Abstract
Feminist scholarship has always been important to me. It has resonated with, inspired, and challenged me. It has influenced how I have carried out the variety of roles I have played throughout my career (e.g., conducting feminist informed research, using feminist theory in psychotherapy and supervision, integrating feminist scholarship in the classroom, advocating for macro-level changes based on the findings of feminist science, mentoring budding feminist scholars and practitioners). Feminist scholarship is work that makes a difference in people’s lives and in our world (Yoder, 2015). Thus, I am thrilled and deeply honored to serve as the tenth editor of Psychology of Women Quarterly (PWQ). PWQ provides a venue for lifting feminist voices by supporting, preserving, disseminating, promoting, and advancing psychological science that is grounded in feminist and psychology of women/gender perspectives. Scholars who publish here aim to create positive societal change for diverse women and girls and those who are marginalized by their gender identities and expressions. Lifting feminist voices is needed today, more than ever before, given the increasingly oppressive cultural context in which we live and restrictions on women and other minority groups’ rights. The experience of oppression and its effects are often amplified for those who are multiply marginalized.
I have been actively supporting PWQ since 2009, when I began serving as a consulting editor. From there, I took on more responsibility, serving as an associate editor, then senior associate editor. These roles were instrumental in helping me learn so much more about research, writing, leadership, and the editorial process. It was exciting to work with the best and brightest researchers in feminist psychology and to help shape the future of feminist psychological science. In my new role as editor, I hope to build on the legacies of esteemed past editors, Georgia Babladelis (1976–1979), Nancy Henley (1980–1984), Janet S. Hyde (1985–1989), Judith Worell (1990–1994), Nancy Felipe Russo (1995–1999), Jacquelyn W. White (2000–2004), Jayne E. Stake (2005–2009), Janice D. Yoder (2010–2015), and Mary M. Brabeck (2016–2019).
My number one priority is preserving PWQ’s integrity and the high quality of our studies. PWQ has earned a reputation for scholarly excellence and for publishing studies that are novel, cutting edge, rigorous, and sophisticated; for making important contributions to the existing literature; and addressing major social issues. My goal is to continue this distinguished legacy. I also plan to continue to improve its standing in the larger field of psychology and the subfield of women’s studies. PWQ is currently ranked #1 of the 42 journals in the Women’s Studies category and 21 of the 137 journals in the Psychology, Multidisciplinary category (Journal Citation Reports®, Web of Science Data, 2019). Our acceptance rate for research articles is about 9%. PWQ receives more than 325 new manuscripts per year and averages under 35 days until a first decision is rendered. These are excellent numbers; however, we cannot become complacent. My overall vision is that PWQ will remain and grow as the premiere outlet for empirical research in feminist psychology and the psychology of gender.
To help me achieve this overarching goal, I have assembled a fantastic editorial team that includes Kelly Cue Davis (Arizona State University), Asia Eaton (Florida International University), Annette Kluck (University of Mississippi), Shannon Lynch (Idaho State University), Lindsay Orchowski (Alpert Medical School of Brown University), Laurel Watson (University of Missouri–Kansas City), and Monique Ward (University of Michigan) serving as associate editors. You can learn more about each associate editor’s background and research interests at https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/journal/psychology-women-quarterly#editorial-board. In addition, Todd Abraham (Iowa State University) serves as our statistical consultant and Lorraine Radtke (University of Calgary, Canada) as our qualitative consultant. This team brings a wealth of knowledge, expertise, diverse perspectives, and experience to the journal. Our team began accepting manuscripts on November 1, 2018, and we have been working hard for more than a year. It’s truly humbling to see the size and scope of the publishing process, the large amount of people involved, and just how much work and time goes into making each journal issue happen.
Getting the word out about PWQ articles and their important findings to a broad audience that includes practitioners, teachers, administrators, mainstream U.S. culture, and beyond is imperative. I will continue to build on the work of past editors, particularly Jan Yoder and Mary Brabeck, by continuing to offer the Practitioners’ Digest and the PowerPoint teaching slides. Emily Keener (Slippery Rock University) has graciously agreed to be the new PWQ teaching supplements coordinator. In addition, I will promote articles in PWQ through the popular press (e.g., psychpost.org, The Conversation) and social media. Be sure to follow us on Twitter at @PWQ4U (https://twitter.com/pwq4u?) and “like us” on Facebook at Psychology of Women Quarterly (https://www.facebook.com/pwq4u/). I will continue to publish peer-reviewed Teaching Briefs to facilitate integrating feminist scholarship into the classroom. Britney Brinkman (Point Park University) has done a fabulous job with this section over the past 4 years working with Editor Mary Brabeck and will continue as teaching section editor. PWQ has a long history of providing reviews of scholarly/academic books related to feminism and the psychology of women and gender. Ellen Cole (The Sage Colleges) is finishing her term as book review editor and reviews accepted under her leadership appear in this issue and will appear in the June, 2020 issue. Reviews under our new Book Review Editor, Kate Richmond (Muhlenberg College), will be published starting with the September 2020 issue.
At PWQ, we value diversity in all its forms that includes diversity in the types of research methodologies used, content covered, social identity statuses targeted, and samples used. As bell hooks (1984) asserted, it is important to bring the lives of women and girls and other gender minorities who have been multiply marginalized from the margins to the center. We have seen a steady increase in the diversity of participants represented in articles published in PWQ, including international participants (Brabeck, 2019). I plan to continue this trend by lifting the voices of those who are underrepresented in our literature. In this issue of PWQ, we learn more about the unique positionality and experiences of Latinx and Black sexual minority, gender expansive women (Cerezo, Cummings, Holmes, & Williams, 2020), African American women (Liao, Wei, & Yin, 2020), women experiencing medically high-risk pregnancy (McCoyd, Curran, & Munch, 2020), and transgender women (Comisky, Parent, & Tebbe, 2020).
I am committed to providing timely, educative, and constructive reviews. Authors often have a variety of journals to which they can submit their work. Beyond reputation and quality of the journal, authors often consider responsiveness of the journal, turnaround time, and quality of reviews. We have all had or heard of the horror story where it takes months, even a year, to hear back from a journal about the status of a manuscript. Or the story of an author who received a harsh, overly critical review, or a review that was just not helpful. Thus, a quick and responsive editorial process is essential. Consistent with the editorial philosophy of PWQ, I am committed to nurturing feminist researchers. I try hard to provide quality feedback to scholars that helps them improve their work in a supportive, educational way. I believe it is important to provide this feedback to all authors, regardless of whether or not a submission is eventually accepted for publication in PWQ. In my own personal experience, reviewers who were willing to take extra time to provide quality feedback on my research have been instrumental in fostering my own growth. Thus, I see the crucial importance of the review process, and I will continue to give back in this way.
My commitment to mentoring is also reflected in my decision to keep the Student Advisory Board (SAB) as an important and integral part of PWQ. The SAB was created by Judy Worell in 1990 as a way to demystify the publication process and mentor the next generation of feminist psychologists on how to effectively review manuscripts, improve their own scholarship, reduce anxiety and increase their self-efficacy about the publication process, provide opportunities for career advancement and growth, and fortify our pipeline of feminist scholars for the future (Worell, 1993). SAB members work with a self-selected mentor in the field who provides feedback and mentoring on the process of conducting and writing up peer-review feedback. Shannon Lynch (Idaho State University) has agreed to serve as the new SAB mentor.
I would like to acknowledge the unsung heroes of PWQ. That is, those individuals who work behind the scenes serving as consulting editors, ad hoc reviewers, and distinguished reviewers. Peer reviewers play a vital role in the editorial process, and their recommendations and reviews are key in determining an editorial decision on a manuscript and improving the quality of a manuscript. I am always impressed by the thoughtful, constructive, highly detailed, and on-point reviews we receive. As one of my associate editors noted, we have the best reviewers at PWQ. Providing quality peer reviews is a time-consuming, labor intensive, and often under-appreciated service commitment. One of my goals is to better recognize this important role. As such, I am consulting with the Division 35 leadership to determine the best way to honor the editing work of PWQ’s generous and gifted reviewers.
I am pleased to announce (see our full page ad this issue) that the winners of the 2020 Georgia Babladelis Best Paper Award are Lindsey G. Robertson, Tamara L. Anderson, M. Elizabeth Lewis Hall, and Christina Lee Kim for their 2019 PWQ article (Volume 43, pp. 184–200) titled, “Mothers and Mental Labor: A Phenomenological Focus Group Study of Family-Related Thinking Work.” We will present a plague to the lead author in the name of all authors at the 2020 Society for Psychology of Women Award ceremony held during the American Psychological Association (APA) Annual Convention. Please join us, if you can, to celebrate and honor these authors and their excellent work.
I would like to express thanks to two additional people. I am grateful to Cora Powers (University of North Carolina–Wilmington) for taking on the PWQ administrative editorial assistant role and helping to make sure everything runs smoothly at the journal. I am always impressed by her conscientiousness, good work ethic, ability to prioritize and follow through in a timely manner, and excellent communication and organizational skills. I would also like to express my deep appreciation to Mary Brabeck for her great leadership of PWQ over the past 4–5 years. PWQ has truly flourished under her editorship. I also want to thank Mary for her mentorship of me as I transitioned to this new role. I can honestly say it has been the best mentoring experience I have ever had. When I was a doctoral student, I remember reading Brabeck’s (2000) hot off the press edited book titled, Practicing Feminist Ethics in Psychology. I loved that book and paraphrased it heavily while writing my comprehensive exams. I would have never dreamed that almost 20 years later she would step out from those pages in that book to guide and nurture me as I adjusted to the high demands and workload, ethical dilemmas, and steep learning curve involved in the transition to editor. I am so fortunate to have benefited from her support, guidance, and collegiality.
As you can see, I do not anticipate major shifts in direction for PWQ. As the previous editors before me, I value quality and scientific rigor, visibility, diversity, timely and educative reviews, feminist mentoring, appreciating all those who contribute to PWQ, and recognizing excellence. However, given the evolving nature of publishing, feminist psychology, and technological advances, it is important that we keep abreast of new developments so that PWQ can continue to flourish and shine. For example, I have recently updated our submission guidelines to comply with the Seventh Edition of the APA style manual and to provide more explicit description of issues related to piecemeal publication. I would highly value studies that use innovative and novel methods for addressing research questions in traditional areas of the psychology of women. I am open to special sections of the journal for moving a particular area in feminist psychology forward. Relatedly, I will work with Sage and take advantage of (or ask for) improvements that will make the editorial process smooth and streamlined. Of course, I am always open to hearing from readers of PWQ about their perceptions of PWQ and the supplemental materials we offer, including strengths, areas for growth, and new directions. I welcome feedback on how to improve the journal. It is important that we work together to continue to make PWQ successful and promote feminist scholarship that makes a difference in women’s (and other marginalized groups) lives. I hope you enjoy this issue of PWQ.