Reviewer Guidelines for Monographs
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 which supports the SRCD mission—advancing the developmental sciences and promoting the use of developmental research to improve human lives.
To be accepted for publication, manuscripts must be judged to serve one or more core goals of SRCD's Strategic Plan which include:
- the advancement of cutting-edge and integrative developmental science research;
- the fostering of racial, cultural, economic, national, and contextual diversity in developmental science; and
- the application of developmental science to policies and practices that improve human well-being.
Such goals may be achieved in varied ways. For example, a monograph might integrate results across waves of a longitudinal study; consolidate and interpret research literatures through meta-analyses; examine developmental phenomena across diverse and intersecting ethnic, geographic, economic, political, or historical contexts; describe and demonstrate new developmental tools for data acquisition, visualization, analysis, sharing, or replication; or report work contributing to conceptualizing, designing, implementing, and evaluating national and global programs and policies (e.g., related to parenting, education, or health).
SRCD Monographs are intended to be engaging and accessible not only to experts who study topics covered in a particular Monograph, but also to developmental scientists more generally. Thus, it is particularly important that each Monograph is written to be engaging and comprehensible to both specialists and non-specialists. Several characteristics of the manuscript contribute to enhancing communication. The introductory and concluding sections should situate the specialized focus within the broader context of developmental science, and descriptions of past work, methods, and analyses should provide readers with necessary foundations (e.g., history of past theoretical and empirical work, definitions of terminology, and descriptions of coding or analytic tools).
Review Time
We ask reviewers to submit their comments within a month to 6 weeks. However, we recognize that the length and complexity of these manuscripts may require extensions for reviewers, and these may sometimes be arranged via discussion with the Editor.
Monograph Matters
SRCD Monographs has an associated website, Monograph Matters (MM). Among other materials, MM commonly includes commentaries from research colleagues or from end-users of research who may discuss its applications in areas such as policy or program design. Reviewers may be among those invited to contribute commentaries; additional information may be found on Monograph Matters website.