A 50‐Year Scoping Review of Family Court Review: An Analysis of the Journal's Core Values

Abstract

The focus of this study was to systematically review the content of all 1,778 articles published in Family Court Review (FCR) during the past 50 years to explore whether these articles helped to advance the journal's core values. The findings suggest that FCR has focused on a rich diversity of legal and social issues impacting children and families. FCR has evolved into a leading source for interdisciplinary communication among mental health and legal professions, with growing emphasis on international collaboration and an increasing emphasis on empirical evidence to guide practice, policy, and future research. Key Points for the Family Court Community FCR has demonstrated a long‐standing commitment to the interdisciplinary nature of family law. Published authors in FCR increasingly represent a widening array of professionals from diverse geographical areas. Through the publication of current material, evocative discussions, standards of practice, and empirical studies, FCR has demonstrated a commitment to the professionals and families served by the family courts.

Family Court Review: A love letter, and little a bit of history

“…Soon, the self-published journal had a contract with Sage Publications and, with that, finally became the quarterly journal its founders envisioned in 1963. Around that time, the Review began publishing special issues focused on specific themes, which over the years would provide in-depth examinations of important topics (Saini & Barnes, 2013).…”

“…These exchanges are critical to AFCC members and other practitioners, who must go beyond the theoretical to address these challenges in practice every day. As observed by Saini and Barnes (2013) "FCR adapted over time to the needs of its readership, and it has demonstrated a flexibility that was likely integral to its longstanding success." SALEM…”

“…Finally, it should be recognized that a decade ago, Saini and Barnes (2013) conducted a systematic scoping review of FCR to examine whether it has supported its core values and to explore the number and quality of empirically based studies to determine if FCR has been able to advance the legal and social science in family law (Spoiler alert: it has!). This rigorous empirical approach is what we have come to expect from our journal, and it provides valuable insights.…”

October 2013

“…In our fiftieth anniversary January 2013 issue, Michael Saini and Jessica Barnes performed an extraordinary service for FCR by systematically reviewing the content of FCR's 1,778 articles over fifty years to see if what we published advanced FCR's core values. 1 I am proud that they concluded that [t]he findings suggest that FCR has focused on a rich diversity of legal and social issues impacting children and families. FCR has evolved into a leading source for interdisciplinary communication among mental health and legal professions, with growing emphasis on international collaboration and an increasing emphasis on empirical evidence to guide practice, policy, and future research.…”