Editorial Scope:

The focus of Applied Developmental Science (ADS) is the synthesis of research and application to promote positive development across the life span. Applied developmental scientists use descriptive and explanatory knowledge about human development to provide preventive and/or enhancing interventions. The conceptual base of ADS reflects the view that individual and family functioning is a combined and interactive product of biology and the physical and social environments that continuously evolve and change over time. ADS emphasizes the nature of reciprocal person–environment interactions among people and across settings. Within a multidisciplinary approach, ADS stresses the variation of individual development across the life span—including both individual differences and within-person change—and the wide range of familial, societal, cultural, physical, ecological, and historical settings of human development.

The applied developmental science orientation is defined by three conjoint emphases. The applied aspect reflects its direct implication for what individuals, families, practitioners, and policymakers do. The developmental aspect emphasizes a focus on systematic and successive changes within human systems that occur across the life span. This assumption stresses the importance of understanding normative and atypical processes as they emerge within different developmental periods and across diverse physical and cultural settings. The science aspect stresses the need to utilize a range of research methods to collect reliable and objective information in a systematic manner to test the validity of theory and application.

The convergence of these three aspects lead to a fostering of a reciprocal relationship between theory and application as a cornerstone of applied developmental science, one wherein empirically based theory not only guides intervention strategies and social policy, but is influenced by the outcome of these community activities. Furthermore, it calls for a multidisciplinary perspective aimed at integrating information and skills drawn from relevant biological, social, and behavioral science disciplines.

Given this multidisciplinary orientation, ADS will publish research employing any of a diverse array of methodologies—multivariate-longitudinal studies, demographic analyses, evaluation research, intensive measurement studies, ethnographic analyses, laboratory experiments, analyses of policy and/or policy engagement studies, or animal comparative studies—when they have important implications for the application of developmental science across the life span. Manuscripts pertinent to the diversity of development throughout the life span—cross-national and cross-cultural studies; systematic studies of psychopathology; and studies pertinent to gender, ethnic, and racial diversity—are particularly welcome. The journal does not typically publish exploratory or pilot studies. Authors should be sure to include in their manuscript the power analysis or other analytic techniques that support the sample size selected for each study described in the article.

Audience:

Developmental, clinical, school, counseling, aging, educational, and community psychologists; life course, family, and demographic sociologists; health professionals; family and consumer scientists; human evolution and ecological biologists; practitioners in child and youth governmental and nongovernmental organizations.

Manuscript Submission:

Submit an electronic copy of your manuscript to Drs. Fisher and Lerner at iaryd.pubs@gmail.com. Please use 12-point Times New Roman font.

Prepare manuscripts according to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Any manuscript not in this style will automatically be returned to the author. Type all components of the manuscript double-spaced, including title page, abstract, text, quotes, acknowledgments, references, appendices, tables, figure captions, and footnotes. The abstract should be 100 to 150 words, typed on a separate sheet of paper. Authors must use nonsexist language in their articles. For information on this requirement, read “Guidelines for Nonsexist Language in APA Journals,” which appeared in the June 1977 issue of American Psychologist, or consult the APA Manual. All manuscripts submitted will be acknowledged promptly. Authors should keep copies of their manuscripts to guard against loss. All manuscripts are reviewed by consultants with special competence in the area represented by the manuscript.

Tables:

Refer to the APA Manual for format. Double-space. Provide each title with an explanatory title; make the title intelligible without reference to the text. Provide appropriate heading for each column in table. Indicate clearly any units of measurement used in table. If table is reprinted or adapted from another source, include a credit line. Consecutively number all tables.

Figures and Figure Captions:

• 300 dpi or higher
• sized to fit on journal page
• EPS, TIFF, or PSD format only
• submitted as separate files, not embedded in text files

Only original manuscripts written in English are considered. In a cover letter, authors should state that the findings reported in the manuscript have not been published previously and that the manuscript is not being simultaneously submitted elsewhere. Authors should also state that they have complied with the ethical standards most relevant to their research discipline (e.g., guidelines from the American Psychological Association, the American Sociological Association, or the American Academy of Child Psychiatry). Upon acceptance, authors are required to sign a publication agreement transferring the copyright from the author to the publisher. Accepted manuscripts become the permanent property of the journal.

Production Notes:

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