The Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice is the only explicitly comparative journal of policy studies. It invites manuscripts that address public policy analysis and related public administration and management in this unique manner. The JCPA aims to stimulate the further intellectual development of comparative policy studies and the growth of an international community of scholars in the field.
The JCPA gives priority to comparative studies that
- Contribute to comparative theory development;
- Present theory-based empirical research;
- Offer comparative evaluations of research methods;
- Derive the practice implications of theory-based research;
- Use conceptual heuristics to interpret practice;
- Draw lessons based on circumstances in which the domains compared have certain manipulable policy, program or institutional variables in common.
The JCPA encourages comparative dialogues on policy disciplines as diverse as, for instance, immigration, health care, environmental protection, education, security or human rights, and functionally, technology transfer, public finance and budgeting, administrative reform, performance measurement and others.
The JCPA is published in English, four times a year. All submitted manuscripts are reviewed through the standard, double blind referee procedure and are subject to the review of the advisory board. The journal commits itself to a timely response. Authors are encouraged to submit electronically using the author’s gateway. Further, colleagues are invited to submit a request for membership to the International Comparative Policy Analysis-Forum and associated discussion groups.
The journal is abstracted/indexed in: ABI/Inform; CSA – Risk Abstracts (online); International Bibliography of the Social Sciences; International Political Science Abstracts; Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS); Social Work Abstracts; CSA – Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management; ISI (forthcoming).