CPD Soon To Be Home To Open Source Academic Journal

The Center for Persons with Disabilities will soon be home to a new open-source journal on disability; one that includes people with disabilities and their families in its submission and review process.

The Developmental Disabilities Network Journal is a collaboration between the CPD and USU Libraries and Digital Commons.

“More and more good science is taking an open source approach, where it’s free and open to the public,” said Dr. Matthew Wappett. He is the CPD’s executive director, and editor-in-chief of the publication. “We feel that research and information should be accessible to everyone.”

“This idea came up last summer in discussions with other UCEDD (University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities) directors,” Wappett said. They noted that while the UCEDD network has existed for over 50 years, it does not have its own publication. “Everyone who works in a UCEDD program is publishing in other journals, and there isn’t a publication focused on the wide range of research and evaluation that is done in the developmental disabilities network.”

While providing a home for UCEDD scholarship, the journal will also draw from the expertise of Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities programs (LENDs), Intellectual and Development Disabilities Research Centers, state councils on developmental disabilities, protection and advocacy organizations, projects of national significance, and family support programs. It also welcomes scholarship from programs with a similar focus on disability rights, community living, and interdisciplinary research and services.

This focus will extend to agencies and organizations that directly serve people with disabilities and their families. Its approach to accessibility includes plain language and alternative formats.

“We’re learning as we go, but we are committed to making disability research accessible to everyone” Wappett said.

The publication’s managing editor is Bryce Fifield. The journal has issued a call for papers and reviewers, with an anticipated launch this summer.