Monographs Submission Guidelines
The Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development is a serial publication which provides authors or collaborative teams of authors a platform for disseminating conceptually rich and empirically distinguished work that supports the SRCD mission—advancing the developmental sciences and promoting the use of developmental research to improve human lives. This page provides information about procedures for the preparation and submission of manuscripts.
Preliminary Inquiries
It is strongly recommended (although not required) that potential authors consult the Editor before submitting a full manuscript. To do so, please send a very brief description (a paragraph or so) of your idea directly to the Editor (monographs@srcd.org), including "MONO Inquiry [AUTHOR NAME]" in the subject line.
In your description, please be sure to address the three points below:
- Why is your proposed work important for the field and developmental science?
- What do we know about this now? and how the proposal addresses the gap?
- What are the significance and implications of this work?
If you have not received a response within 10 days, please resend your email to the Editor, copying the SRCD Editorial Office (monographs@srcd.org).
If there appears to be a potential fit with Monographs, the Editor will invite the author to submit a several page prospectus. The prospectus (in Microsoft Word) should be sent as an email attachment to the Editor (monographs@srcd.org). Please include "MONO Prospectus [AUTHOR NAME]" in the subject line. The Editor will contact the author directly with feedback on the prospectus. An author who has not received feedback within two weeks of submission should send an inquiry via email to both the Editor and the SRCD Editorial Office.
English Language Editing Services
Authors have the option, but are not required, to use the services noted below to translate or proofread their text pre-submission. This option may be particularly helpful to non-native English speakers. Please note that this list is not exhaustive, and SRCD does not endorse – and is not responsible for the quality of – any product or service mentioned.
Ethics and Integrity
- Ethical Standards for Research with Children
- Policy on Scientific Integrity, Transparency, and Openness
Sociocultural Policy
As a publication of the SRCD, Monographs are expected to be consistent with the Society’s Sociocultural Policy which appears below. Authors are invited to consult with the Editor about how best to provide information about characteristics of samples, contexts, and methods that are needed for drawing conclusions about, or generalizing from, empirical findings.
As developmental science becomes more global, and the role of context in human development becomes more evident, it is necessary that SRCD publications provide, in addition to age, an indication of the unique characteristics of the sample and the “socioeconomic and cultural place” from which their findings originate. Accordingly, it is now required that manuscripts to be published in SRCD journals specify clearly in the appropriate section(s) (e.g., Method, Discussion) and in an abbreviated form in the Abstract: (1) the dates of data collection (if applicable); (2) the theoretically relevant characteristics of the particular sample studied, for example, but not limited to: race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, language, sexual orientation, gender identity (inclusive of non-binary options), religion, generation, family characteristics; and (3) the place(s) from which that sample was drawn, including country, region, city, neighborhood, school, etc. and all other context variables that are relevant to the focus of the publication, except when it violates expectations of privacy and confidentiality by an institutional review board or the setting itself. Additionally, selection and recruitment procedures should be clearly specified in the Method section.
The Sociocultural Policy is the product of a recognition that current policies and practices were not reflecting the state of the scholarship in terms of addressing diversity and replicability. As such, the Sociocultural Policy reflects current gaps in the science and is a dynamic policy. The Society will conduct ongoing reviews and re-evaluations of the Sociocultural Policy’s effectiveness over time and its efficacy in advancing the Society’s strategic goals. The Sociocultural Policy, procedures, and rationale will be revisited on a biannual basis to reflect changing demographics, an increasingly global society, and relevant contemporary issues.
Formatting Requirements
Manuscript preparation should be guided by the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (current edition). The complete manuscript, including all material (e.g., tables, figures, references), should be:
- About 150 - 200 pages
- Double-spaced
- 1-inch margins on all sides
For any formatting question not explicitly addressed in these Guidelines, please follow the directions in the APA Manual.
APA Style Reminders
- References
- Be sure to double check the match between your in-text citations and the reference list.
- Please check the APA Manual carefully for proper formatting of different types of references (e.g., books, oral presentations, dissertations, poster presentations), of the sequence in which references by the same author are to be listed, and of sources with more than seven authors.
- Authors' initials should be spaced ("Smith, M. C.") not closed up ("Smith, M.C.").
- Headings. Please follow the APA formatting rules to indicate different heading levels.
- Tables. Please be sure that all components of your tables (e.g., titles and footnotes) follow APA rules. Entries should be separated with sufficient space so that rows and columns are clear; use vertical and horizontal lines sparingly.
- In-Text Formatting.
- Translate school grades into ages because grade levels are not globally meaningful.
- Italicize statistical symbols as required (e.g., M, SD, SE, r).
- Include degrees of freedom for statistical tests as required.
- Use italics rather than underlining in the text.
- Write out numbers under 10 in words and use numerals for 10 or more. One exception is that units of measurement (e.g., age, grade, time, distance) are always given in numerals. A second exception is that when a number under 10 is part of a series of higher numbers, digits are used for all.
- Hyphenate years and months when they are used as modifiers (e.g., 4-year-olds; 3-month-olds; third-grade children) but omit hyphens otherwise (e.g., children were tested at 4 years; participants were third graders).
- Avoid combining inanimate nouns with action verbs such as "the research shows" or "the study examined."
- Restrict the term "relationship" to interpersonal phenomena; all other associations (logical, mathematical, etc.) should be termed "relation" or a synonym such as "association" or "link."
- The words "while" and "since" express temporal meaning; words such as "although" or "whereas" should be used to contrast two situations.
Manuscript Preparation and Submission
The process of the submitting manuscripts to Monographs includes email inquiry, prospectus, and full manuscripts.
Email Inquiry
It is strongly recommended (although not required) that potential authors consult with the Editor before submitting a full manuscript. To do so, please send a one-paragraph brief description of your idea directly to the Editor at monographs@srcd.org with the following details:
- Why is your proposed work important for the field and developmental science?
- What do we know about this now? and how the proposal addresses the gap?
- What are the significance and implications of this work?
If there appears to be a potential fit with Monographs, the Editor will invite a short, written prospectus.
Prospectus
The prospectus (2-3 pages in Microsoft Word format) should be sent as an email attachment to both the Editor (or to monographs@srcd.org ) and Managing Editor. Please include "MONO Prospectus (author name)" in the subject line. The prospectus should include:
- a 2-3-page summary of the project's significance, context, sample, approach, methods, findings, contribution this makes to the field. Does this project have the potential to be foundational?
- a timeline for completion, etc.
- a 2–3-page annotated table of contents that briefly describe the purpose and content of each chapter.
- an estimate of the length, number of authors, and your timeline for preparing and submitting the monograph. Please keep in mind that the SRCD Monographs is read by a broad audience and follows a "one-voice" format, that is, the monograph is published under one set of authors and does not have different sets of authors per chapter.
The Editor will contact the author directly with feedback on the prospectus. The Editor will provide feedback to authors about the fit with Monographs. An author who has not received feedback within two weeks of submission should send an inquiry via email to both the Editor and Managing Editor.
Full Manuscripts
Full manuscripts should be submitted electronically on the Monographs review site. The complete manuscript, including all material (e.g., tables, figures, references), should be in the range of 100–200 double-spaced manuscript pages (1" margins on all sides). With only a few exceptions, the manuscript format follows the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (current edition). For any formatting questions not explicitly addressed in these guidelines, please follow the directions in the APA Manual.
Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development requires the submitting author (only) to provide an ORCID iD when submitting a manuscript.
Manuscripts should be submitted online through the Monographs ScholarOne Portal.
Authorship
Potential authors need not be members of the Society for Research in Child Development, and they need not have any particular higher degree nor be identified with any specific discipline. Authorship is identified and indexed for each Monograph as a whole. On the title page, please include one or more of the following as appropriate for your submission:
- individual authors' names
- a named author group (e.g., the "NICHD Early Child Care Research Network") for which a footnote may be used to list group members.
In addition, if desired, you may include:
- a statement of author contributions that explains individuals' roles. For example, such as statement might say: "Author A developed the conceptual model and empirical research design; Author B collected, coded, and analyzed data; and Authors A and B shared responsibility for writing the manuscript."
Author Assurances
As part of the submission process, authors are asked to certify that:
- All listed authors agree with the listed author names and their ordering;
- All authors are responsible for and in agreement with the content of the entire manuscript;
- The corresponding author assumes responsibility for promptly informing all coauthors of relevant actions and requirements (e.g., manuscript submission, editorial decisions, reviews, revisions);
- The study has been reviewed, as required, by the appropriate Institutional Review Board, and conducted according to the Ethical Standards in Research of the Society for Research in Child Development; and that
- Financial support and conflicts of interest have been disclosed before the manuscript is entered into production.
In addition, by submitting the manuscript, authors acknowledge that they are aware that their manuscript may be screened for overlap with previously published works; that written permission is required to publish copyrighted material (e.g., quotations or figures); and that appropriate license agreements must be executed prior to publication.
Author Suggestions
Authors are welcome to suggest knowledgeable reviewers. Please avoid suggesting those with whom you have a close working or personal relationship (e.g., colleagues or collaborators, recent students or mentors). A comment box is available to provide additional information about suggested reviewers or to indicate names of individuals you would prefer not be invited to review.
Additionally, the submission site provides authors with a place to make suggestions relevant to dissemination efforts if their manuscript is accepted for publication. In particular, authors may propose individuals from within or beyond the academic community who might be invited to write commentaries; identify disciplines or professional organizations likely to include people for whom their Monograph would be of particular interest; and suggest course offerings for which the Monograph might be a required or supplemental reading.
Cover Letter
Please include a cover letter to provide any information that is not already addressed by submission procedures and that you believe is important for consideration of the manuscript.
Manuscript Review
Submitted manuscripts undergo peer review. Every effort will be made to reach an editorial decision as quickly as possible, but given that Monograph manuscripts are long, the review process is typically long as well. Please feel free to contact the SRCD Editorial Office, monographs@srcd.org, to inquire if you have not received a decision within 4 months of submission.
Accepted Manuscript and Publication Information
Note to NIH Grantees
Pursuant to NIH mandate, through Wiley-Blackwell SRCD will post the accepted version of contributions authored by NIH grant-holders to PubMed Central upon acceptance. This accepted version will be made publicly available 12 months after publication. For further information, see www.wiley.com/go/nihmandate.
iThenticate Notification
Powered by Turnitin’s text comparison tool iThenticate, CrossRef’s Similarity Check enables the SRCD Editorial Office to assess the originality of all submitted manuscripts. iThenticate finds and reports overlaps in text through the use of text-searching algorithms, checking a document against an extensive database of published scholarly writing. Its reports highlight material that matches documents in the iThenticate database and their percentage of similarity. The reports allow editors to judge the appropriateness of any substantial overlap between documents. Some overlap may result from authors using identical language across manuscripts to report precise details of methods; such overlap should be identified explicitly in the text by the use of quotation marks or indented text. Other overlap may indicate plagiarism of others or self; such overlap is unacceptable and cannot be published.
For more information, please see the Committee on Publication Ethics' Text Recycling Guidelines: https://publicationethics.org/text-recycling-guidelines.
Questions
Questions about editorial policy or content should be directed to the Editor at monographs@srcd.org. Questions about manuscript preparation and submission should be directed to the SRCD Editorial Office at monographs@srcd.org.