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About the Journal of Family Theory & Review

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The Journal of Family Theory & Review (JFTR) seeks to encourage integration and growth in the multidisciplinary and international domains of inquiry that define contemporary Family Science. The journal publishes original contributions in all areas of family theory, including new advances in theory development, reviews of existing theory, and analyses of the interface of theory and method, as well as integrative and theory-based reviews of content areas, and book reviews. The journal draws from a broad range of the social sciences, although scholarship is favored that is based within the disciplines of Family Science, sociology, and allied disciplines, developmental and social psychology, communications, and health and allied fields. Families are viewed broadly and inclusively to include individuals of varying ages and genders, sexual orientations, ethnicities, and nationalities.

JFTR is peer-reviewed and published quarterly in March, June, September, and December beginning in 2009.

JFTR editors consider book reviews and review essays an important part of its mission. Authors who wish to have their books reviewed, or those who wish to write a review or review essay, are encouraged to contact the book review editor.

Consistent with its mission, JFTR does not publish empirical reports with the exception of meta-analyses of content areas.

Potential authors are encouraged to contact the editor with any questions regarding the development or preparation of a manuscript.

 

Journal of Family Theory & Review's Venues and Voices

The Journal of Family Theory & Review (JFTR) is a multidisciplinary journal with a goal to advance theory and critical review in the field of family science. JFTR encourages integration and growth in the intersectional, interdisciplinary, and international domains of inquiry that define contemporary family science. JFTR does not publish empirical reports, with the exception of meta-analyses. We publish original articles in the following areas. See JFTR’s issues from 2023 and 2024 for recent examples.

Theoretical Advances

The process of theorizing and generating new interpretations of established frameworks is the life’s blood of JFTR. We publish original contributions in all areas of family theory, including advances in theory development, critical analyses of existing theory, new applications of theory, new interpretations of concepts or conceptual positions, and essays in the conduct of theory construction.

Literature Reviews and Meta-analyses

Also central to the mission of JFTR is the critical evaluation of a research literature from the viewpoint of one or more theoretical positions. We publish various reviews of content areas, including narrative syntheses, critical reviews, integrative reviews, scoping reviews, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses.

Methodological Innovations

Although JFTR is a theory and review journal, we also publish methodological innovations and analyses at the interface of theory and method. JFTR welcomes advances in the methods of theory development, and in the methods for conducting literature reviews and meta-analyses.

Book and Media Reviews

Critical book and media reviews are generally 8-12 manuscript pages that analyze books and media in a scholarly way. Reviews should provide a clear description of how the book is organized; additionally, they can situate books and media within existing research within family science, provide an explicit discussion of underlying family theory, and offer examples of how the book and other media might be useful in teaching, research, and/or practice.

Emerging Voices 

JFTR’s Emerging Voices are brief and timely theoretical commentaries (10-15 manuscript pages) from students and new professionals about current topics and ideas that they would like to bring to the interdisciplinary study of families. We invite submissions that feature underrepresented issues in family science and that demonstrate innovative theoretical thinking on topics that resonate with the new generations of scholars.

Reflexive Voices 

JFTR’s Reflexive Voices unearth the messy side of scholarship, by revealing the person behind the science, and champion the often invisible and complicated intersections across lived experience and knowledge production. In a Reflexive Voices paper, family theorizing and scholarship is positioned in dialogue with the author’s analysis of their personal, professional, and political commitments.

Original Voices 

For JFTR’s Original Voices, the Editor invites highly prolific and esteemed scholars to analyze the theoretical implications of their work and augment their legacy of scholarship.

 

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The Journal of Family Theory & Review is a member of, and subscribes to the principles of, the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

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Copyright and Permissions

Copyright © 2023 by the National Council on Family Relations. All rights reserved.

Written permission to reprint articles or to reproduce materials from this journal for publication, or to use in the classroom, or for research and other scholarly purposes must be requested from Wiley. NCFR reserves the right to deny any permission at its sole discretion. Additional information can be found on the NCFR permissions webpage.