Journal profile · Multiple
Journal of Child and Family Studies
ISSN 1062-1024 · eISSN 1573-2843 · Springer Nature · 12 issues per year
Journal of Child and Family Studies: CAS Zone 3 · Psychology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.03; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,190; median 500 days to acceptance (46 articles, last 24 months); 276 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Child and Family Studies is published by Springer Nature and is in Zone 3 of Psychology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development, Family and Disability Support Research and Attachment and Relationship Dynamics, together about 42% of its articles. Its main subfields are Clinical Psychology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Journal of Child and Family Studies (JCFS) international, peer-reviewed forum for topical issues pertaining to the behavioral health and well-being of children, adolescents, and their families. Interdisciplinary and ecological in approach, the journal focuses on individual, family, and community contexts that influence child, youth, and family well-being and translates research results into practical applications for providers, program implementers, and policymakers. Original papers address applied and translational research, program evaluation, service delivery, and policy matters that affect child, youth, and family well-being. Topic areas include but are not limited to: enhancing child, youth/young adult, parent, caregiver, and/or family functioning; prevention and intervention related to social, emotional, or behavioral functioning in children, youth, and families; cumulative effects of risk and protective factors on behavioral health, development, and well-being; the effects both of exposure to adverse childhood events and assets/protective factors; child abuse and neglect, housing instability and homelessness, and related ecological factors influencing child and family outcomes.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Multiple
Editor-in-chief Cheri J. ShapiroPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 1%); most named United States 62, United Kingdom 2, Portugal 2, Mainland China 1, Italy 1 (74 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentPsychology26.2%
- Family and Disability Support ResearchPsychology8.1%
- Attachment and Relationship DynamicsPsychology7.7%
- Early Childhood Education and DevelopmentSocial Sciences7.2%
- Child Abuse and TraumaPsychology7.1%
- Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and PostpartumMedicine6%
- Family Dynamics and RelationshipsSocial Sciences3.5%
- Family Support in IllnessSocial Sciences3.3%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Psychology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Psychology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Family Studies | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Psychiatry | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Psychology, Developmental | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Psychology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Psychology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Family Studies | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Psychology, Developmental | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Psychiatry | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Psychology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Psychology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Family Studies | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Psychiatry | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Psychology, Developmental | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
SCIEPsycINFOCAB AbstractsCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS
As the journal's website lists them, not checked against each database; for Web of Science editions the records above apply.
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor
- 2.03LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.1Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.7LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.88LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.02LetPub ·
- h-index
- 142OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 2,927OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.11OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 4.8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 37.57%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 269LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2,025Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 1,700,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 4,951 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 141 | 85 | 39 |
| 2025 | 276 | 136 | 412 |
| 2024 | 212 | 95 | 876 |
| 2023 | 242 | 114 | 1,818 |
| 2022 | 326 | 148 | 3,438 |
| 2021 | 314 | 109 | 4,515 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
Review time from article dates manuscript dates registered with Crossref · to
500 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 334 days – 630 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 23 days (95 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 537 days
- Sample
- 46 articles with submission and acceptance dates (472 in the window); the latest was accepted on
Only articles that were accepted and published are counted, not the time spent on rejected manuscripts, so this usually runs longer than a publisher's "time to first decision".
Other sources
- Submission to first decision
- 53 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Double anonymous peer reviewPublisher website
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 3,190 / EUR 2,590 / GBP 2,290 | — | — |
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
What to prepare3 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Reference style
- APA
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, Open access, Peer review, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- Authorship Authorship principles
These guidelines describe authorship principles and good authorship practices to which prospective authors should adhere to. Authorship clarified The Journal and Publisher assume all authors agreed with the content and that all gave explicit consent to submit and that they obtained consent from the responsible authorities at the institute/organization where the work has been carried out, before th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Disclosures and declarations
All authors are requested to include information regarding sources of funding, financial or non-financial interests, study-specific approval by the appropriate ethics committee for research involving humans and/or animals, informed consent if the research involved human participants, and a statement on welfare of animals if the research involved animals (as appropriate). The decision whether such …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability statements
All original research must include a data availability statement. This statement should explain how to access data supporting the results and analysis in the article, including links/citations to publicly archived datasets analysed or generated during the study. Please see our full policy here. If it is not possible to share research data publicly, for instance when individual privacy could be com…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Compliance with Ethical Standards
To ensure objectivity and transparency in research and to ensure that accepted principles of ethical and professional conduct have been followed, authors should include information regarding sources of funding, potential conflicts of interest (financial or non-financial), informed consent if the research involved human participants, and a statement on welfare of animals if the research involved an…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publishing
To find out more about publishing your work Open Access in Journal of Child and Family Studies, including information on fees, funding and licences, visit our Open access publishing page. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Double-Blind Peer Review
Double-blind peer review for all submissions Model summary
All submissions are subject to double-blind peer review. In general, experimental/research studies are judged in terms of the following criteria: originality, contribution to the existing research literature, methodological soundness, and readability. When you are ready to submit a manuscript to JCFS, please be sure to upload these 2 separate files to the Editorial Manager site to ensure timely pr…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Trial registration / reporting guidelines Clinical Trial Registration
The World Health Organization (WHO) definition of a clinical trial is "any research study that prospectively assigns human participants or groups of humans to one or more health-related interventions to evaluate the effects on health outcomes". The WHO defines health interventions as “A health intervention is an act performed for, with or on behalf of a person or population whose purpose is to ass…
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Springer Nature
- Frequency
- 12 issues per year
- ISSN
- 1062-1024
- Electronic ISSN
- 1573-2843
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 35, Issue 8 (August 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Child and Family Studies
What CAS zone is Journal of Child and Family Studies in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Child and Family Studies is in Zone 3 of Psychology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Family Studies / Psychiatry / Psychology, Developmental. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Psychology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Journal of Child and Family Studies?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.03; CiteScore 3.7, h-index 142.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Child and Family Studies?
Based on the dates recorded on 46 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 500 days (interquartile range 334–630 days). Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
What are the manuscript requirements of Journal of Child and Family Studies?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Reference style: APA; Suggested reviewers: Optional. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Where are the editorial board members of Journal of Child and Family Studies based?
Of the 74 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 1%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (62), United Kingdom (2) and Portugal (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Journal of Child and Family Studies?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Child and Family Studies is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists SCIE, PsycINFO, CAB Abstracts and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Journal of Child and Family Studies open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Child and Family Studies is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,190.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, Publisher website; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-26). Last updated: .