Journal of Causal Inference

Journal of Causal Inference (JCI) publishes papers on theoretical and applied causal research across the range of academic disciplines that use quantitative tools to study causality.

The past two decades have seen causal inference emerge as a unified field with a solid theoretical foundation, useful in many of the empirical and behavioral sciences. Journal of Causal Inference aims to provide a common venue for researchers working on causal inference in biostatistics and epidemiology, economics, political science and public policy, cognitive science and formal logic, and any field that aims to understand causality. The journal serves as a forum for this growing community to develop a shared language and study the commonalities and distinct strengths of their various disciplines' methods for causal analysis.

Existing discipline-specific journals tend to bury causal analysis in the language and methods of traditional statistical methodologies, creating the inaccurate impression that causal questions can be handled by routine methods of regression or simultaneous equations, glossing over the special precautions demanded by causal analysis. In contrast, JCI highlights both the uniqueness and interdisciplinary nature of causal research.

Submissions

Journal of Causal Inference encourages submission of applied and theoretical work from across the range of rigorous causal paradigms. Research articles may focus on advances in one or more of the following steps of causal inference: research design, causal model and target parameter specification, identifiability, statistical estimation, or sensitivity analysis/interpretation. The journal also provides a venue for quantitative statistical papers that include a full formal elaboration of causal methods in applied data analyses beyond the abbreviated format typical in many applied journals.
In addition to significant original research articles, JCI also welcomes submissions that synthesize and assess cross-disciplinary methodological research, as well as submissions that discuss the history of the causal inference field and its philosophical underpinnings. Areas of emerging consensus and ongoing controversy are highlighted in editorials and invited commentaries. The journal further encourages submission of unsolicited short communications on topics that aim to stimulate public debate and bring unorthodox perspectives to open questions.

research, as well as submissions that discuss the history of the causal inference field and its philosophical underpinnings. Areas of emerging consensus and ongoing controversy are highlighted in editorials and invited commentaries. The journal further encourages submission of unsolicited short communications on topics that aim to stimulate public debate and bring unorthodox perspectives to open questions.