Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice
The Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice provides the educational community, federal and state governmental officials, and the general public a medium to exhibit and explore the complex issue of student retention and attrition. The Journal features articles pertaining to current and new theoretical constructs and current research on student retention and attrition in higher education.
In addition, the Journal provides practitioners a forum to highlight and disseminate to the educational community, current practices, programs and services, which help students persist through academic and personal goal completion.
This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
The goal of the Journal is to provide the educational community, federal and state government officials, and the public with the latest findings regarding the retention of students in higher education. Although access to higher education is virtually universally available, many students who start in a higher education program drop out prior to completing a degree or achieving their individual academic and/or social goals.
| Alan Seidman | Executive Director, Center for the Study of College Student Retention, www.cscsr.org |
| Peter Armacost | Eckerd College, US, USA |
| Robert Atwell | American Council on Education, USA |
| John P. Bean | Indiana University, USA |
| John M. Braxton | Vanderbilt University, USA |
| Don G. Creamer | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA |
| K. Patricia Cross | University of California, Berkeley, USA |
| Charles Eberly | Eastern Illinois University, USA |
| Linda Serra Hagedorn | Iowa State University, USA |
| Kelly S. Hall | Texas A&M University - Kingsville, USA |
| Cynthia Johnson | California State University, Long Beach, USA |
| D. Bruce Johnston | State University of New York, Buffalo, USA |
| David Kalsbeek | DePaul University, USA |
| Frances Mertz | Farleigh Dickinson University, USA |
| Amaury Nora | University of Texas, San Antonio, USA |
| Leticia Oseguera | Pennsylvania State University, USA |
| Robert Palmer | Howard University, USA |
| Ernest Pascarella | University of Iowa, USA |
| Arthur Sandeen | University of Florida, USA |
| John Schuh | Iowa State University, USA |
| Vincent Tinto | Syracuse University, USA |
| M. Lee Upcraft | Pennsylvania State University, USA |
| Blanca Vega | Montclair State University, USA |
| Blanca Vega | Montclair State University, USA |
Journal of College Retention: Research, Theory and Practice
This Journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics.
Please read the guidelines below prior to submitting your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines will not be accepted for review and corresponding author will be appraised of deficiencies.
JCSR is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jcsr to login and submit your manuscript online.
IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the Journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created. For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.
Sage Publishing disseminates high-quality research and engaged scholarship globally, and we are committed to diversity and inclusion in publishing. We encourage submissions from a diverse range of authors from across all countries and backgrounds. Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of the Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice will be reviewed.
There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this Journal.
Originality
As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere. The Journal may consider submissions of papers that have been posted on preprint servers. Please see our guidelines on prior publication.
Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools
If you have used a generative AI tool such as ChatGPT to prepare your submission, please clearly identify AI-generated content within the text and acknowledge its use within your Acknowledgements section. Please note that AI bots such as ChatGPT should not be listed as an author. Please read the full Sage Publishing Policy: https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/chatgpt-and-generative-ai.
Aims and Scope of the Journal
Before submitting your manuscript to the JCSR, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope: https://journals.sagepub.com/aims-scope/CSR.
Article types
The Journal features articles and book reviews pertaining to current and new theoretical constructs and current research on college student retention and attrition in higher education. It is highly recommended that you obtain a copy of the Journal. Click to view a Free Sample of JCSR. This will allow you to get a feel for the type of articles, style of writing, formatting, etc. of accepted manuscripts.
Book review suggestions should be sent to the Journal's book review editor Dr. Blanca Vega (vegab@mail.montclair.edu)
Peer review policy
Manuscripts are sent anonymously to a reviewer(s) for evaluation. Author(s) will not be given the name of a reviewer(s). Reviews can take anywhere from five to eight weeks. Sage does not permit the use of author-suggested (recommended) reviewers at any stage of the submission process. The Editor makes the final decision whether to publish a manuscript and what volume, issue and order it will appear.
The Editor or members of the Editorial Board may occasionally submit their own manuscripts for possible publication in the Journal. In the case of an Editorial Board member, submissions will go through the same review process for authors since they do not review manuscripts. In the case of an Editor submission, an Editorial Board member will select reviewers and make the final publication decision.
Preparing your manuscript for submission
Formatting
Use MSWord Times New Roman 12-point font only, and double space throughout. Abstracts should not exceed 150 words and are required to introduce each article. While there is no page length limit, most manuscripts fall between 16- 36 pages including abstract through reference list. Page length depends on topic covered, type of statistical analysis etc. Lengthy articles may be best suited for a book chapter. The Editor will determine if a manuscript needs to be edited.
Style
The Journal adheres to the most recent edition (currently 7th) of the APA manual. All parts of the manuscript should conform to this style.
References
References should comply with APA 7th manual. If you use a reference from the Journal, please be sure to use its full name in your reference list, Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice.
Figures, tables, footnotes
Figures should be placed where they will appear in text and in numerical sequence starting with Figure 1. Please refer to chapter 7 in the APA 7th manual for figure preparation.
Figures supplied in color will appear in color online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in color in the printed version. For specifically requested color reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Sage after receipt of your accepted manuscript.
Tables should be placed where they will appear in text and in numerical sequence starting with Table 1. Each table must have a descriptive title. Please refer to chapter 7 in the APA 7th manual for table preparation and the placing Notes below tables.
Footnotes are placed at the bottom of the page where referenced. They should be numbered with superior Arabic numbers without parentheses or brackets. Footnotes should be brief, single spaced using 10-point font size.
Identifiable information
Journal submissions should contain only two files. One is the cover page with author information etc. and the other is the manuscript beginning with the abstract without author information.
All personal identification information must be removed from the Properties area of the Main Document file. In MSWord: File/Info/Check for Issues/Inspect Document/Inspect. Comprehensive information is available via the MSWord Help function. Type “remove hidden data” into the Help field.
Funding
This Journal requires all authors to acknowledge their funding within the appropriate section of the online submission form. Please visit Sage Funding Acknowledgements to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: “This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.”
Declaration of conflicting interests
This Journal requires all authors to include a declaration of any conflicting interests within the appropriate section of the online submission form. We recommend that you review the good practice guidelines in the Sage Declaration of Conflicting Interests Policy.
Other Considerations
International Authors
International authors are encouraged to have their manuscripts proofread by a native English speaking copy editor. Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the Journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.
Supplemental material
This Journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g., datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc.) alongside the full-text of the article. For more information, please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplemental files.
Plagiarism
JCSR and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism, or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the Journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Appropriate action will be taken where necessary.
Contributor’s publishing agreement
Before publication, Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Sage’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive license agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and license to publish for the full legal term of copyright. For more information, please visit our Contributor Agreement page on the Journal Author Gateway.
ORCID
Sage is a supporting member of the Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID). ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.
The collection of ORCID IDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of the Journal. If you do not already have an ORCID ID please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.
On acceptance and publication
If a manuscript is accepted and scheduled for publication it is the responsibility of the corresponding author to keep contact information current. Failure to do so may result in the manuscript being pulled and not published since the corresponding author is responsible for reviewing proofs and returning them in a timely manner.
Sage Production
Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be made available to the corresponding author via our editing portal Sage Edit or by email, and corrections should be made directly or notified to us promptly.
OnlineFirst publication
OnlineFirst allows final manuscripts (completed and approved awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the Sage Journals help page for more details, including how to cite OnlineFirst articles. Please note that OnlineFirst publications are considered fully published articles.
Appealing the publication decision
Editors have very broad discretion in determining whether an article is an appropriate fit for their journal. Many manuscripts are declined with a very general statement of the rejection decision. These decisions are not eligible for formal appeal unless the author believes the decision to reject the manuscript was based on an error in the review of the article, in which case the author may appeal the decision by providing the Editor with a detailed written description of the error they believe occurred.
If an author believes the decision regarding their manuscript was affected by a publication ethics breach, the author may contact the publisher with a detailed written description of their concern, and information supporting the concern, at publication_ethics@sagepub.com.
Further information
Any correspondence, queries, or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the Journal of College Student Retention editorial office as follows:
Dr. Alan Seidman, Editor
aseidman@cscsr.org
Book review suggestions should be sent to the Journal's book review editor:
Dr. Blanca Vega
Visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jcsr to log in and submit your manuscript online.
Are you interested in Spanish translations of JCSR articles? Let us know!
Le interesaria una version en espanol de la revista? Haznos saber!