Journal of Counseling & Development Publication Patterns: Author and Article Characteristics From 1994 to 2009

Abstract

Publication patterns of articles in the Journal of Counseling & Development from 1994 to 2009 were reviewed. Trends over time were analyzed in article content (e.g., type, content topic) and author demographic characteristics (i.e., gender, nation of domicile, and employment setting). Of particular interest because of the scientific underpinnings of the counseling profession, research articles were analyzed specifically for type of research approach, classification, methodology, sample, sample size, and statistics used.

ametastudy of journal of employment counseling publication patterns from 1994 through 2009

“…Although these findings were not statistically significant, they do appear to reflect, to a lesser degree, the growing trend of shared authorship that is evident in other academic disciplines. This movement has also been noted in several other ACA counseling journals (e.g., JCD, Erford, Miller, et al, 2011;CES, Crockett et al, 2010;MECD, Erford et al, 2010) and reflects an increase in collaboration among counseling researchers. The slight increase in JEC average authorship may also be the result of increased faculty-student mentoring relationships.…”

“…International submissions have remained stable and quite high throughout the journal's history, accounting for approximately 32% of all submissions. This indicates that, unlike many other ACA journals (e.g., JCD, Erford, Miller, et al, 2011;CES, Crockett et al, 2010;JCC, Byrd et al, 2011;JHC, Erford et al, in press), JEC is making significant progress toward attracting international authors or is expanding the reach of the journal to international university libraries and practicing professional counselors. Perhaps JEC's success internationally reflects the journal's commitment to recruiting journal editors who work to promote the journal to an international audience.…”

“…This finding is somewhat alarming because it demonstrates that counseling practitioners outside of academia are minimally represented in the journal. This phenomenon is not unique to JEC; university professors now constitute 98% of lead authors in MECD , 95% in JCD (Erford, Miller, et al, 2011), 96% in CES (Crockett et al, 2010), 99% in JHC (Erford et al, in press), and 95% in Adultspan (Erford, Clark, et al, 2011). In short, field-based counseling practitioners who work on the cutting edge of counseling practice and training are not contributing to the extant counseling literature, and as a result, the degree to which they inform the practice of counseling is diminishing.…”

“…Approximately 44% of the total articles published in JEC are research-based, making it a midtier source of research-based publications among ACA counseling journals. The flagship ACA journal, JCD, is composed of 43.5% research-based articles (Erford, Miller, et al, 2011), while MECD, CES, and JCC all publish research articles at a rate higher than 50%. Although research informs the practice of counseling, JEC's high percentage of research articles may not be welcomed by all.…”

“…Several other ACA-published journals have published metastudy analyses during the past few years, including the Journal of Counseling & Development (JCD; Erford, Miller, et al, 2011), Counselor Education and Supervision (CES; Crockett, Byrd, Erford, & Hays, 2010), Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development (MECD;Erford et al, 2010), Journal of Addictions & Offender Counseling (Charkow & Juhnke, 2001;Juhnke, Bordeau, & Evanoff, 2005), Journal of Mental Health Counseling (Crockett, Byrd, & Erford, in press), Adultspan (Erford, Clark, & Erford, 2011), Journal of Humanistic Counseling (JHC, formerly known as the Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education and Development; Erford, Erford, & Broglie, in press), and Journal of College Counseling (JCC; Byrd, Crockett, & Erford, in press). This article presents a review of JEC's content and an analysis of trends, issues, and challenges from 1994 through 2009 to answer two primary questions: (a) What are the characteristics of authors who publish in JEC?…”