From the Editor

January marks a new year, and for the Journal of College Student Development it represents a few new changes. First, you will notice a new cover. The photograph on the cover is of Iacto, a sculpture by American artist James Sanborn. Iacto—which is Latin for “to throw or cast forward”—was erected on the University of Iowa campus in 2004. The sculpture itself has historical quotations in eight different languages carved into metal. At night, however, the sculpture is lit from within, casting letters across the campus courtyard. While the letters appear to some to be projected in a nonsensical manner, the sculptor has actually embedded a code in the projected message. I like to think that the Journal is a way to cast forward an illuminating vision of our profession through scholarly work.

A second change announced here is the inception of a desk review policy. The leadership team of the Journal has established some criteria to assist in the early screening of submitted manuscripts. How might authors avoid a desk reject? We have two primary criteria: a study that is poorly designed and suffers from flaws that cannot be remedied, or a topic that is beyond the scope of our journal. In other words, might the peer review process improve this paper for our readers? If so, we will send it for review. The best way to learn what we publish is to read what we have published. We remain committed to articles that: extend our knowledge of developmental theory; establish evidence for developmental change; support scholarly practitioner efforts to apply developmental and theoretical constructs in their work; and support our knowledge of organizational behaviors that can improve our practice on campus. We are committed to maintaining the journal as a welcoming place for emerging scholars and emerging scholarship alike. Our reviewers take an encouraging and constructive tone with reviews, following a detailed rubric that provides a rigorous evaluation of the relevance of the paper, the methodology, the presentation of results, and connections to future research and practice.

We welcome feedback from readers, authors, and reviewers, and we look forward to serving you.