The Comment and Controversy section invites original research contributions that comment on, extend, methodologically assess, or correct recently published work. These manuscripts must be 3000 words or less, provide new evidence or analysis that substantially changes the conclusions or interpretations of the published work, and communicate these findings in a collegial and respectful manner. All submissions will be peer reviewed. In all cases, the author of the originally published work will be invited to respond to the commentary and may be engaged as part of the review process. Reviews from independent scholars (not involved in the originally published work) will always be solicited for Comment and Controversy submissions. However, the original publication’s author(s) will also typically contribute a review as well. For example, in the case of a reported error in the original publication, our standard procedure will be to ask the original publication’s author(s) to contribute a review and to write a response if the article is accepted. 

Examples of manuscripts that would be appropriate submissions under the heading of “Comment and Controversy” include: 

1. Evaluation, discussion, and re-assessment of an influential scholarly work more than ten years after its original publication in light of new data and findings; 
2. Re-analysis of a previously published article’s empirical claims using different and improved techniques that lead to different findings; 
3. Assessment of the robustness of a previously published article’s findings in light of new evidence or existing evidence not addressed by the original publication; 
4. Alternative interpretations of the evidence presented in an existing publication that are substantially different from those in the originally published work; and 
5. Corrections of error in the originally published work that result in substantially different findings. 

Manuscripts under the heading of “Comment and Controversy” will be desk rejected by the editors if: 

1. They do not comprise original research (examples of original research include reanalysis of existing data and/or the presentation of new data or interpretations that are directly relevant to the previously published work’s findings); 
2. They do not meaningfully alter our interpretation of the previous work’s conclusions; 
3. They make unsubstantiated allegations of error or wrongdoing; 
4. They use a polemical or insulting tone; or 
5. They appear in the judgment of the editors to be part of a systematic pattern of harassment of an author or authors and/or not driven by genuine scientific concern. 

When a Comment and Controversy manuscript is accepted for publication, that manuscript will be forwarded to the publisher of the original work (e.g., the journal or book publisher) by the editors of PS. Comment and Controversy publications are not designed to take the place of corrigenda or retractions of the original article, but to stimulate discussion and reward scholars for bringing new information to the attention of the scholarly community. After accepting a Comment and Controversy submission, PS will send a pre-print of the accepted manuscript to the publisher of the original work and encourage them to consider taking any action they deem appropriate. Depending on the nature of the manuscript, this might mean adding a hyperlink to the original work leading to the commentary in PS, posting a corrigendum or retraction, or taking no action at all.