Welcome to PARKS: The International Journal of Protected Areas and Conservation
PARKS: The International Journal of Protected Areas and Conservation is published by IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) is published twice a year (May and November) as an online (www.parksjournal.com), open-access and peer reviewed journal. The language is English, with abstracts in French and Spanish. PARKS does not charge for article processing or submission. PARKS is indexed in Scopus and is listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ); ISSN 2411-2119
PARKS Scope and Aims
PARKS aims to build global knowledge and best practice related to protected and conserved area management. We aim for PARKS to be a rigorous publication with high academic credibility and standing and to be a resource for people actively involved in establishing and managing protected and conserved areas. We work to include authors who are involved in management but do not usually find the time to report the results of their research to a wider audience. We welcome submissions from people whose written English is imperfect if they have interesting research to report, backed up by firm evidence, and are happy to work with authors to develop papers for the journal.
PARKS objectives
PARKS objectives are to strengthen international collaboration in protected and conserved areas development and management by:
- promoting the understanding of the values and benefits derived from protected and conserved areas to governments, communities, visitors, businesses and others.
- illustrating how protected and conserved areas fulfil their roles in nature conservation while addressing ecologically sustainable development, social justice and climate change adaptation and mitigation;
- serving as a leading global forum for information exchange on issues relating to protected and conserved areas, especially learning from case studies of applied ideas;
- publishing articles on recent applied research that is relevant to protected and conserved area management;
- changing and improving protected area management, policy environment and socio-economic benefits through use of information provided in the journal; and
- publishing scientific research relevant to IUCN’s work on protected areas.
We intend for each issue to include an editorial, around ten original peer reviewed papers, and non-peer reviewed articles including letters (a right of reply to previous papers) and book reviews.
Peer reviewed papers range from reviews and policy analyses to relevant research. Prospective authors are invited to check the author’s guidelines before submitting papers (see: www.parksjournal.com/for-authors/); please write to the editor if you want to check whether something is likely to be of interest.
The journal stems from and is supported by the IUCN WCPA. We are deeply committed to the peer review process; our reviewers are primarily drawn from amongst Commission experts and academics in related fields. Please give us feedback on content, style and other aspects: the journal will continue to develop in response to the needs of readers.
Licencing information
PARKS adheres to the BOAI definition of open access and users have the right to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles published in the journal. Reproduction of papers for educational or other non-commercial purposes is authorised without prior written permission from the copyright holder provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of articles for sale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without prior written permission of the copyright holder.
Margaret Kinnaird (editor@parksjournal.com)
Managing Editor, February, 2025