Program Evaluation in Canada Seen through the Articles Published in CJPE

Abstract

In honour of the 20th anniversary of The Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation, this article presents a retrospective of publication trends from the first edition in Spring 1986 to Fall 2004. This review entailed creating a database by coding all of the abstracts and, when necessary, the full article, according to criteria such as the authors, their origins, the purpose of the articles, the public policy sectors presented, the methodology, and the type of evaluation discussed. As anticipated, the publication trends tend to reflect broader developments in the field of evaluation practice and theory in Canada and abroad. From utilization debates to capacity-building issues, from auditing to empowerment evaluation and beyond, the articles in CJPE sometimes lead and sometimes follow new trends in the evaluation field. Over the years, authors affiliated with universities have progressively increased their share of articles.