Collection Overview

Scientific Reports has launched a Guest-Edited Collection on Visual impairment and child development

Visual impairment has an impact on all aspects of a child’s development. Lack of interaction with the surrounding environment hinders knowledge acquisition and affects a child’s cognitive, motor, language, and social skills. Research with visually-impaired children emphasizes the importance of learning activities that support the development of these skills through other senses, such as sound, touch, smell or taste.

This will be a Collection of original research papers and will be open for submissions from all authors – on the condition that the manuscripts fall within the scope of the Collection and of Scientific Reports more generally. We are welcoming submissions until 18th June 2026.

What impact would this Collection have and why? 

"It is important to dedicate a Collection to the theme of visual impairment for several reasons:
- because studies on the link between visual impairment and development are very old and have several methodological limitations;
- because the absence of vision allows for a better understanding of the role played by vision in development and learning;
- because making research on this issue visible can support educational, clinical, and policy practices for inclusion." - Dr. Anna Rita Galiano

Why should a researcher submit to this Collection?

"Visual impairment has an impact on all aspects of a child’s development and we still need to know more on how children develop in absence of vision or with degraded vision.

A researcher should submit to this Collection if he/she wants to improve knowledge about the field of visual disability." - Dr. Giulia Cappagli

"Vision impairment profoundly shapes every facet of child development, yet our understanding must evolve with the changing landscape of childhood visual conditions. As the number of children with brain-based visual impairments increases, we urgently need contemporary research that addresses this shift. I'm excited about this Collection because it offers researchers an opportunity to contribute to a critical knowledge gap - advancing beyond traditional ocular-focused frameworks to encompass the full spectrum of visual processing challenges children face today. This Collection will impact the field by building an evidence base that reflects current realities, ultimately strengthening interventions and educational approaches." - Nicola McDowell

Why submit to a Collection? 

Collections like this one help promote high-quality science. They are led by Guest Editors, who are experts in their fields, and In-House Editors and are supported by a dedicated team of Commissioning Editors and Managing Editors at Springer Nature. Collection manuscripts typically see higher citations, downloads, and Altmetric scores, and provide a one-stop-shop on a cutting-edge topic of interest. 

Who is involved? 

Guest Editors:

• Giulia Cappagli, University of Genova, Italy
• Nicola McDowell, Institute of Education at Massey University, New Zealand
• Anna Rita Galiano, University Lyon 2, France
• Elena Sakkalou, Anglia Ruskin University, UK

Internal Team:

• In-House Editor: Petroula Mousikou, Scientific Reports, Germany
• Commissioning Editor: Stuart Weir, Fully OA Brands, Springer Nature, UK
• Managing Editor: Rebecca Chan, Fully OA Brands, Springer Nature, UK

How can I submit my paper? 

Visit the Collection page  to find out more about this Collection and how to submit your article.