Child Development publishes empirical, theoretical, review, applied, and policy articles reporting research on child development. Published by the interdisciplinary Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), the journal welcomes relevant submissions from all disciplines.
Types of Articles
Child Development considers manuscripts in formats described below. Inquiries concerning alternative formats should be addressed to the Editor prior to submission. All submissions are expected to be no more than 40 manuscript pages, including tables, references, and figures (but excluding appendices). Authors should provide a justification if the submission is substantially longer. Unless the editor finds that justification compelling, the submission will be returned to the author for shortening prior to editorial review.
Empirical articles comprise the major portion of the journal. To be accepted, empirical articles must be judged as being high in scientific quality, contributing to the empirical base of child development, and having important theoretical, practical, or interdisciplinary implications. Reports of multiple studies, methods, or settings are encouraged, but single-study reports are also considered. Empirical articles will thus vary considerably in length, but should be no longer than 40 manuscript pages; text and graphics should be as concise as material permits. All modes of empirical research are welcome.
Empirical reports are reserved for short cutting-edge empirical papers that are no longer than 4000 words in length (including text, tables, figures, footnotes, appendices), which advance research and knowledge in an area through noteworthy findings and/or new methods. For manuscripts that require longer descriptions of methods and results, authors should use the
Empirical article format.
Reviews focus on past empirical and/or on conceptual and theoretical work. They are expected to synthesize or evaluate a topic or issue relevant to child development, should appeal to a broad audience, and may be followed by a small number of solicited commentaries.
Essays describe original concepts, methods, trends, applications, and theories; these may also be accompanied by solicited commentaries.
Child Development and ... are articles that provide readers with tutorials about some new concept or academic specialty pertinent to research in child development. These papers should review the major definitions, methods, and findings of the concept or specialty and discuss past or potential links to child development.
From another perspective is a format in which papers on a focal topic, written by different authors, are published simultaneously. Papers represent diverse perspectives (e.g., authors whose work represents different populations; different disciplines; different theories, methods, or analytic tools). In some cases, calls for submissions on particular topics will be disseminated through SRCD (via e-mail or SRCD publications), and submissions will undergo normal editorial review. In some cases, a submitted manuscript (e.g., an empirical article) may be selected as a lead article for this format, with invited commentaries providing additional perspectives. The editors also welcome suggestions from readers for topics for this format.
Manuscript Submission
Child Development invites for consideration manuscripts that are neither identical to nor substantially similar to work published or under review elsewhere. In the submission cover letter, please provide details about other published or submitted papers having substantial overlap (including data sets) with the new CD submission to enable editors to judge whether the new submission is sufficiently distinct from other work to warrant consideration.
Manuscripts should be submitted electronically to the Child Development Online Submission Site at www.srcd.org/CDsubmit/ as a Word or WordPerfect file. Please also submit a cover letter that contains the name(s) of the author(s) and affiliation(s), and the street address, telephone, fax, and electronic mail address of the corresponding author. A corresponding author's submission to Child Development implies that all co-authors have agreed to the content and form of the manuscript and that the ethical standards of SRCD have been followed (see the Child Development website or pp. 283-284 of the 2000 SRCD Directory). Any financial interest or conflict of interest must be explained to the Editor in the cover letter. The corresponding author is responsible for informing all co-authors, in a timely manner, of manuscript submission, editorial decisions, reviews, and revisions.
The manuscript file should be formatted with double spaced, 12-point type, and should include a single paragraph abstract of 100-120 words. Please follow all guidelines on format, style, and ethics provided in the Publication Manual (5th ed.) of the American Psychological Association. Figures included with initial submissions will not be returned. Therefore, please submit only electronic files or copies of figures. Authors should keep a copy of all correspondence, files, and figures to guard against loss.
Note: Please be certain that the manuscript you upload onto the CD submission website is the version of the paper you would like to be considered for publication. Once the manuscript is sent out for review, we ordinarily cannot send an updated or corrected version to reviewers.
Manuscript Review
If you have any questions about your submission, please inquire at
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or call (734) 926-0615. Each manuscript is handled by the Editor or an Associate Editor who consults with one or more Consulting Editors and/or ad hoc reviewers who have relevant expertise. To ensure blind review, cover sheets are removed before review; authors should avoid including any other information about identity or affiliation in submissions. Copies of the submission and associated correspondence are retained in the SRCD archives. For accepted manuscripts, authors are required to prepare a 300-500 layperson's summary for public dissemination purposes. Details are provided to authors as part of final processing.
There is no charge for publication in Child Development unless tabular or graphic materials exceed 10% of the total number of pages. Charges are also levied for changes in proofs other than correction of printer's errors. Any inquiries relating to charges or business matters (including reprint orders) should be addressed to Blackwell Publishers, Child Development, Production Coordinator, 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, (781) 388-8200.
Inquiries and suggestions regarding editorial policy may be addressed to: Dr. Jeffrey J. Lockman, Editor, Department of Psychology, Tulane University 2007 Percival Stern Hall, New Orleans, LA 70118-5698,
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. Please do not send electronic or paper manuscripts to the above address. Doing so will delay the processing of your manuscript.
May 6, 2008
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