Call for Manuscript Proposals | College Student Affairs Journal (CSAJ)
Scholarly Practice in Student Affairs
Issue Editors
Dr. Ginny Jones Boss, University of Georgia |ginnyboss@uga.edu
Dr. Tiffany J. Davis, University of Houston | tdavis9@uh.edu
Journal Overview
As a national peer-reviewed professional journal, The College Student Affairs Journal (CSAJ) publishes articles related to research, concepts, and practices that have implications for both practitioners and scholars in college student affairs work.
Issue Description
CSAJ is currently seeking manuscripts for “Scholarly Practice in Student Affairs” a special issue which will address research in the scholarly areas of: teaching and learning, integration and application of theory, research or assessment, and activism in practice.
A little over 20 years ago, two special issues–one in the NASPA Journal (now JSARP) and another in the Journal of College Student Development (JCSD), printed special issues devoted to scholarship in student affairs practice. Taking up Boyer’s (1990) model of scholarship, contributors to those special issues laid a foundation for expanding notions of scholarly practice
in student affairs to include examinations of teaching and learning and theory-to-practice work in addition to research. The consensus was that the inclination to produce and engage scholarship is low among student affairs practitioners. Much has changed in the field since those two volumes
were published, including an explosion of graduate preparation programs at both the master’s and doctoral levels and increased documentation of scholarship in practice.
This special edition will contribute a 20-year retrospective and contemporary extension of those two issues. Specifically, in this issue we seek manuscripts that demonstrate Boyer’s model for scholarship in
student affairs work, the institutional context and feedback loop considerations presented in works such as Reason and Kimball (2012), or scholarly-informed activism in student affairs practice. We offer the following examples of potential topics that may be featured:
- The preparation of HESA graduate students for scholarly practice
- The scholarship of teaching and learning in student affairs practice
- The role of assessment, evaluation, or research in shaping student services and support
- The role of scholarly practice (theory-to-practice, teaching and learning, or assessment, research, and evaluation) in activism or advocacy
- The feedback loop of practice to inform and expand theory
- Challenges and barriers to scholarly practice
This list is not exhaustive and we welcome proposals that speak to scholarly practice in ways not indicated above.
We encourage submissions that report original qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods research and practice reports (examples of real world ways practitioners used scholarship to inform their practice or initiatives at their institutions), regarding topics relevant to the special issue. We also welcome book/media reviews, conceptual manuscripts, and reflexive essays.
Submission Information
Please send manuscript proposals to SACSAResearch@gmail.com by February 15, 2021. Please include “CSAJ Special Issue Manuscript” as your subject line. Manuscript proposals should be no longer than 5 pages and must include:
- Cover page with title, author(s) name, and contact information
- Overview that includes description of proposed article, background context, theoretical or conceptual frameworks, methodology (if applicable), scholarly significance, and clear articulation between the proposed article and the purpose of the overall special issue.
- Reference List
Manuscript proposals should follow the style of the Seventh Edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA). Authors should particularly note this manual’s recommendation to use active voice and first-person narration. All proposals should be typed,
double-spaced in Times New Roman, 12-point font with notes, references, tables, and figures appearing at the end per APA style. In terms of logistics, we are asking that you keep in mind, if your proposal is reviewed favorably, each manuscript generally ranges between 4,000 and 7,000 words including abstract, tables, figures, and references.
Special Issue Timeline
A review of manuscript proposals will occur after February 1, 2021 and invited authors will be asked to submit a full-length manuscript by July 1, 2021. Submitted papers will then be sent for peer-review and authors will work with the Issue Editor to ensure focus, quality, and impact. We anticipate publishing this special issue in July 2022.
- Submit manuscript proposal: February 15, 2021
- Decisions on Proposals: March 15, 2021
- Full Paper Submissions: July 1, 2021
- Special Issue Publication: July 2022