Reading and Writing publishes high-quality, scientific articles pertaining to the processes, acquisition, and loss of reading and writing skills. The journal fully represents the necessarily interdisciplinary nature of research in the field, focusing on the interaction among various disciplines, such as linguistics, information processing, neuropsychology, cognitive psychology, speech and hearing science and education.

Coverage in Reading and Writing includes models of reading, writing and spelling at all age levels; orthography and its relation to reading and writing; computer literacy; cross-cultural studies; and developmental and acquired disorders of reading and writing. It publishes research articles, critical reviews, theoretical papers, case studies and book reviews. The journal also publishes short articles and pilot reports with preliminary results.

Reading and Writing is one of the most highly cited journals in Education and Educational Research according to Thomson/ISI. Between 2001 and 2005, the journal had an impact factor of 3.85, making it the third highest within its category for this time frame.