Journal of Family Communication
Volumes 24-26 (2024-2026)
Editor: Sylvia L. Mikucki-Enyart, University of Iowa ([email protected])
The Journal of Family Communication (JFC) publishes original, theoretically grounded and methodologically rigorous scholarship that advances the understanding of the communication processes within or about families as well as research that addresses issues related to the intersection between family communication and social systems, such as mass media, education, health care, and law and policy. Scholarship centering diversity within families (e.g., racial-ethnic, family form) are especially encouraged. JFC is methodologically inclusive and welcomes quantitative, qualitative, rhetorical, and critical research as well as multidisciplinary scholarship from related fields, such as family studies, social psychology, and sociology.
JFC Volumes 24-26 will publish three types of articles: Original Research Articles, Replication Articles, and Brief Research Reports.
Original Research articles are 8000-word articles, excluding references, tables, figures, and appendices. (Authors of Original Research Article submissions that require an additional word allowance should contact the editor prior to submitting the article through the ScholarOne system.)
· Original research articles, including articles that focus on measurement development and validation, should adhere to the traditional research study format (i.e., an Introduction that presents a rationale for the study followed by a Literature Review/Theoretical Background, Method, Results, Discussion, and Practical Implications sections). Please note, measurement development and validation pieces must focus solely on family communication.
· The practical implications section should provide several practical or social contributions or implications for audiences outside academia (e.g., preK-12 instruction, counselors, social service agencies) as a way to apply the study results to “real” families or “real” family situations.
Replication articles are 8000-word articles, excluding references, tables, figures, and appendices that replicate important findings in the field of family communication. Ideally, replications will be direct or statistical replications with identical measures, samples, and procedures (Hunter, 2001), but conceptual replications (e.g., adding an additional variable) will be considered. Replication articles should:
· Contain a strong warrant for the replication, including why it is necessary and important to the field.
· Summarize how the original study was carried out and detail how the current study will adhere to and/or deviate from the original (e.g., additional variable as a mediator or moderator; more sophisticated analyses).
· Discuss how findings replicate, fail to replicate, or extend the original results.
Brief Research reports are 4000 to 5500-word articles, including references, tables, figures, and appendices. The research report is an abbreviated version of a traditional research article, with a focus on the interpretation and explication of the results. The research report does not require an extensive literature review and is ideal for scholarship that is grounded in or based on content with which JFC readers are highly familiar. Research reports are suitable for original research studies or studies with pilot data or small sample sizes.
All submissions should conform to the 7th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2020). Submissions must not be under editorial review at any other journal or have been published elsewhere. All submissions will undergo anonymized peer review by at least two members of the journal’s editorial board. Submissions that fail to either conform to APA guidelines or meet the requirements for its article type will be desk-rejected and returned to the author(s). The decision not to publish a manuscript is fina
Authors can choose to publish gold access in this journal.
Read the Instructions for Authors for information on how to submit your article.
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