From the Editor

• Date: 01 February 2017
• Author: Kristi Williams
• Published date: 01 February 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12395

K W The Ohio State University

From the Editor

I am delighted to introduce my rst issue as edi-

tor of Journal of Marriage and Family.Through-

out its rich history, research published in JMF

has fundamentally shaped my research and pro-

fessional life. The journal continually renews my

conviction in the importance of family research,

not only for social science, but also for the public

that we serve through our scholarship. More than

anything else, this recognition denes my goals,

motivates my work, and guides my decisions as

the Editor of JMF.

Leadership transitions offer opportunities for

new energy and fresh perspectives. But they

also require balance to ensure that changes do

not unintentionally undermine core strengths.

By any metric, JMF is the most respected,

inuential, and widely cited journal of family

scholarship and this reputation rests on several

foundations: (1) a focus on developing and pub-

lishing high quality and high impact scholarship,

(2) the incorporation of multiple disciplinary

perspectives and methodological approaches,

(3) developing the intellectual contributions of

authors through high-quality, expedient reviews

and revisions supplemented with active edi-

torial guidance, and (4) a history of effective

management and visionary editorial leadership.

My central goal as editor is to continue these

successful practices while ensuring that new

initiatives enhance these foundations.

D  P  H

Q S

My primary aim is to guide the identication,

development and dissemination of the high-

est quality family scholarship. Requisite to

this aim, yet considerably more obscure, is an

understanding of the characteristics that dene

such scholarship. Some are fairly straightfor-

ward: methodological rigor, theoretical depth,

clear writing, logical organization, and sound

argumentation. But for a journal that publishes

fewer than 15% of all submissions, and in an

age of research proliferation, these criteria are

necessary but not sufcient.

Above all, JMF has a long history of pub-

lishing research that matters. Such work may

address unresolved theoretical or empirical puz-

zles, explore novel or changing phenomena, or

revisit seemingly resolved questions using inno-

vative data or methods. It may integrate previ-

ously distinct literatures to understand family

life through a new lens. Or it may empirically

answer questions of high salience to contem-

porary family life and policy. Although these

examples are not exhaustive, success at JMF

requires authors to clearly demonstrate how

and why their research matters. I personally

believe that even incremental contributions are

important to understanding specic phenom-

ena. Yet leading journals like JMF must prior-

itize research that does more than “ll gaps”

in knowledge, and must advance the broader

eld of family scholarship while, in many cases,

informing highly salient public debate or policy

on contemporary family life.

The role of journal editor, like that of review-

ers, is necessarily evaluative, but it is also

strongly developmental. The best reviews and

decision letters not only assess the strengths

and limitations of manuscripts but also offer

concrete advice for realizing the full scientic

contributions of the work. At the same time, it is

clear that reviewer pools are incredibly strained,

making it difcult if not impossible to provide

extensive developmental reviews by closely

matched and high-quality reviewers for each

Journal of Marriage and Family 79 (February 2017): 7–9 7

DOI:10.1111/jomf.12395