Journal of College Student Development

Aims & Scope

The Journal of College Student Development is interested in feature manuscripts concerning student development, professional development, professional issues, administrative concerns, and creative programs to improve student services. 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. Both quantitative and qualitative research manuscripts are considered. Manuscripts should address one of the following: Support for the extension of knowledge in the area of developmental theory; Support for increasing sophistication in the assessment of developmental change and the factors contributing thereto; Support for practitioner efforts to apply theoretical developmental constructs to programs in the field; or Support for increasing our knowledge of organizational behaviors so that effective tactics and strategies might be applied to the implementation of developmentally focused programs on the campus. 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 United States, such as studies of student development or emerging issues in student services administration in one or more countries, or they might address international issues connected to US institutions, such as international students in the US or US students participating in international experiences at home or abroad. 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. Research in Brief: Articles submitted for the Research in Brief section should report meaningful research that does not require a full-length manuscript. Articles should present research about instruments/instrument development, methods, campus interventions, or analytical tools which may be helpful to researchers or consumers of research in conducting and understanding student services, student development, and the student affairs profession. Research focused on specific campus interventions and research which examines the student affairs profession with regards to training, administration, etc. are also typically considered for the Research in Brief section. Rigorous studies that are focused on a single campus and/or narrowly focused studies may also be considered for the Research in Brief section. The criteria for review are similar to those used in the review of feature articles. On the Campus: Articles submitted for the On the Campus section should describe new practices, programs, and techniques. Practices reviewed should be related to theory and research. Authors should be able to provide additional background or supplemental information at the request of interested readers.

A twelfth criterion — whether APC fees are clearly disclosed — is not scored here; it is left out of the total rather than counted as a failure. Publication charges appear in the metrics card above.

Based on the Think.Check.Submit framework by DOAJ, COPE & OASPA. All data from verified open sources.

Source: OpenAlex · Each year’s green bar = citations earned by that year’s papers, counted to date — so recent years look lower simply because their papers haven’t had time to be cited yet.

SJR Quartile by Discipline

Scimago ranks this journal separately in each subject category — its quartile can differ by discipline.

Subject Classification