychology. Also of interest would be volumes in the applied areas of psychology such as Clinical, Counseling, School, Community and Industrial-Organizational Psychology.

In covering psychology related racial and ethnic groups, the series will include both books that examine a single racial or ethnic group (e.g., Development of Ethnic Identity among Asian Americans) as well as books that undertake a comparative approach (e.g., Racial and Ethnic Variations in Depression).

As state-of-the art volumes in cultural, racial and ethnic psychology, the books in the series will be of interest to both professionals and researchers in psychology. Depending on the specific focus of each volume, the books in the series may be of greater interest to either scientists or practitioners or both. The series might also be used as ancillary textbooks for courses in psychology in order to advance a multicultural perspective in the field.

Editorial Board

Guillermo Bernal, Lillian Comas-Diaz, Sandra Graham, Gordon Nagayama Hall, Teresa Lafromboise, Robert M. Sellers, Stanley Sue, and Joseph Trimble.

Guidelines for Submitting Proposals

The guidelines in this statement of purpose are subject to change in response to suggestions by members of the Editorial Board, interaction with authors of books in the series, and in response to persons reading books on racial and ethnic minority psychology in this series. The primary goal is to identify gaps in the existing literature and fill those gaps. As the needs for new directions in the field become apparent the guidelines for this series will change accordingly.

Proposal Submissions

Potential book authors and editors often ask how they can best present their ideas for a book to the APA Books publishing program. We ask that you send a prospectus and your CV (and that of your coauthor or coeditor) to Series Editor:

Dr. Christopher Liang
Professor and Chair, Department of Education & Human Services
College of Education Lehigh University
111 Research Drive
Bethlehem, PA 18015

Tel: 610-758-3253
Email: ctl212@lehigh.edu

While your CV will indicate that you are qualified to write on the topic of the book, the prospectus should answer such questions as:

  • What is the overall purpose of the book?
  • Who is the intended audience? How will the book benefit them?
  • What will be the theoretical and empirical basis for the book? (For some books, particularly edited ones, there may be more than one theory represented; if so, indicate the range of theories that will be represented.)
  • How does your approach fit into contemporary theory, research, and application in your area of study or practice?
  • If you were marketing your book to your audience, what other major selling points would you emphasize?
  • Are there competing books in the same topic area? If so, what books would be the major competitors with yours? What makes your book different or unique? What would make the consumer buy your book instead of these others?
  • How long do you plan the book to be? (For edited books, we would also like to know the approximate page length of chapters.)
  • When do you anticipate completing the first draft?
  • The prospectus should also include an annotated table of contents, describing each chapter in a paragraph or two. For authored volumes, including a sample chapter can also be helpful but is not essential. For edited volumes, the names and affiliations of proposed chapter authors are needed, with indications as to whether the authors are already committed to write the chapters or when you plan to approach them. It is also useful for us to know what instructions chapter authors have been given (or will be given) for writing their chapters.
  • The decision to publish a book would be made by APA Books based on the Series Editor’s recommendation and the reviewers’ comments. If you need clarification regarding any of these points or have other questions, please feel free to call APA Books at 202-336-5792. Thank you for your interest in APA Books. We look forward to receiving your book proposal.