Aims and scope

The Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences is the official publication for the Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences (AESS). AESS is an independent faculty-and-student-based professional association in higher education, designed to serve the needs of environmental scholars and scientists who value interdisciplinary approaches to research, teaching, and problem-solving. AESS and the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences (JESS) provide fora for the advancement of interdisciplinary approaches to the study and teaching of social-ecological systems. A major goal of JESS is to further the professional interests of interdisciplinary environmental researchers and practitioners by promoting scholarship that facilitates communication across disciplinary boundaries—for example, between and among the physical, biological, social sciences, the humanities, and environmental professions.

JESS welcomes high quality submissions from environmental scholars and practitioners from across the globe. These contributions must explicitly involve interdisciplinary methods, content, and/or pedagogy, and clearly identify how the work contributes to environmental research, policy-making, advocacy, education, theory, or related activities. The editors encourage clear writing and straightforward organization and discourage the overuse of disciplinary jargon. Since the readership of JESS is interdisciplinary, the main ideas of articles should be comprehensible to nonspecialists. While we are open to a variety of types of work, JESS is not the right fit for everything. We receive a large number of submissions each year and only publish a small number that align with our aims and scope and meet the journal’s standards of quality.

We do not publish the following article types: technical reports; literature reviews that lack a specific method or systematic approach; articles with a single, disciplinary focus; master’s or doctoral theses; and engineering, modeling, and other highly technical articles that do not substantially engage with interdisciplinary research methods, theories, or topics. In your cover letter, please describe the specific ways in which the work engages with interdisciplinary environmental research or pedagogy. Manuscripts submitted to the journal should not be under simultaneous consideration by any other journal or have been published elsewhere in any form.

The journal provides several submission categories, described below. Word count specifications are not inclusive of references, tables, figures, or abstract text.

• Research and Theory (5000-8000 words): research or work  that contributes to new knowledge to our collective understanding of environmental issues. Articles should connect directly to the journal’s aims and scope.
• Review Articles (<6000 words): methodologically rigorous reviews of extant literature addressing topics germane to the interdisciplinary environmental studies and sciences, such as meta-analyses or systematic analyses. We do not accept Review Articles that lack a specific method or systematic approach and we do not publish literature reviews.
• Research Brief (< 5000 words): a concise description of current or in-process interdisciplinary environmental research or related activities. For example, Research Briefs could include a policy analysis, methodological innovation, or mid-course reflection on a research project.
• Practitioner Voices (3000-5000 words): a contribution focused on any aspect of practice, including but not limited to reports on interdisciplinary courses or programs in higher education and advocacy or policy work. Rigorously conceptualized educational research projects should be submitted to the Research and Theory category.
• Opinion/ Editorial Articles (<3000 words): essays addressing issues and events related to environmental studies and sciences. Essays should present a carefully reasoned and informed discussion with a point of view interesting and accessible to readers. Topics may involve any academic disciplines or discipline combinations, relate to contemporary or past environmental issues and events, and encourage discussion.
• Book Reviews (<3000 words): concise reviews of newly published books or extended essays combining a review of several books with a discussion of issues raised by the collective publications.
• Letters (<1000 words): communications relating to significant issues for readers, which can concern previously published journal material.
• Special Issues and Symposia: a collection of related articles, or other materials relevant to environmental issues, edited by one or more authors who provide coherence by clarifying the importance and relationship among the materials. Proposals may involve whole journal issues of portions of an issue.

Submissions are encouraged from individuals at all levels of professional development. The Editorial Board includes a diverse range of scholars, practitioners, and persons from related professions whose expertise extends broadly across the sciences, social sciences, humanities, the professions, and other disciplines related to environmental study. Reviewers exemplify, as well, a regional and global diversity appropriate to the breadth of interdisciplinary environmental studies. The journal’s publisher is long experienced in producing a great variety of publications, reaching individuals and institutions globally. Electronic review of submissions is assured by the use of Editorial Manager software. We encourage contributors unsure about the appropriateness of their manuscript for the journal to send a title and abstract to the Editor-in-Chief (jesseic@aessonline.org) for initial evaluation.