Below is a sampling of special journal issues, across a range of disciplines, that highlight the purposes, practices, and impacts of engaged scholarship.
- Information, Communication, & Society, 15(7) This special issue focuses on “Community Partnership Research in Information Technology, Management, and Systems”. The articles explore themes related to the nature of community partnership research, academic and ethical challenges in participatory models of community research, working with communities wearing two hats (as academic researchers and community members), community perspectives on community partnership research, inclusive research design and researching with communities of practice. The papers represent a diversity of community contexts and fields in the information disciplines. Adapted from: McKemmish, S., Burstein, F., Faulkhead, S., Fisher, J., Gilliland, A. J., McLoughlin, I., & Wilson, R. (Eds.). (2012). Information, Communication, & Society, 15(7), 985-990.
- Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 16(4) This is a thematic issue dedicated to The Research University Civic Engagement Network (TRUCEN). The articles included share the mission statement of TRUCEN; the history of TRUCEN; examples of work being done in the global academy to advance university-community engagement; best practice programs and activities at TRUCEN institutions; and a reprinting of TRUCEN’s 2006 and 2007 monographs. Adapted from: Kalivoda, T., Curley, M. F., Harkavy, I., O’Byrne, K. & Stanton, T. K. (Eds.). (2012). Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 16(4).
- Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community, 41(3) This is a themed issue on “Participatory Research and Capacity Building for Community Health and Development”. The articles in this issue represent the possibility of collaborations between university researchers, state-level policy makers, and community-based groups to affect widespread changes in the social and physical environment. Adapted from: Francisco, V. T. (2013). Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community, 41(3), 137-138.
- Nursing Inquiry, 17(4) This special issue focuses on participatory health research. The contributors consider, analyze and critically reflect upon a range of topics, including competencies for new researchers, practical challenges of academic-community partnerships, power differentials and politics of collaboration, team processes, engaging patients as experts, sustainable action outcomes, and health disparities. Adapted from: Khanlou, N. (Ed.). (2010). Nursing Inquiry, 17(4), 281.
- Police Research and Practice, 13(4) This special issue focuses on police-university collaborations. In the past, both police administrators and rank and file police officers were not likely to place much value on higher education, training, and scientific research as important sources of information. The articles here debunk many of these assertions, and open up several new areas for consideration of how education, training, and research can contribute to police work and how collaboration can be beneficial to both practitioners and academics. Adapted from: Kratcoski, P. C. (Ed.). (2012). Police Research and Practice, 13(4).
- PRISM: A Journal of Regional Engagement 2(1) PRISM: A Journal of Regional Engagement is an exciting new journal devoted to promoting a culture of engagement between the university and region through the creation, application, and integration of knowledge. PRISM is multi-disciplinary, publishing quality, peer-reviewed research articles, case studies and applied research articles, and reflections across the full range of disciplinary perspectives. Similarly, PRISM welcomes all forms of analysis and methodologies. We are proud to announce our Spring 2013 issue of PRISM on the theme “The Current State of Engagement in American Universities”.
- Progress in Community Health Partnerships, 6(3) This special issue is dedicated to the theme “Building a Stronger Science of Community-Engaged Research”. Despite growing interest in community-engaged research among biomedical and translational scientists, and growing encouragement for community engagement from federal research funders, the publication of work documenting community-engaged research continues to lag. This issue aims to fill this gap, and to provide a snapshot of the state of the science. The selected articles reflect the various stages or levels in which academic medical centers engage with community stakeholders, develop the infrastructure to support them, maintain strong relationships with communities, effectively coordinate with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-supported Prevention Research Centers, and actively participate in the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality confederation of Practice-based Research Networks. Adapted from: Eder, M., Tobin, J. N., Proser, M., & Shin, P. (Eds.). (2012). Progress in Community Health Partnerships, 6(3), 227-230.
- South African Review of Sociology, 43(2) This special issue explores the current state of community engagement in South African universities. The six articles in this issue were presented at a historic conference in 2011 on "Community Engagement: The Changing Role of South African Universities in Development". The articles address a variety of topics related to the definition, theory, and practice of the "developmental University" in South Africa. See: Akpan, W., Minkley, G., & Thakrar, J. (Eds.). (2012). South African Review of Sociology, 43(2), 1-4.
- The Canadian Geographer, 56(2) This issue brings together a collection of articles that explore the question: “Does CBPR with Canadian indigenous communities inform and affect Indigenous geography in Canada?” The articles offer a wide range of perspectives on theory, methodology, and substantive content concerning CBPR. The peer-review process for this issue included peer reviews from non-academic Indigenous peoples. Also included in the issue are invited commentaries from two guest contributors, both of whom are indigenous scholars in geography. See: Castleden, H., Mulrennan, M., & Godlewska, A. (Eds.). (2012). The Canadian Geographer, 56(2), 155-159.