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Welcome to the Journal of Mass Violence Research

The Journal of Mass Violence Research (JMVR) aims to share rigorous, multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed studies related to different facets of mass violence in the U.S. and beyond. With a focus on public research and accessibility, JMVR seeks to promote high-quality scholarship and authors, disseminate findings via articles, videos, and infographics, and generate academic and public interest in this important research area.

Read the Latest Research
Research Article

This study examines the role of partisan media bias in the reporting of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida on February 14, 2018, and on the March For Our Lives gun control protests that followed the shooting. This study posits partisan media bias at the center of the Parkland shooting. It asks how partisan bias affected the way the media constructed narratives about the shooting and the youth activists who mobilized because of their experiences of victimization. The results show that the national media’s framing of the Parkland advocates and the tragedy itself depended on their partisan orientations. Additionally, the results indicate that there are meaningful differences in the reporting that advocates can strategically use to gain positive coverage from news media.

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September 24, 2024
Research Article

Twitter is a popular social medium for members of U.S. Congress, and the platform has become focal for framing policy discussions for constituents and the media. The current study examines the corpus of N = 5,768 Congressional tweets sent on the day of and week following the 2018 Parkland shooting, over 25 percent of which (n = 1,615) were related to the shooting. Democrats were far more likely to engage Parkland as a prominent topic in their Twitter feeds. Democrats framed Parkland discussions in terms of outrage and criticism, as well as discussions of the potential causes of and (legislative) solutions to gun violence. Republicans mostly avoided Parkland discussions and political framing.

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October 30, 2023
Research Article

While schools face a variety of security threats, none draw the attention of the community quite like an active shooter event. In fact, following an active shooter event in a school many states, local governments, and/or school districts will announce proposed security measures to better protect students, staff, and visitors to schools. While there are innovated security measures proposed, it is well-known that no shooter has breached a locked door. For this reason, this paper seeks to examine the efficacy of a simple security measure that could have an immediate impact on improving survivability during lockdown procedures – the type of door lock. Specifically, this paper examines two different types of door locks utilizing a randomized control trial. This research effort finds that simple, push-button door locks can be secured with fewer errors and faster than a door lock that requires a key.

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July 24, 2023

Our Vision

Mass violence is a growing concern across the United States and around the world, and it affects millions of lives. The editors and the editorial board understand the importance of using a multidisciplinary, research-focused approach to define and measure the problem, identify and evaluate prevention and intervention efforts, and expand the body of knowledge to ultimately inform policies and programs related to mass violence.

The editors and editorial board of JMVR recognize that the issue of mass violence is one that spans many disciplines, including criminology and criminal justice, public health, sociology, psychology, and more. By offering a variety of perspectives and methodological approaches, we envision the journal to be one that provides a comprehensive framework through which to understand the problem of the mass violence. The journal is unique in that it addresses the many facets of mass violence in addition to perpetration, such as the victimization perspective, individual or societal effects, law enforcement responses, prevention efforts, and more.

To do this, JMVR also aims to address current conditions and practices that often stifle the sharing of information and research findings. Rather than paywalling research that has meaningful implications for practice, the journal provides full open-access free of charge to authors and readers. Additionally, the focus on public research encourages authors to produce easily digestible summaries of the studies in the form of infographics or short videos. This allows for the open sharing of research with the public, the media, policymakers, and practitioners to generate conversation and interest with the common goal of reducing and preventing instances of mass violence. 

Driven by our Guiding Principles, the journal intends to re-envision the submission and production process, offering productive reviews, providing timely decisions to authors, and ensuring linguistic and intellectual access to findings all while still ensuring that all research is vetted through a rigorous review process. Additionally, we aim to create a culture of inclusivity and diversity, especially supporting and promoting early career researchers and authors, LGBTQ+ scholars, women, and scholars of color. We believe that these practices and principles will allow for the promotion of science in a time when it is desperately needed and address one of the most profound, tragic problems in our society. 

Features of JMVR

Open Access

Accepted articles will be made available to readers at no charge. We believe that research should be readily available to the public, policymakers, and others, which is why all JMVR articles will be openly available to read online and to download.

Quarterly Publication plus Online First

JMVR will publish four (4) issues per year, but you don't have to wait to read new and emerging research. All accepted articles will be available for readers ahead of being assigned to an issue through our Online First option.

Timely Decisions on All Manuscripts

While each review is different, it is our aim to provide feedback in a timely manner. Our goal is to have an initial decision to authors within 45 days of submission and, for all accepted papers, a 120-day average window from submission to acceptance.

Transparency Through the Process

We believe in a transparent process in order for authors to have the best possible experience with JMVR. All articles will be expected to adhere to the journal's guiding principles, as will the reviews and editorial decisions.

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Journal of Mass Violence Research

JMVR is an open access peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary journal focusing on the topic of mass violence. We seek to promote high-quality research on topics including, but not limited to, school shootings, mass or active shootings, international or domestic terrorism, serial and mass murder, and/or genocide.

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JMVR is sponsored with the generous support of the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium at the Rockefeller Institute of Government.

JMVR is a proud member of the Criminology
Open Association of Diamond Outlets.

© 2021-2024 Journal of Mass Violence Research. All Rights Reserved.

ISSN: 2993-3625