David DeMatteo, JD, PhD

DeMatteo works at Drexel University as a professor of law and psychology.

Tell us a bit about your background: What is your area of research? What is your most recent journal-editing experience?

I am a professor of psychology and a professor of law at Drexel University and the director of Drexel’s JD/PhD program in law and psychology. As someone trained in both psychology and law, my research and scholarly interests lie at the intersection of those two disciplines. Some of my specific areas of interest include mental health law, psychopathic personality, forensic mental health assessment, diversion of justice-involved individuals, and juror and judicial decision making. The goal of my research is to identify ways of influencing law, policy, and practice using social science.

Being involved in the peer-review process has been a priority for me throughout my career. I began serving as an ad hoc reviewer for peer-reviewed journals shortly after completing my graduate education. Since that time, I have reviewed manuscripts for more than 60 scientific journals and served on more than a dozen editorial boards. My connection with Law and Human Behavior started in graduate school. After serving as a student reviewer for Law and Human Behavior, I was an ad hoc reviewer for 2 years before being invited to join the editorial board. I then served as an associate editor of Law and Human Behavior for 12 years before being appointed editor-in-chief.

Briefly, what are your main priorities? For example, how will you grow readership, what type of scholarship would you like to see in the journal, and what kind of content are you hoping to attract?

My two main priorities for Law and Human Behavior are enhancing diversity and promoting open science. In terms of diversity, my plan is to enhance Law and Human Behavior’s subject matter diversity and the personal diversity of authors, reviewers, and editors. The field of psychology–law is broad, so it is important that articles published in Law and Human Behavior reflect the subject matter diversity of the field. My editorial team and I will prioritize publishing articles that appeal to both researchers and clinicians across a range of psychology–law topic areas. Among other things, this will require us to increase the journal’s coverage of underrepresented topics. Enhancing the personal diversity of those involved with Law and Human Behavior—authors, reviewers, and editors—is an equally important priority, and we look forward to promoting diversity (broadly defined) in all aspects of the journal’s operation. Given the increased emphasis on the transparency and accessibility of psychological science, promoting open science is another key priority for my editorial team. Good science demands transparency, and we are prepared to reaffirm and build upon the open science requirements of Law and Human Behavior.

Why is this journal important for the field? What is its relevance to society/public health? What are the hot issues in your area right now?

Law and Human Behavior is the flagship journal of the American Psychology–Law Society (Division 41 of the American Psychological Association) and one of a small group of journals that focuses on the relationship between human behavior and the law, the criminal justice and legal system, and the legal process. Although all psychological research is important, the research published in Law and Human Behavior is often cited in court cases and occasionally relied on by lawmakers and policymakers. As such, Law and Human Behavior bears a tremendous responsibility to publish high-quality research that (a) influences policy and practice, (b) highlights the valuable role of social science in the law, and (c) helps to establish future psychology–law research agendas.

What challenges, if any, lie ahead for the field?

Like many subfields of psychology, the psychology-law field would benefit from (a) enhancing its focus on diversity-relevant research, (b) emphasizing the importance of replicability and null results, and (c) demonstrating the applicability of psychology-law research to the real world.

Do you have plans for a special issue or changes to the editorial process? Have you introduced or are you planning to introduce any changes?

My predecessor, Bradley D. McAuliff, was an outstanding steward of Law and Human Behavior, so I inherited a journal that is performing extremely well according to various publishing metrics. As such, I see little reason to make major changes. With that said, I plan to make some small adjustments to the editorial structure to address current challenges and priorities. First, I have appointed a statistical consultant to assist with refining journal standards related to conducting and reporting statistical analyses, and I will appoint an open science officer whose sole responsibility will be to ensure that authors and manuscripts adhere to the journal’s open science requirements. Second, I plan to establish an editorial fellowship for an early-career psychologist from a group that has been historically excluded or marginalized from leadership opportunities in research and publishing. The fellowship will last 1 year, include a stipend, and allow the fellow to develop their editorial skills by working closely with one of the Law and Human Behavior associate editors. Finally, to reflect the journal’s increased focus on broad subject matter diversity, my editorial team and I will (a) establish guidelines that encourage authors to address the applied implications of their research, (b) devote special sections of some Law and Human Behavior issues to underrepresented topics, and (c) periodically publish special issues that focus on topics that are relevant to both research and practice.