For Authors

Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy invites contributions that integrate science, practices and policy, in original research, case studies, and policy analysis that address social, economic, political, and biological/environmental interactions that can lead to solutions to sustainability problems. The works should be grounded in specific research and be presented in language that is understandable across disciplines.

Journal Sections

The e-Journal welcomes submissions to the following sections:

• Guest Editorials
  The e-Journal will invite prominent people involved in developing research, practice, and/or policy to write editorials.

• Articles examining nature-society interactions, focused on sustainable solutions for practitioners and policymakers.

The e-Journal publishes original research, case studies, and policy analyses intended for scientists and practitioners interested in solving sustainability problems. Articles will address sustainable or unsustainable human practices. They should emphasize new knowledge that their analyses reveal and discuss potential solutions or innovative practices. These articles should be timely, informative, and written in a clear, accessible style.

Articles normally are no longer than 6,500 words, including notes and bibliography. Each article must be accompanied by an abstract of no more than 200 words and should provide the core message of the article in language that is understandable to readers from a broad range of disciplines. Authors are strongly encouraged to use good quality color photos and graphics to enhance the text, break up the pages, and attract the readers' attention. All graphics must be accompanied by informative captions, and photographs must have appropriate copyright information.

• Reviews of quantitative or qualitative research, trends, and approaches, written by experts who synthesize and critique evolving work in a specific aspect of sustainability.

Authors are invited to submit review articles of 2500 words or less, excluding references that assemble and critique work in a specific aspect of sustainability science. Reviews should focus on research with broad impact, cross-disciplinary or multi-country comparisons or endeavors, uses of new techniques or technologies, new approaches to old problems, or practical applications for sustainable solutions.

• Community Essays
  The e-Journal provides an online forum for a moderated discussion addressing practical aspects of the intersection of environment, social, and economic issues within sustainability. A Community Essay should be approximately 2,500 words. To submit or discuss a topic, contact the e-Journal Managing Editor (ejournal@csa.com)

• Book Review Perspectives will assemble three or four commentaries of the same noteworthy book. This will offer readers a range of personal viewpoints as part of a cross-disciplinary grouping of reviewers.

• e-Letters
  The e-Journal accepts brief (250-300 words) and sharply focused responses to the editorials. e-Letters are a moderated forum: all responses are read, edited if necessary, and approved by the editorial staff before they are posted.

Peer Review: All published papers will be reviewed by at least two independent referees.

Author Fees: $1500 for accepted articles. These fees are currently being waived for authors, and are now paid for through the generous support of the NBII.

Writing & Style Guidelines

Sustainability generally follows the recommendations of The Chicago Manual of Style.  We also expect authors to submit manuscripts written in clear and concise language.  Clear writing is particularly important because Sustainability  has a multiple disciplinary and international readership, so text needs to clearly portray the author's meaning.   Authors should

• use active verbs when ever possible
• use plain vocabulary
• use uncomplicated sentence structures
• eliminate wordiness
• use informative headings
• use visual materials to reveal and reinforce the structure of the content of the text.
• have paper edited by a native English speaker with experience in publishing scientific papers, if author is a non-native speaker of English.

Reference Style

Graphics Style

• Images should be in TIFF, GIF, JPG, or EPS format.
• Do not use 3D graphics.
• Each graphic and caption should be submitted as a separate file.
• All tables and graphs are to have complete but brief headings and labels and be numbered consecutively within the text following references.
• Graphics should be referred to within the text and be relevant to the discussion.
• Placement of the graphics should be clearly labeled in the manuscript file.
• Comparison charts should be constructed on parallel scales.

Colors and contrast

• The use of color in graphics is welcome. As readers will print articles from this site on black & white printers, please consider how your graphic will reproduce in black and white.
• Avoid using colored type
• Type over a colored background should be in bold face.
• Avoid using grayscale, similar patterns or colors that may blur together upon reduction, and any combination of red and green.