The Journal of Student Affairs Inquiry, Improvement, and Impact (JSAIII) seeks to publish articles providing practical insights to student affairs assessment and improvement practitioners through reflections and thought leadership, scholarly articles, adaptable approaches, and media reviews. Authors should carefully consider the appropriate section for their article proposal: Field Notes; The Scholarship of Inquiry, Improvement, and Impact; Inquiry, Improvement, and Impact in Action; or Media Review. Article proposals are accepted on the basis of appropriate fit for the Journal’s scope, clarity of thought, and utility for a broad readership.
Readers of the JSAIII are practitioners, faculty, researchers, and administrators from many different institution types. To ensure articles are understood by and applicable to as many readers as possible, we strongly encourage clear, accessible language (e.g., avoiding jargon). We encourage authors to review the current Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (Sections 4.1–4.11). You may also find the Federal Plain Language Guidelines > Choose your words carefully section helpful.
The Journal continually strives to create inclusive scholarship. To this end, we examine our own and authors' implicit biases around a wide variety of identities—including but not limited to educational background, ethnicity, gender, race, religion, political ideology, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. We will do this together with authors in the review process to mitigate, if not completely eliminate, that bias. We encourage authors to consult the American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines on inclusive language and bias-free language.
Submission, Review, and Publication Process
To encourage and support practitioners in contributing to the field’s scholarship, JSAIII utilizes an approach that provides feedback about the author’s article at several points along the process. Proposals will be initially reviewed by Editors. Proposals accepted by the Editors will be invited to submit full manuscripts to the Reviewers for unmasked, open review and a support-oriented peer review process. Reviewers will work with authors to provide formative feedback, working with a timeline to support continued progress.
The outline below describes our process from proposal through article development.
Proposal
Authors Submit Article Proposal
Editors Review and Select Proposals
Initial Drafts
Authors Submit Draft Manuscript
Reviewers Provide Draft Manuscript Feedback
Final Submission
Authors Submit Final Manuscript
Reviewers Provide Final Submission Feedback to Editors
Editors Provide Authors Final Required Revisions
Field Notes
The Field Notes section provides reflections and thought leadership in student affairs assessment, through curated contributions and editorial notes. These articles position student affairs assessment in the current climate and use critical and reflective thinking, abstract reasoning, and theoretical analysis to advance inquiry, improvement, and impact.
The Scholarship of Inquiry, Improvement, and Impact
The Scholarship of Inquiry, Improvement, and Impact section shares empirical studies that advance the current literature of student affairs assessment using quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods approaches.
Inquiry, Improvement, and Impact in Action
The Inquiry, Improvement, and Impact in Action section provides tangible, easily adaptable or replicable strategies, questions, or tools that have helped student affairs practitioners, leaders, and assessment professionals implement quality improvement efforts and share evidence of impact in a local context. These articles use successful, practical experience to help advance the field of student affairs assessment.
Media Reviews
The Media Reviews section is a space for articles that provide a thorough description and meaningful evaluation of the quality, utility, and significance of student affairs assessment-related resources, such as books, blogs, or podcasts. These articles provide key points of the media artifact and insight as to how the information may be useful to the reader.
The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.
