Aims and scope
Evidence-Based Communication Assessment and Intervention (EBCAI) is a multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal that aims to extend and promote evidence-based practice in serving individuals with communication impairments.

The primary aims of EBCAI are to:

Promote evidence-based practice (EBP) in communication assessment and intervention;
Publish original research related to communication impairment including systematic reviews and meta-analyses, as well as intervention and assessment research;
Provide expert commentaries that appraise the latest and best communication assessment and intervention;
Provide a forum for discussions that advance EBP.
EBCAI publishes the following types of articles:

Solicited Commentaries of Previously Published Studies: These commentaries provide an overview of recent research in communication intervention and assessment. EBCAI’s editors select recent research for commentary based on its alignment with the aims of the journal the the extent to which the study may influence evidence-based practice. Commentaries are written by researchers with notable experience in the area, but who are independent from – not affiliated with – the original research. Commentaries provide a brief overview of the studies’ key variables (e.g., procedures, participants, and outcomes) while also adding value by including the commentary author’s independent analysis of a study’s attributes, limitations, and potential impact on practice. Commentaries are not intended to supplant the need for the full original article. Instead, commentaries are intended to increase the reach and impact of the original research while also allowing practitioners and researchers to consider recent research efficiently from a single journal. Further, these commentary papers add value to the original article in the form of the commentary author’s perspective. Authors of these commentaries are typically invited by the journal editors, but authors interested in submitting a commentary may also submit an email request to the editors identifying the article they wish to comment on and a rationale for the need of the commentary. Commentares may cover treatment and assessment studies as well as systematic reviewes and meta-analyses.

Original Research: Original research studies including RCTs and other group designs, single subject research designs, systematic reviewes, and meta-analyses aligned with the aims of this journal may be submitted at any time with or without solicitation from an editor.

Replication Studies: Studies aimed at replicating existing research are essential for identifying evidence-based practices. Replication helps to establish reliability and validity by reducing the potential impact of biases, errors, or inaccuracies that may go undetenced within a single study. Replication also helps build a cumulative body of evidence from multiple independent sources. A replication study should involve identical or highly similar procedures, participants, and other key variables as the study targeted for replication. Replication studies should be conducted by researchers that are independent from those responsible for the original study. Replication and Extension studies that aim to both replicate previous findings while also adding new information or exploring new aspects of a research question may also be considered for publication but, depending on the scope of the extension, may be handled as original research. Replication studies with outcomes that differ from the original research (i.e., failures to replicate) may be published, particularly when the cause of discrepant results is identified empirically or posited with compelling logic.

Evidence-Based Practice Corner: The intent of this paper format is to provide a forum for ongoing discussions that advance evidence-base practice. Position papers, letters to the editors, historical perspectives, and other similar scholarly works related to communication impairment that facilitate meaningful discourse on the identification, dissemination, and implementation of evidence-based practice may be published.