Parks Stewardship Forum Submission

Parks Stewardship Forum, The Interdisciplinary Journal of Place-Based Conservation, welcomes proposals for three departments of the journal:

  • Advances in Research and Management, where submissions undergo a double-anonymous peer review;
  • New Perspectives, where submission undergo review solely by PSF's Editors; and
  • The Photographer’s Frame, 

 

 

POSTED 08/15/2024: We are transitioning to this submission system and this guidelines page is being revised and is currently incomplete.  To submit a proposal, please access our current system at https://www.georgewrightsociety.org/psfsubmissions.

 

 

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About

Parks Stewardship Forum (e-ISSN: 2688-187X) is an online, interdisciplinary, open-access journal co-published by the University of California, Berkeley’s Institute for Parks, People, and Biodiversity (IPPB)and the George Wright Society.  PSF explores innovative thinking and offers enduring perspectives on critical issues across the whole spectrum of place-based heritage management and stewardship. It is the only professional conservation journal with an interdisciplinary focus, publishing insights from all fields related to parks, protected/conserved areas, cultural sites, community-valued areas and sites, and other forms of place-based conservation. 

PSF combines intellectual rigor with grounded applicability to reach a broad audience of academics and practitioners.  It is ideal for authors who wish to see their work reach both the research community and those who are directly responsible for place-based conservation.

PSF is published on two websites: one, aimed at scholarly use (https://escholarship.org/uc/psf), is hosted on the University of California’s eScholarship platform; this the system you with which you are currently interacting. The other, optimized for online reading (https://parks.berkeley.edu/psf), is hosted in the IPPB website.  The content is identical; only the web interface is different.

More information on the co-publishers:

UCB Institute for Parks, People, and Biodiversity (https://parks.berkeley.edu)

George Wright Society (https://www.georgewrightsociety.org)

Focus and Scope

PSF combines intellectual rigor with grounded applicability to reach a broad audience of academics and practitioners.  It is ideal for authors who wish to see their work reach both the research community and those who are directly responsible for place-based conservation. To further this goal, we offer authors the choice of submitting proposals that undergo full double-anonymous peer review, or else undergo review solely by PSF editors (non-peer-review).

What kind of material does Parks Stewardship Forum publish?

We believe that effective place-based conservation requires thinking that goes beyond the horizons of a single specialty or discipline. Parks Stewardship Forum is all about making connections: among different ways of thinking, different ways of acting, and different ways of engaging the public. We are especially interested in submissions that:

  • Spotlight multidisciplinary problem-solving techniques and results as pertain to parks, protected areas, cultural sites, and other effective measures for protecting and conserving special places.

  • Explicitly link research understanding with management action. We want to highlight leading-edge conservation scholarship from the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities whose findings are immediately useful to, and usable by, managers on the ground.

  • Connect place-based heritage conservation with broader issues such as climate change mitigation and adaptation, public health, education, jobs, Indigenous sovereignty, and environmental justice.

  • Take a strong point of view, clearly articulated and backed by rigorous thinking.​

 

How do I contribute to Parks Stewardship Forum?

Proposals for papers and visual essays

We welcome proposals for papers in either of PSF’s two main departments:

  • “New Perspectives,” for non-peer-reviewed articles that will be evaluated solely by the journal’s editors; or

  • “Advances in Research and Management,” for articles that will undergo formal peer review.

  • We also welcome proposals for our visual essay feature, "The Photographer‘s Frame: Visual Essays in Conservation,” which tell a compelling story in photographs.

 

Proposals for Theme Issues

In addition, we accept proposals from people who would like to guest edit a Theme Issue of PSF.  Theme Issues are centered on a set of 5–10 (or more) papers around a theme, which are organized by a Guest Editor.  (The set of themed papers does not constitute the entire issue of the journal; there is always other content as well.)  For more information about proposing a Theme Issue, contact the editors.

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Submission preparation guidelines for papers and visual essays: Quick guide

Articles for “New Perspectives” (non-peer-reviewed articles)

  • 2000–4000 words, unless prior arrangements made with editors

  • Up to 5 photos, tables, and figures in combination

  • Up to 10 references

  • No publication fee charged

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Articles for “Advances in Research and Management” (peer-reviewed articles)

  • 3000–5000 words, unless prior arrangements made with editors

  • Up to 10 photos, tables, and figures in combination

  • Up to 25 references

  • A publication fee of US$100 is charged for accepted peer-reviewed articles to help defray editorial costs (there is no charge unless the article is accepted; this fee is waived for GWS members and faculty of the University of California system)

​

“The Photographer‘s Frame: Visual essays in Conservation”

  • 10 photographs, each with a descriptive caption that, taken together, tell a conservation story

  • 500-word photographer‘s preface

  • No publication fee charged; an honorarium may be offered

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This is a summary of PSF's submission guidelines.  Complete guidelines are available here.

Copyright Notice

The following is an agreement between Parks Stewardship Forum (the Journal) and the submitter (the Author), governing the work currently being submitted, including the primary contribution as well as any supporting materials such as an abstract, data sets, media files, figures, or tables created by the Author and any co-authors (the Submission).

The Journal is an open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to readers or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author.

1. As consideration for publication in the Journal, the Author grants the Journal the following rights:

1.1. A non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free right to publish, reproduce, publicly display, publicly perform and distribute the Submission in perpetuity throughout the world in all means of expression by any method or media now known or hereafter developed; and

1.2. A non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free right to license others, including databases or printing vendors, to do any or all of the above on a non-exclusive basis.

2. The Author warrants that:

2.1. The Author is the author of the Submission, or is authorized to act on behalf of the author(s) and copyright holder (if different from the author(s)), and has the power to convey the rights granted in this agreement.

2.2. If the Submission has co-authors, the co-authors are identified in the Submission, and the Author will inform the co-authors of the terms of this agreement.

2.3. Any textual, graphic or multimedia material included in the Submission that is the intellectual property or work of another is identified and cited in the Submission.

2.4. If the Submission reproduces any material that is the intellectual property of another, the Author has received permission to publish that material in the Submission, or the material is being incorporated based on an informed, reasonable, and good faith application of fair use (see http://copyright.universityofcalifornia.edu/use/fair-use.html).

2.5. The Submission is the original work of the Author (and co-authors, if any). To the best of the Author’s knowledge, it does not contain matter that is obscene, libelous, or defamatory; it does not knowingly violate another’s right of privacy, right of publicity, or other legal right; does not contain false or misleading statements; and is otherwise not unlawful.

2.6. The Submission has not been previously published, and is not pending review elsewhere. If this is not the case, the Author will provide the Journal with information about the other locations where the Submission appears or is pending review. Prior distribution of a Submission does not mean a Submission will not be considered for publication; the Journal is primarily concerned with other appearances in similar publications.

2.7. If the Author is a student, the Author agrees to share their work and waive any privacy rights granted by FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) or any other law, policy or regulation, with respect to the Submission, for the purpose of publication. If the Author has any student co-authors, the Author will obtain a signed copy of this agreement from those co-authors.

2.8. The Submission complies with all relevant Journal policies and submission guidelines provided on the Journal’s website at the time of submission, including any policies on conflict of interest, informed consent, human and animal rights, or appropriate content.

3. Indemnification

The Author will indemnify and hold the Journal harmless against loss, damages, expenses, awards, and judgments arising from breach of any of the above warranties.

4. Author’s Rights and Obligations

4.1. Nothing in this agreement constitutes a transfer of the copyright by the Author. As such, the Author retains all rights not expressly granted herein, including but not limited to, the right:

4.1.1. To reproduce and distribute the Submission, and to authorize others to reproduce and distribute the Submission, in any format;

4.1.2. To post the Submission in an institutional repository or the Author’s personal or departmental web page.

4.1.3. To include the Submission, in whole or in part, in another work.

4.2. If the Author distributes the Submission on another website or in another publication (as described above), the Journal will be cited as the source of first publication.

5. Rights for Readers

The Journal and the Author agree that the Submission will be distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 4.0 International License (CC-BY-NC 4.0), or other later version of the same license, that allows others to copy, distribute, translate, adapt, and build upon the Submission, as long as they provide appropriate credit to the author(s) and do not use the Submission for commercial purposes. Anyone who uses or redistributes the Submission under this license must indicate any changes that were made, must link to the license, and cannot imply that the author(s) endorse them or their use. More information about this license is available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

6. Termination

The Author agrees to the terms of this agreement for the Submission being considered for publication. If the Submission is declined, this agreement is terminated.

Peer Review

Submissions to our “Advances in Research and Management" department undergo double-anonymous peer review (the authors and reviewers remain anonymous to one another).

  • Abstract required: 250 words maximum
  • Article: 3000–5000 words, unless prior arrangements made with editors
  • Up to 10 photos, tables, and figures in combination
  • Up to 25 references
  • A publication fee of US$100 is charged for accepted peer-reviewed articles to help defray editorial costs (there is no charge unless the article is accepted; this fee is waived if the author or any of the co-authors is a GWS member or a faculty member at any branch of the University of California system, and may be waived on a needs basis for authors from developing countries)

Submission review process
Articles submitted to PSF’s “Advances in Research and Management” undergo a double-anonymous peer review process (the authors and reviewers remain anonymous to one another).  PSF’s editors work with authors to respond to requests for revisions. Accepted papers undergo copyediting. We ask reviewers to respond within six weeks, but the overall process, which might involve revisions and a second round of review, can take significantly longer.

 

Licences

The following licences are allowed:


  • None
  • CC BY-NC
    <p>Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.</p>
  • CC BY-NC 4.0
    Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.

Publication Cycle

Parks Stewardship Forum accepts proposals for submissions on a rolling basis.  The journal is published three times per year (January, May, September) and each year begins a new Volume number.

Sections

Section or article type

Public Submissions

Peer Reviewed

Indexed

Article

Featured Theme Article

New Perspectives

Advances in Research and Management

The Photographer’s Frame

Cover, Masthead, and Table of Contents

Contents

Forematter

Points of View

Featured Theme Articles

Theme Articles

New Perspectives (Non-Peer Reviewed)

Advances in Research and Management (Peer-Reviewed)

The Photographer's Frame

Verse in Place