Focus & Scope

History and Evolution of the Journal

The Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning (MJCSL) is open access with readers representing institutional leaders, faculty, and practitioners from all over the world. We seek to contribute to the growth of civic engagement and engaged/public scholarship in order to develop a civic temper that inspires collective action to expand access to political, economic and social power.

The MJCSL has been published by the Edaward Ginsberg Center at the University of Michigan since its inception in 1994. Since 2014, the Michigan Journal of Service Learning has worked to become more accessible to a wider audience and has deepened its infrastructure and partnerships to contribute to long-term sustainability. To support scholars, we emphasize providing actionable feedback at every stage of the review process. Our editorial process is unique in that we ask reviewers to read manuscripts collaboratively and return joint decisions that include detailed suggestions for aligning methods with research goals and presentation of ideas. By asking reviewers to hold conversations about manuscripts and make joint decisions, our process also deepens the learning opportunity for both peer reviewers and authors, who receive focused, unified perspectives on their work. From the proposal stage to final publication, we strive not only to provide concrete, actionable directives and feedback for the scholarship itself but also for scholars themselves. To increase sustainability, we have invested in the journal’s infrastructure by hiring an editor-in-chief and editorial assistant dedicated to our continued evolution and excellence. In addition, MJCSL has devoted one issue a year to strategic partnerships to focus on particular themes that broaden the scope of content and readership. One recent example is the award-winning special issue on Centering Social Justice in Community Engaged Scholarship, a partnership with the National Center for Institutional Diversity.

What We Publish

The Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning publishes research, theory, pedagogy, and other matters related to academic service-learning, campus-community partnerships, civic engagement, and engaged/public scholarship in higher education. We currently publish two types of writing: Full-length research articles (double-blind peer reviewed) and Book Reviews (editor reviewed). As an interdisciplinary journal, we welcome proposals for manuscripts that utilize a wide array of methodologies, including empirical studies, textual analysis, historical inquiry, and others.

How to Submit Manuscript Proposals

We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts. All authors must first submit proposals in order to be invited to submit full manuscripts. Review our submission guidelines here.

Because MJCSL is dedicated to promoting quality scholarship that positively impacts both higher education and communities, we do not collect article processing charges (APCs). MJCSL is financially supported and managed by the Edward Ginsberg Center at the University of Michigan and, therefore, is able to be open access without charging authors APCs.

The editorial team is: Nicole Springer, Patricia Jewell, and Neeraja Aravamudan with Special Editors joining each issue. If you have any questions about the submission process or are curious about whether your work is a fit for MJCSL, you are welcome to contact us here.