Early Childhood Research Quarterly is an academic journal

Academic journal

An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...

 providing current research (predominantly empirical

Empirical

The word empirical denotes information gained by means of observation or experimentation. Empirical data are data produced by an experiment or observation....

) in the field of early childhood

Early childhood

For the video game rating with a similar age group see ESRBEarly childhood is a stage in human development. It generally includes toddlerhood and some time afterwards. Play age is an unspecific designation approximately within the scope of early childhood.-Education:Infants and toddlers experience...

 (birth through eight years of age) education and development that was established in 1986. The journal also publishes occasional book reviews, practitioner/policy perspectives, and research reviews. Its focus is on education, policy, and social relevance, seeking links between research and practice. The journal is published four times a year by Elsevier

Elsevier

Elsevier is a publishing company which publishes medical and scientific literature. It is a part of the Reed Elsevier group. Based in Amsterdam, the company has operations in the United Kingdom, USA and elsewhere....

 and sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children

National Association for the Education of Young Children

The National Association for the Education of Young Children is the largest nonprofit association in the United States representing early childhood education teachers, paraeducators, center directors, trainers, college educators, families of young children, policy makers, and advocates...

. Its previous publishers were Pergamon Press

Pergamon Press

Pergamon Press was an Oxford-based publishing house, founded by Paul Rosbaud and Robert Maxwell, which published scientific and medical books and journals. It is now an imprint of Elsevier....

 and Ablex Publishing

Ablex Publishing

Ablex Publishing Corporation is a privately held book publisher and academic journal publisher in New York City, New York, USA. It was previously located in Norwood, New Jersey, and also at one time in Westport and Stamford, Connecticut...

. The editor in chief

Editor in chief

An editor-in-chief is a publication's primary editor, having final responsibility for the operations and policies. Additionally, the editor-in-chief is held accountable for delegating tasks to staff members as well as keeping up with the time it takes them to complete their task...

 is Adam Winsler (George Mason University

George Mason University

George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...

). Previous editors include Karen E. Diamond (Purdue University

Purdue University

Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...

) and Lilian G. Katz.