Journal of Development Effectiveness
The Journal of Development Effectiveness publishes papers reporting evidence of impact of development interventions.
The journal does not subscribe to any one approach to impact evaluation, but requires that the techniques employed be rigorously applied, with a preference for studies which have been well contextualized with an appropriate use of mixed methods.
It also publishes papers of a more conceptual nature related to impact evaluation, as well as papers covering practical aspects of conducting impact studies. The journal has an explicit policy of ‘learning from our mistakes’, discouraging publication bias in favour of positive results – papers reporting interventions with no, or a negative, impact are welcome.
New on JDEff: Is impact evaluation still on the rise?
In this journal article, 3ie's Shayda Sabet and FHI360's Annette Brown examine data from our impact evaluation repository to highlight new trends in impact evaluation research. The authors used an updated search and screening protocol to identify new impact evaluation studies published until September 2015 to populate the repository, which contains more than 4,000 records dating back to 1981. They found that the number of studies published between 2010-2015 accounts for almost two-thirds of the evidence base. Over half of all studies are from health and education sectors, however, in the last decade, more studies from underrepresented sectors are emerging. Nearly 60 per cent of the studies are from Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and recent studies are increasingly conducted in underrepresented regions such as Middle East and North Africa.