The JCPA is published five times per year, is double-blind peer reviewed, and adheres to the highest quality of scholarship. It is indexed in Thomson Reuters SSCI as well as in five other main abstracts/indices.
The JCPA is affiliated with the International Comparative Policy Analysis Forum (ICPA-Forum) scholarly association and serves as a publication avenue for several international research groups.
The JCPA invites manuscripts that make a significant contribution to the theory, methodology and empirical analysis of comparative policy studies as well as their relation to public affairs, administration and management. Submissions need not necessarily compare two social units but address the aims and scope of the journal.
Aims and Scope:
The JCPA published scholarship aims to capture differences or similarities in policy issues as well as the role of comparative policy analysis both within and between social units. It contributes to:
• comparative theory development
• comparative theory testing
• comparative methodology development
• the evaluation of comparative research methods
• comparative empirical policy research
• the practice implications of comparative public policy
• lesson-drawing and extrapolation
Criteria: The JCPA gives priority to comparative studies and expects submissions to reflect the Aims and Scope of the journal.
Interdisciplinarity: The JCPA encourages interdisciplinary publications. Policy domains: are open to policy research enhanced in, e.g., immigration, health care, environment and climate change, education, security or human rights, welfare, transportation, bio-technology, among other areas. Functionally: articles may address research methods, public finance and budgeting, administrative reform, performance measurement, among other areas.
Special JCPA Sections: The JCPA welcomes submissions to each of the following sections: Policy Innovation, Comparative Policy Statistics, Discourse and Dialogue (Insights), Comparative Syllabi and Book Reviews.
The JCPA Annual Award for the Best Comparative Paper: The JCPA, ICPA-Forum and Routledge extend the award and opportunity to publish in the JCPA to adjudicated papers presented at conferences of the following international associations: APPAM, APSA, IPSA, FPSA, INPAE, MPSA, NASPAA, NISPAcee.