The IJVS is a blind- and peer-reviewed scientific journal founded by the International Observatory of Violence in Schools in 2005. Its Scientific Committee includes researchers from different disciplines and from 14 different countries. The aim is to publish articles of a very high scientific standard.

The IJVS seeks to promote progress in knowledge of an issue that is often misrepresented or manipulated in public opinion: violence in schools. Violence here is understood as being in all its forms: physical brutality and bullying, juvenile delinquency or violence perpetrated by adults. It can affect children, teenagers and members of staff alike. Those responsible may be members of the school or people from outside. The articles will attempt to describe, list or analyse these different forms of violence by calling on a combination of approaches ranging from large-scale surveys of victimisation, for example, to ethnographic immersion methods. The international, comparatist dimension will be one of the outstanding features of the Journal.

However, violence will also be considered in a wider environment than that of schools alone: issues devoted to themes such as juvenile delinquency or violence within the family, for example, may also be published.

The IJVS is aimed at researchers and students specialised in education, criminology, psychology, sociology or anthropology. More widely, it will also be of interest to teachers, educators, those responsible for or active in politics and associations, as well as to all those in charge of prevention and security policies. It is an attempt to bring reason and sense to a debate that is too often beset with pitfalls.

Initially, access to the Journal will be totally free via the internet. To ensure that the site can survive, however, payment may be required for access to part of its content at a later date.