Child Development

Author Guidelines

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. Further information is available at http://www.srcd.org/cd.html.

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 (approximately 8 to 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, 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.

Developmental methods papers are intended for a broad audience and communicate innovations in analysis, design, measurement and/or methodology relevant to the study of child development. Reviews or tutorials on cutting-edge statistical techniques that may be employed to study development are also welcome.

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

Please follow submission requirements carefully, as deviations may slow processing. Child Development will not consider for publication any manuscript under review elsewhere or substantially similar to a manuscript already published. At submission, please inform the Editor if the paper has been or is posted on a website. For more information on the SRCD policy on web publications, please visit http://www.srcd.org/webposting.html. Editors retain the right to reject manuscripts that do not meet established ethical standards.

Manuscripts should be submitted online at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/srcd. Full instructions and support are available on the site and a user ID and password can be obtained on the first visit. Support can be contacted by phone (888-503-1050), or via the red Get Help Now link in the upper right-hand corner of the login screen. If you cannot submit online, please contact the Editorial Office by telephone (734-926-0615) or by e-mail (cdev@srcd.org). 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 (6th 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. If color artwork is submitted, and the authors believe color art is necessary to the presentation of their work, the submissions letter should indicate that one or more authors or their institutions are prepared to pay the substantial costs associated with color art reproduction. Authors should keep a copy of all correspondence, files, and figures to guard against loss.

Manuscript Review

If you have any questions about your submission, please inquire at cdev@srcd.org 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 Wiley-Blackwell, 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, Incoming Editor, Child Development, Department of Psychology, Tulane University, 2007 Percival Stern Hall, New Orleans, LA 70118-5698, lockman@tulane.edu. Please do not send electronic or paper manuscripts to the above address. Doing so will delay the processing of your manuscript.

Note to NIH Grantees
Pursuant to NIH mandate, Society through Wiley-Blackwell will post the accepted version of Contributions authored by NIH grantholders 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.

An Exclusive Licence Form must be sent to the Editorial Office immediately upon acceptance. 

OnlineOpen is available to authors of primary research articles who wish to make their article available to non-subscribers on publication, or whose funding agency requires grantees to archive the final version of their article. With OnlineOpen, the author, the author's funding agency, or the author's institution pays a fee to ensure that the article is made available to non-subscribers upon publication via Wiley Online Library, as well as deposited in the funding agency's preferred archive. For the full list of terms and conditions, see http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/onlineopen#OnlineOpen_Terms. 

Any authors wishing to send their paper OnlineOpen will be required to complete the payment form available from our website at https://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/onlineopen_order.asp.

Prior to acceptance there is no requirement to inform an Editorial Office that you intend to publish your paper OnlineOpen if you do not wish to. All OnlineOpen articles are treated in the same way as any other article. They go through the journal's standard peer-review process and will be accepted or rejected based on their own merit.

Online production tracking is now available for your article through Wiley-Blackwell’s Author Services.

Author Services enables authors to track their article – once it has been accepted – through the production process to publication online. Authors can check the status of their articles online and choose to receive automated e-mails at key stages of production. The author will receive an e-mail with a unique link that enables them to register and have their article automatically added to the system. Please ensure that a complete e-mail address is provided when submitting the manuscript. Upon publication, corresponding authors can collect a gratis PDF offprint of their article from Author Services. Visit http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/ for more details on online production tracking and for a wealth of resources including FAQs and tips on article preparation, submission, and more.

Child Development employs a plagiarism detection system. By submitting your manuscript to this journal you accept that your manuscript may be screened for plagiarism against previously published works.