The Journal of Marriage & Family

The Journal of Marriage and Family (JMF), published by the National Council on Family Relations, is the leading research journal in the family field and has been so for over 70 years. JMF is consistently the most highly cited journal in family studies. JMF features original research and theory, research interpretation and reviews, and critical discussion concerning all aspects of marriage, other forms of close relationships, and families. The Journal also publishes brief reports.

JMF is published in February, April, June, August, and October of each year. Each issue averages 284 pages in length. World wide, its circulation is more than 6,200 copies.

Contributors to JMF come from a diversity of fields including anthropology, demography, economics, history, psychology, and sociology, as well as interdisciplinary fields such as human development and family sciences. JMF publishes original theory and research using the variety of methods reflective of the full range of social sciences, including quantitative, qualitative, and multimethod designs. Integrative reviews as well as reports on methodological and statistical advances are also welcome.

The Journal receives over 700 submissions annually. Of these, approximately 15% are published following one or more revisions. All submissions receive masked review by two or more experts in the field. Eighty percent of all reviews are completed within six to eight weeks of manuscript receipt. Publication lags vary but average five to nine months following acceptance.

Articles published in JMF are indexed in the Family Studies Database, SocAbstracts, PsychInfo, the Social Sciences Index, Education, Exceptional Child Education Abstracts, Book Review Index, Abstracts for Social Workers, Social Sciences Citation Index, and Guide to Reviews of Books from and about Hispanic America.

Submit to JMF

Information about submitting an article, preparing your manuscript, reading proofreader marks, our copyright agreement, our style guidelines, brief reports, and JMF's table format.

JMF Reviewers

These guidelines cover the reviewer's obligations and opportunities as well as the the responsibilities and rights of peer reviewers.

David H. Demo

JMF Editorial Board and staff

David H. Demo, Ph.D., Editor

Professor & Director of Graduate Studies, Human Development & Family Studies - University of North Carolina at Greensboro