The Journal of College Student Development welcomes three formats of submissions:

  • Feature Articles concern student development, professional development, professional issues and administrative concerns in higher education, and creative programs to improve student services and student success. Authors may focus on recent original research, replication of research, reviews of research, graduate education in student affairs, or essays on theoretical, organizational, and professional issues. We value studies using quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods.
    • International Feature Articles have similar concerns as feature articles within an international context. In keeping with the international scope of ACPA-College Student Educators International, the Journal of College Student Development welcomes manuscripts that report scholarship on international issues related to college students, student development, and student affairs and services in postsecondary or tertiary education. Such manuscripts might describe research occurring outside the US, such as studies of student development or emerging issues in student services administration in one or more countries. We particularly invite submissions that are scholarly in nature (i.e., having a theoretical base and sound empirical methods), but will also consider submissions that describe best practices in student development outside the US, provided that these submissions contribute new knowledge to the literature. Country-specific and comparative (i.e., comparing an issue in two or more nations) topics are welcome. We recommend that authors select “international” as one of the classifications.
  • Research in Briefs report meaningful research that does not require a full-length manuscript. Articles should present research about analytical tools that may be helpful to researchers or consumers of research in understanding student services, student development, and the student affairs profession. These articles can also include topics such as instrument development, methodological considerations, and campus interventions. Research focused on specific campus interventions and research that examines the student affairs profession (e.g., regarding training, administration) are also typically considered for this section. The criteria for review are similar to those used in the evaluation of feature articles.
  • Translational Education Research (TER) section focuses on creating a platform for scholars and practitioners to engage in dialogue that seeks to enhance the loop between scholarship and practice. To be an informed practitioner, approaches to problems must be grounded in research in addition to personal experience; to be an informed researcher, one must have an understanding of the feasibility and practicality of research implications. The goal of this section is to invite scholars and practitioners into conversations about critical, pressing issues affecting student affairs and higher education. By using existing research and theory, we hope to translate that information into a format useful to student affairs practitioners and policy makers. Rather than focusing on a particular problem, this section of the journal seeks to engage readers with the broader issues that affects postsecondary education. Research for the public good requires that the topic be grounded in research and the major points be synthesized to include all sides of an issue. It is hoped that these pieces will be co-authored by researchers and practitioners.

While we do publish book reviews, we do not accept any unsolicited reviews. Book reviews are done by invitation only.

No Fees

We do not require any fees from authors for submissions or publication of manuscripts. All manuscripts undergo a masked review process.