Projected first issue:

June, 2020

JDRI: Journal of the Dulles Research Institute

An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Sexual Abuse and Priestly Life and Ministry in the Catholic Church

About the JDRI

As a forum for high-quality publication and dialogue, the Institute founded the Journal of the Dulles Research Institute as an interdisciplinary journal for the study of sexual abuse and healthy priesthood in the Catholic Church. With a high standard for peer-reviewed original scholarship, the JDRI is a platform for evidence-based insights from multiple disciplines, contributing to policy makers and others who seek to understand this crisis and chart a course for a healthier future. The JDRI is published on a rolling basis as an open-source digital journal in order to make its scholarly content available, free of charge, to the widest possible readership worldwide. The JDRI aspires to be the premier English-language journal for scholarship on sexual abuse and healthy priesthood in the Catholic Church.

Editorial Policy

The JDRI accepts only high-quality, original (i.e., not previously published) articles on topics relevant to the study of sexual abuse/ harassment and healthy, effective priesthood in the Catholic Church. The JDRI is an interdisciplinary journal, drawing on scholarly research in the social and behavioral sciences, as well as in law and Canon Law, public policy, organizational analysis and leadership, history, theology, and religious studies. The major emphases are theory, research, historical and theological issues, policy evaluation, clinical insights, and ecclesial and pastoral practice. The JDRI does not embrace a particular methodology, but allows the peer review process to determine whether an article’s methodology is appropriate to its field and subject matter; in this process it shows no favoritism regarding quantitative vs qualitative research designs and it does not exclude articles on the basis of the conclusions reached. While the JDRI focuses on the problem of sexual abuse and harassment in the Catholic Church, it welcomes the work of scholars without regard to the author’s religious affiliation or the article’s doctrinal implications. All articles considered for publication undergo a rigorous, double-blind peer review, and desk rejections are subject to a policy clearly defined by the Editorial Board. Articles that are successful in the peer-review process will be passed on to the Editor-in-Chief, and ultimately the full Editorial Board, for final approval. Authors are never charged submission or publication fees and are expected to disclose any potential conflicts of interest their submissions may present. Article submissions are expected to conform to the JDRI’s style sheet, established by the Editorial Board. As an open-source publication, the JDRI employs Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives licenses that allow both the articles’ authors and readers to copy and reproduce the content published in the JDRI in any medium, as long as attribution is given and the content is not modified. The digital version of the JDRI will be available online, free of charge, and the print version will be made available on a paid subscription basis.