See all articles from this issue

In February NCFR published the 2020 Decade in Review issue of Journal of Marriage and Family (JMF), a series of research articles that critically evaluate empirical findings in the discipline of Family Science from the past 10 years.

If you’re a member who subscribes to JMF, you received this special issue early in the year. Articles in this issue are available online and are free access to the public until early 2021.

The general public may visit the journal website to view any article abstract without a login. JMF subscribers may visit ncfr.org/jmf-access to log in.

JMF, published by the National Council on Family Relations, has been the leading research journal in the family field for more than 75 years and is consistently the most frequently cited journal in Family Science.

Decade in Review issues serve as important markers in the Family Science discipline. This is only the fifth decade in review for JMF and the 50^th anniversary of the very first one, published in 1970.

JMF’s editor Kristi Williams, Ph.D., wrote in the issue’s introduction that the goal of this Decade in Review was “to provide a comprehensive review of the current state of Family Science as articulated by leading scholars across the diversity of disciplines and perspectives active in the field.” Working extensively with the JMF editorial board, Williams and her team of deputy editors selected 21 topics for the issue and invited contributing authors for the issue (an additional article was published in the April 2020 issue).

Among the topics selected were immigrant families, the evolution of fathering research in the 21st century, ethnic-racial socialization in the family, sexual- and gender-minority families, and intimate partner violence. These 21 topics were organized under broader subjects that include union formation, stability, and quality; parenthood; families in context; family processes and consequences; demographic trends; and more.

Williams and her team endeavored to present high-quality scholarship and gave attention to theoretical, methodological, and analytic contributions and limitations. They were also sensitive to issues of gender, race/ethnicity, class, and sexual orientation. Since Family Science is interdisciplinary in nature, authors were asked to include research from a full range of disciplines and methodological approaches that have shaped the past decade’s scholarship on the given topic.

More than simply a reflection, Decade in Review issues serve as important blueprints, laying a foundation for future scholarship within a discipline. Faculty will use the topics chosen for this Decade in Review to determine graduate course curricula, and scholars will continue to test and build on the findings of these articles.

Read Decade in Review

NCFR Member Authors

Thank you to all the NCFR members who contributed to the publication of the JMF Decade in Review, including the many editors and reviewers. The following list are current NCFR members who were authors of Decade in Review articles.

Katherine R. Allen

Cheryl Buehler

Marcia J. Carlson

Andrew J. Cherlin

Karen L. Fingerman

April L. Few-Demo

Karen Benjamin Guzzo

Jennifer L. Hardesty

Benjamin R. Karney

Daniel T. Lichter

Brian G. Ogolsky

Maureen Perry-Jenkins

Kelly R. Raley

Sarah J. Schoppe‐Sullivan

Adriana J. Umaña‐Taylor

Debra Umberson