The main criteria for the decision to accept papers are relevance to environmental conservation theory and/or practice, originality, scientific rigour, interdisciplinarity, acceptability of style and concision. Environmental Conservation pre-screens papers and employs an interactive processing and editing procedure. We receive many more submissions than we have space for and the final decision is the Editor’s.
The following types of papers are considered by the Journal:
| Type | Purpose | Word limit | Required components (included in word count) | Figure and Table limit |
| Subject Review* | Systematic review of existing literature on a relevant topic | 8000 | Abstract, Introduction including rationale and objective(s), Methods, review text, Discussion/synthesis, References | 6 display items (any combination of Tables and Figures) |
| Research Paper* | Original research data and analysis to address substantial research question(s) | 6000 | Abstract, Introduction including rationale and objective(s), Methods, Results, Discussion, References | 6 display items (any combination of Tables and Figures) |
| Report* | Original research data and analysis on a specific topic | 4000 | Abstract, Introduction including rationale and objective(s), Methods, Results, Discussion, References | 2 Figures, 2 Tables |
| Perspective | Well-sourced forward-looking essay of general relevance on a major project, event, policy, practice, development etc | 4000 | Abstract, Background including rationale and objective(s), Discussion/Arguments, Conclusion, References | 6 display items (any combination of Tables and Figures) |
| Comment | Well-sourced concise commentary on a specific past or current project, event, policy, practice, development etc | 2000 | First paragraph to explain rationale and objective(s)(serves as online Abstract), main text, References | 1 Figure, 1 Table |
Papers are pre-screened for compliance with these instructions, when acceptable they are referred to an Associate Editor, who then considers whether they are ready for review. Selected papers are sent out to referees, who agree to undertake the refereeing within a short period of time. Where papers are revised in response to review, the same reviewers may review the revision but this cannot be guaranteed. Environmental Conservation employs a single-blind peer review system.
* If publishing Gold Open Access, all or part of the publication costs for these article types may be covered by one of the agreements Cambridge University Press has made to support open access.
Please see this page for more detailed information on preparing your manuscript.
Please see this page for information related to the submission of your materials.