Welcome to PARKS: The International Journal of Protected Areas and Conservation
ISSN 2411-2119 (Online), ISSN 0960-233X (Print)
A note from the editors
PARKS: The International Journal of Protected Areas and Conservation is published by IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA). It is published twice a year 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 Article Processing Charges or submission charges. PARKS is indexed in Scopus and is listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).
PARKS Scope and Aims
We aim for PARKS to be a rigorous, challenging publication with high academic credibility and standing. But at the same time the journal is and should remain primarily a resource for people actively involved in establishing and managing protected areas, under any management category or governance type. We aim for the majority of papers accepted to include practical management information. We also work hard to include authors who are involved in management but do not usually find the time to report the results of their research and experience to a wider audience. We welcome submissions from people whose written English is imperfect as long as 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 is published with the aim of strengthening international collaboration in protected area development and management by:
• promoting understanding of the values and benefits derived from protected areas to governments, communities, visitors, business etc;
• ensuring that protected areas fulfil their primary role in nature conservation while addressing critical issues such as ecologically sustainable development, social justice and climate change adaptation and mitigation;
• serving as a leading global forum for the exchange of information on issues relating to protected areas, especially learning from case studies of applied ideas;
• publishing articles reporting on recent applied research that is relevant to protected 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 aim for each issue to include an editorial, around ten original peer reviewed papers, plus some non-peer reviewed articles including letters (a right of reply to previous papers) and book reviews.
Peer reviewed papers will range from reviews and policy analyses, to relevant research, succinctly reported. Prospective authors are invited to check the author’s guidelines before submitting papers (see: www.parksjournal.com/for-authors/); please also 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 and peer 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 or 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.
Marc Hockings (editor@parksjournal.com)
Managing Editor, April 2019
Marc Hockings is the Vice-Chair (Science and Management) for the IUCN WCPA and Emeritus Professor in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Queensland, Australia.