Association of Family and Conciliation Courts > Publications > Family Court Review > Submit an article
Family Court Review (FCR) invites articles concerned with all aspects of family law, family courts, and the resolution of family disputes. Articles are welcomed on topics such as divorce and separation; child custody; child abuse and neglect; domestic violence; adoption; termination of parental rights; juvenile delinquency; status offenses; unified family courts; problem-solving family courts; any other aspect of family court organization; professional ethics and standards of practice of lawyers, judges, mental health professionals, lawyers for parents and children, and mediators involved in family dispute resolution; therapeutic justice; domestic violence among family members; gender issues in family law; court-affiliated family education programs; conciliation; mediation; alternative dispute resolution; expert evaluation; arbitration; juvenile dependency; guardianship; probate conservator-ships; elder abuse; and collaborative law, as are articles about strengthening and preservation of family life. International perspectives on these topics are strongly encouraged.
FCR is the quarterly research and academic journal of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC), edited by faculty and students of the Hofstra University Law School under the auspices of its Center for Children, Families and the Law and published by Wiley-Blackwell. AFCC is an interdisciplinary association of over 3,300 judges, academics, researchers, counselors, evaluators, mediators, attorneys, and others concerned with the constructive resolution of family conflict. AFCC members receive FCR issues four times a year as a benefit of their membership.
FCRʼs Editor-in-Chief is Professor Barbara Babb, Director of Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC). FCR's Social Science Editor is Robert Emery, Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia. FCR's Faculty Administrative Editor is Matthew Kiernan, Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University. The 50-member Editorial Board of FCR is composed of professors, researchers, lawyers, judges, psychologists, mediators, and court professionals who are experienced in issues that impact families in the legal process. The Board provides ongoing advice to the editors and performs essential tasks such as completing peer reviews of submitted articles and developing issues on important themes. FCRʼs law student staff is chosen through a competitive application process. The staff performs editorial and administrative functions similar to those performed by law students at other law reviews. Staff members research and write notes in FCRʼs area of interest, several of which are published in each issue.
Wiley-Blackwell, FCRʼs publisher, is the worldʼs leading society publisher specializing in journals and books for the higher education, research, and professional markets. Operating from several global offices, Wiley-Blackwell publishes approximately 1,400 scholarly journals in every major academic and professional field. Each issue of FCR, back to volume 1, issue 1, is available at www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/fcr. AFCC members can access the archive and the current issues by logging in to the AFCCʼs secure member section at www.afccnet.org. FCR is accessible on the Westlaw and LexisNexis databases, leading social science indices, and is subscribed to by numerous libraries and individuals on both national and international levels. Presently, FCR is available at more than 2,000 learning institutions worldwide. FCR is also commonly cited in judicial opinions, most recently by the Supreme Court in Abbott v. Abbott, decided in May of this year. In addition, journal materials were downloaded from the publisherʼs web site more than 32,000 times in 2009.
Authors have often asked what types of articles are suitable for publication in FCR. The following categories are to guide potential authors as to the kinds of articles that FCR publishes. The categories are not intended to limit authors but instead provide a general idea about the kinds of articles that FCR considers. Category descriptions include the type of article in the category, requirements specific to each category, and an example of the background of the members of the editorial staff or board who are likely to review that type of article for publication.
1. Perspectives: Informed and thoughtful opinions regarding previous issues or other relevant areas of interest. Perspectives articles cover important themes and ideas in FCR s area of interest, even if controversial. They should be thought provoking. Some examples include commentary on the rights of children, divorce reform, the role of the family court judge, ethics in family law practice, family law legal education, and foster care reform. Authors can have any professional background. These articles are maximum 10–15 pages double-spaced and do not require copious footnotes. The editor and associate editor in chief generally review these articles.
2. Legal Articles: This category includes the kinds of articles typically found in law reviews, covering topics like child representation, divorce, and custody. Authors will typically be judges, lawyers or legal academics. The majority of the citations in this category of articles consist of statutes, case law, court rules, and other law review articles. Any social science references are not fundamental and the article is judged by law review criteria. Legal topics covered should not be limited to a single jurisdiction, but can use a single jurisdiction to illustrate a problem that many other jurisdictions also encounter. Lawyers and the editor review these articles.
3. Mixed Law and Social Science Articles: These include articles where legal analysis is heavily reliant on social science materials to defend, challenge, or propose modifications to existing law and related public policy. These articles are not heavily methodological and generally rely upon multiple research studies. FCR anticipates they be written by lawyers and/or social scientists alone or working together. Again, a national or international scope on whatever problem is being addressed is preferred. Lawyers and social scientists review these articles according to their expertise.
4. Empirical Research: This category of articles includes original empirical research or reviews of empirical research that furthers public policy and interdisciplinary dialogue in FCR ʼs areas of interest. Examples of articles in this category include reviews of research on domestic violence, child abuse, supervised visitation, mediation, and empirically focused pieces on the impact of divorce on children. These articles are written mainly by researchers in social science, psychology, alternative dispute resolution, and other relevant fields. Articles in this category should describe the public policy implications of the research that is being discussed and should generally contain a review of relevant literature. This category of article is primarily reviewed by social science experts with assistance from lawyers to assess practical and policy implications of the research and the validity of any legal discussion.
6. Book Reviews: These reviews are critical examinations of important topics and not simply summaries of recently published books. FCR selects books to review based on its criteria concerning the significance of the book to its field. Book reviews do not go through the peer editorial process and the editor chooses the book reviewers. This category is subject to FCRʼs existing policy on book reviews. Book review policy (PDF).
The FCR review process is designed to ensure that authors who submit articles receive detailed feedback and comments on their pieces from the members of the editorial board. Reviewers are selected by the editor and review submitted articles anonymously. Upon review completion, authors receive a detailed summary of the comments received. Articles may be accepted for publication, accepted subject to certain revisions, or rejected for publication. Some articles are rejected for publication, but encouraged to make revisions and then resubmitted. Once the requested revisions are completed and an article is resubmitted, it may undergo another review before it is ultimately accepted or denied for publication.
The review process begins as soon as possible after the article is received. FCR aims to complete the review process within 4 to 6 weeks after an article is submitted. It may be possible to expedite reviews of articles in some circumstances; though doing so places extra burdens on the editorial board and staff. FCR staff will inform authors of the progress of the review process and of publication decisions in a timely manner, but due to the interdisciplinary nature of FCR, some articles may take longer than others to review. When an article is accepted, authors will then be notified of the accompanying publication date. When this publication date nears, authors will receive additional correspondence regarding the publication process, including communication from an FCR student staff member who will serve as a journal liaison throughout the editing process, which will include cite checking.
Because of the time and effort devoted to the process of reviewing articles, the Editorial Board requests that authors who submit articles to FCR do not submit the same article to other journals at the same time. Editorial staff will gladly discuss any concerns regarding this policy.
Manuscripts submitted for publication should be submitted to: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/fcr. First-time users need to create an account. Click the Create an Account button and fill in the information requested. By default, your username is your e-mail address. Please keep your account up to date when your contact information changes. Do not create duplicate accounts. If you have more than one account or need assistance editing your account, please e-mail the FCR Managing Editor at FCR@hofstra.edu. Any additional inquiries may be directed to FCR@hofstra.edu,
• A manuscript should not generally exceed 25 double-spaced typed pages, including notes, references, tables, and figures, although longer pieces may be considered.
• Authors are requested to follow the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th edition) or the Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (20th ed.), published and distributed by the Harvard Law Review, when preparing manuscripts. Manuscripts must follow either the Bluebook or APA citation formats, not both, in a consistent manner.
• E-mail submissions should include an MS Word file with an abstract (100 words) and a biographical statement.
FCR conducts an annual family law writing competition for law students from American law schools and law schools abroad in cooperation with AFCC and the Center for Children, Families and the Law. Entries may address any area of family law or family dispute resolution, although international or interdisciplinary topics are especially encouraged. Articles should concentrate on a current legal issue and must have a strong foundation in legal research. The winners of previous yearsʼ competitions have been considered for publication in FCR. The due date for submissions is in March of every year. Please refer law students to FCRʼs Web site for more information concerning the writing competition: http://law.hofstra.edu/Academics/Journals/FCR. Any remaining inquiries may be directed to FCR@hofstra.edu.