Editor Spotlight

Robin Codding, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Applied Psychology at Northeastern University’s Bouvé College of Health Sciences.

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

I earned my doctorate in school psychology. I am a licensed psychologist as well as board-certified behavior analyst. Before entering academia, I served as an educational and behavioral consultant.

My research interests focus on developing and exploring the effectiveness of school-based interventions, the factors that contribute to student responsiveness of those interventions, and strategies to support intervention implementation. My work mainly examines mathematics interventions and associated assessment tools that promote effective data-based decision making in the context of a multitiered prevention framework.

I have been fortunate to serve as an associate editor for 10 consecutive years across three journals: School Psychology Review, Journal of Behavioral Education, and Journal of School Psychology. I have been a long-standing editorial board member of School Psychology, and I am excited to take the helm.

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?

Submissions to School Psychology have grown over the last several years, positioning the journal to publish 6 issues a year. This growth required a name change which took effect during 2019: School Psychology Quarterly became School Psychology. School Psychology has a history of providing high-quality and timely reviews that result in a fast turnaround from article submission to publication. I plan to continue this trend.

School Psychology has a long commitment to publishing on a breadth of topics that are relevant to the field and represent the variety of settings, clients, and services that school psychologists engage in. Submissions from scholars and practitioners who engage in research in school psychology and related fields with a focus on promoting the educational, psychological, health and mental health services of children and youth, are encouraged. School Psychology will also continue to have a global and international focus.

In addition to empirical articles, School Psychology publishes systematic reviews and meta-analyses, advances in methodologies, and brief reports. I am particularly interested in promoting submission of these manuscript types.

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?

School Psychology has always prided itself on enhancing the science, practice, and policy of immediately pertinent issues for children, youth, caregivers, school professionals, and the schools and other systems that serve them. Implementation of feasible, usable, culturally and contextually relevant evidence-based practices and their sustainability are of paramount importance.

My editorial team and I plan to tackle several critical issues as special topics and special issues. We are currently outlining these priorities.

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

The replication crisis is just as present in our field as in the broader psychology profession. Similarly, the failure to publish null results is a hurdle that our field needs to overcome.

The relationship between science and practice would benefit from concerted focus and further inquiry, as the real-world gap between the two appears to be growing rather than closing.

Our field must continue to contend with the need to recruit and retain racially and ethnically diverse scholars and practitioners. We need to raise awareness of educational disparities as well as promote services that recognize and include children and youth from diverse backgrounds.

Do you have plans for a special issue or changes to the editorial process? Are you making any changes?

The expertise of the newly appointed associate editors and members of the editorial advisory board reflect the breadth of scholarship the journal anticipates publishing. I will continue to highlight and grow the statistical editorial advisory board.

I plan to continue recognizing all editorial board members annually, while adding special recognition for reviewers who provide high-quality and quantity reviews. I plan to establish a process to acknowledge high-quality manuscripts with an annual reward.

I have refined the manuscript submission types. I will continue to emphasize transparency in the editorial review process.