A Meta-Study of Counseling Outcome Research and Evaluation (CORE): An Analysis of Publication Characteristics from 2010–2019

Abstract Articles published in Counseling Outcome Research and Evaluation (CORE) from 2010–2019 were analyzed using meta-study procedures for trends over time related to author characteristics (e.g., gender, work setting, domicile, leading contributors and institutions) and article content (e.g., typology, research methodology, characteristics of participants, research design, statistics used, report of effect size, reliability and validity). Nearly all author and article characteristics displayed stable trends over time. The proportion of research articles increased significantly and CORE now joins the upper echelon of counseling family journals at a rate of more than 75%. CORE is in some ways leading counseling journals in best practice methods and high-quality standards of research publications. CORE publishes among the highest proportions of research articles, true and quasi-experimental research designs, and intervention studies. As such, CORE is fulfilling its mission of providing outcome research and program evaluation evidence of effective counseling practices.