The first issue of the Journal of Career Development (vol. 1, no. 1) was published in the fall of 1972 under the title Journal of Career Education. The following statement of purpose appeared in the first issue:
This publication will endeavor to support and summarize the thrust of current trends in career education, with a special focus on the integrated approach to vocational and technical education. This will be done by documenting in journal form efforts which signify exemplary leadership in promoting these concepts.
The next issue of the Journal of Career Education (vol. 1, no, 2) did not appear until the fall of 1974. H. C. Kazanas served as editor. From then on the journal has been published quarterly. In the fall of 1978, Norman C. Gysbers was appointed editor beginning with volume 5, number 1. At that time it became an official publication of the College of Education, University of Missouri-Columbia. Copyright was held by the Curators of the University.
A major change for the journal occurred in 1984. The name was changed to the Journal of Career Development. The reason the name was changed was the need to broaden the purpose, scope, and content of the journal beyond K-12 education to focus on the life span, early childhood through the adult years. The new purpose emphasized journal content that featured career development theory, research, and practice covering such topics as adult career development, the career development of special needs populations, career development and the family, career development in organizations, and career and leisure.
From 1972 until 1985, the journal was published and marketed in-house on the campus of the University of Missouri-Columbia. When Gysbers became editor in 1978, a fully operational editorial board was put into place and the use of blind reviews. Also, during this time period, extensive efforts were made to increase subscriptions, particularly library subscriptions, using subscription agencies.
In 1985, the editor, in consultation with the University of Missouri officials, made the decision to respond to a proposal from Human Sciences Press to assume the task of publishing and marketing the journal. A contract was signed in 1985. As a result, the first issue published under this new arrangement was the fall 1985 issue, volume 13, number 1. What had been an in-house publishing and marketing operation became a professionally published and marketed journal. The authority to appoint editors and editorial board members and to decide on editorial policy remained with the University of Missouri-Columbia.
The contract to publish the Journal of Career Development with Human Sciences Press (now Springer) remained in effect through volume 31, number 4. In 2004, the University of Missouri-Columbia signed a contract with Sage Publications to publish and market the journal. The first issue published by Sage was volume 32, number 1, 2005. In another change, Lisa Flores became the editor beginning with volume 33, number 1.
References:
- Gysbers, N. C., Heppner, M. J., & Johnston, J. A. (2003). Career counseling: Process, issues, and techniques (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
- Hood, A. B., & Johnson, R. W. (2002). Assessment in counseling: A guide to the use of psychological assessment procedures (3rd ed.). Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.