Types of Material Considered
The Journal of Soil and Water Conservation has two sections: the A Section contains case studies, editorials, and discussions on conservation policy, innovations, and news; and the Research Section contains peer-reviewed research articles, briefs, reviews, and dataset papers. Manuscripts must represent original work and clearly focus on a topic related to conservation of natural resources, soil, or water. Topics include, but are not limited to, erosion control, watershed management, forestry, agroecology, hydrology, soil science, wetland conservation, ecological restoration, water quality improvement, sustainable agriculture systems, and climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies. Below you will find submission requirements for the two sections of the Journal. For more information, please read the JSWC Editorial Policy.
Jump to information about the following submission types:
A Section
Research Section
Research Articles
Research Briefs
Research Reviews
Dataset Papers
Special Issue/Section Proposals
Access the online manuscript submission system.
A Section
Submissions
A Section articles encompass case studies, editorials, and discussions on policy, new ideas and innovations in the profession, conservation in practice, and conservation news. A Section articles are not peer-reviewed and should not contain original research. Articles are between 600 and 4,000 words (including references) and include high-quality supporting photographs. Authors may query the Managing Editor (pubs@swcs.org) regarding A Section article ideas before submitting. A Section articles are accepted based on how well a manuscript addresses a topic of current and ongoing concern to the readership and on the accessibility of the writing for a broad audience.
- Articles cannot have been published previously.
- Authors may choose to include up to five figures, images, or tables in their articles. The figures and images should be submitted as JPEG or EPS files, at least 300 dpi. All figures, images, and tables should have descriptive captions and be referenced in the article.
- Authors should provide job position title, organization, city, and state for each author.
- The headings in the A Section articles should not follow the format of research articles (Materials and Methods, Research and Discussion, etc.). However, like research articles, A Section articles should have no more than two levels of headings and should include a References section if applicable.
- With the exception of the "Parts of the Manuscript" section of the JSWC Style Guide, A Section articles should follow the Style Guide.
- Submit articles by email to pubs@swcs.org.
- There are no page charges for the articles published in the A Section. However, all authors are encouraged to pay a fee for open access, in which case their articles become available in the online journal to all readers—not only to subscribers.
Research Section
The Research Section contains peer-reviewed physical and social science research articles, research briefs (no more than 3,500 words), research reviews (by invitation only), and dataset papers (see "Submission Types" below for more details). Manuscripts must represent original work and address a topic related to soil and water conservation. Manuscripts will be reviewed by the journal’s physical sciences or social sciences research editors as appropriate.
Manuscript Suitability
The following factors are considered in determining the suitability of a research manuscript:
- Manuscripts submitted to the JSWC cannot have been published previously or be considered for publication elsewhere in any form (although adaptions of master's theses and dissertations are acceptable).
- The manuscript should contribute to a new or better understanding of natural resource conservation.
- Studies must make a unique contribution to the advancement of scientific knowledge and contain sufficient detail of research methods to be replicated or verified by other investigators.
- The research objectives and/or hypotheses must be clearly stated.
- Manuscripts should demonstrate that the research design and methods for data analysis (quantitative and/or qualitative) are scientifically rigorous and appropriate for the research topic. They must explain research methods in sufficient detail that they may be verified and/or replicated by other investigators. Quantitative research deriving inferences about differences, trends, or other patterns must be accompanied by appropriate statistics.
- Data must be clearly presented.
- Interpretations must be supported with the data presented.
- All data sources, models, and other information must be fully documented.
- Implications of the results must be discussed.
Manuscript Preparation
Please prepare and submit the following:
- Author Information File. Submit a Microsoft Word file that includes the title of the manuscript, list of authors, and author bios. For the bios, include author names, job position titles (e.g., director or ecologist), name of institution, city, and state or country (if not the United States). Keep author names in same order for both the list and the author bio. Example: Reid Kreutzwiser is a professor and Rob de Loë is an assistant professor in the Department of Geography, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Upon request, the JSWC will identify the corresponding author within the author bios.
- Manuscript File. Submit a Word file of your manuscript. Be sure there is no identifying author information in your manuscript file (citations and references are acceptable). Your manuscript should include the following parts in the following order: title, abstract, key words, body, references. Tables and figures may be integrated throughout the manuscript; include table titles and figure captions. Be sure that your manuscript is double spaced and that it includes line numbers and page numbers. Except for research briefs and dataset papers, manuscripts are between 5,000 and 9,000 words. Consult the JSWC style guide for more details.
- Figure Files. Figures may be included in the Word manuscript file, or they may be submitted as individual files when you upload your submission materials. If a paper is accepted, we will need high-quality figure files that meet the following standards. We use EPS (vector) files for most charts/graphs and line illustrations, and we use high-quality TIFF or JPEG (raster) files for photographs and other nonvector-based images. Image size should be 4.75 inches wide at 300 dpi (1,425 pixels wide). It is recommended that the manuscript include no more than 12 figures and 10 tables. Figures submitted in color will be published online in color. Authors who prefer to publish figures in color in both the online and print publications will incur additional page charges (see page charge rates below). If authors choose to publish in color only online, the same caption will appear on both the online (color) and print (black and white) versions. Authors should ensure that figures are legible and correspond to captions in both formats and should consider marking lines and graph bars with differentiating symbols and shading to assist with clarity in grayscale.
Style Guide
Authors should consult the JSWC style guide for manuscript preparation guidance before making a submission. QUICK TIPS: All units of measurement should be expressed in the International System of Units (SI). If authors desire, English or local unit equivalents may be provided as well. English or local unit values should follow the SI units and appear in parentheses. For non-English local units, conversion factors should be included at the first instance of inclusion. All references must be complete, with journal and publisher names spelled out.
Supplementary Materials
Supplementary materials submitted to the JSWC will be linked to the manuscript and available for download. These materials may include additional information in support of the paper’s findings and conclusions. Supplementary materials for research articles will be peer-reviewed and should be included in both the initial submission and in subsequent revision submissions. Supplementary materials will not be assigned unique DOIs. For large files or datasets, authors should instead upload materials to a permanent repository (e.g., Figshare, GRACEnet) and provide the corresponding DOI and/or URL within the main paper text.
Please be aware of the following supplementary material guidelines:
- Multiple tables, figures, etc. should be integrated into a single file and labeled appropriately (e.g., Supplementary Table 1, table S1 in main text).
- Captions should be included for each item.
- References may be included in the supplementary materials and should be formatted in JSWC style. However, these will not be live links and will not contribute toward citation metrics.
- Paper title should be included in the supplemental file. For review, please do not include author information in the file. A citation for the corresponding published article will be added to the file by journal staff, if possible.
- Files will be posted to the online journal in the format provided by authors (e.g., PDF, Word, Excel).
- Supplementary material will not be edited or formatted by journal staff. Please ensure that materials are clearly presented and correspond with the style and terminology used within the main text.
- File sizes should be limited to less than 10 MB, when possible.
- The following file types are accepted: Adobe PDF (.pdf), Microsoft Word (.doc, .docx), Microsoft Excel (.xls, .xlsx), Microsoft Powerpoint (.ppt, .pptx), Plain Text (.txt), HTML page (.html), JPEG image (.jpeg, .jpg), GIF image (.gif), EPS image (.eps), QuickTime Movie (.mov, .mp4), WAV Audio (.wav).
- To request to submit an additional file type, please email pubs@swcs.org.
Submissions
Manuscripts are submitted online and will be analyzed using iThenticate plagiarism software. Coauthors need to be listed during the submission process so that they are given the opportunity to view the article's progress throughout review. Upload your manuscript to the following web page: http://www.editorialmanager.com/jswc.
Manuscript Review Process
The journal's Research Section has a rigorous peer-review process. Each manuscript is peer reviewed by experts in the manuscript's particular field under the direction of the research editors and associate editors. Authors may suggest potential reviewers for their manuscripts; however, it is not guaranteed that these reviewers will be asked to review their manuscripts.
Turnaround Time
Authors are notified of the initial manuscript review decision usually within 10 weeks. Accepted manuscripts are typically published within 6 to 9 months from the date final files are submitted.
Page Charges and Open Access
Research Section
Authors have the option to either pay for page charges or purchase open access.
- Page charges are assessed based on the number of pages in the final page layout. Authors are charged US$190 per page (SWCS members receive 20% discount). For figures requiring color, a US$400 color fee will be added per figure, up to four figures. Additional color figures will be charged at US$75 per figure, starting with figure five. SWCS members receive a 20% discount on the color fee.
- If authors choose to purchase open access, then page charges and color will not apply. The rate for purchasing open access for articles in the online journal is US$2,630 (SWCS members receive 25% discount).
A Section
Page charges and color fees do not apply to A Section articles. Authors have the option to purchase open access to their articles in the online journal for US$1,315 (SWCS members receive 25% discount).
Submission Types
Research Articles
Research Articles present original, unpublished findings from a scientific study related to natural resource conservation with research methods sufficiently described and interpretations supported by data. Papers are organized into the following sections: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion, Summary and Conclusions, and References. Supplementary materials may also be submitted. Manuscripts should be between 5,000 to 9,000 words.
Research Briefs
Research Briefs are short manuscripts reporting on research of high relevance, novelty, or emerging concern. Research Briefs discuss promising, unique findings, such as new technologies, analytical methods, research of narrow scope, or new modeling routines. Research Briefs have a maximum of 3,500 words and contain no more than 3 figures or tables, but otherwise they are subject to all the requirements of peer review for research articles. Manuscripts may be submitted as a Research Brief, or the Editorial Board may recommend that a manuscript be condensed from standard length to Research Brief as part of the review process.
Research Reviews
Research Reviews are submitted by invitation from the research editors; unsolicited review manuscripts will be released. Authors should contact one of the research editors prior to submitting a review manuscript. In general, Research Reviews summarize and critically analyze existing research on a specific topic, highlighting key findings, gaps in research, and potential future directions. These papers are comprehensive in nature or sufficiently authoritative to represent some aspect of the state of the science and must synthesize existing knowledge in such a way as to make a substantial new contribution to the science of conservation. Research Reviews require a Materials and Methods section or meta-analysis of methods from existing publications, and must uphold the journal’s standards of science and integrity. Research Reviews undergo full peer review.
Dataset Papers
Publishing a dataset and an accompanying paper gives more impact to research work, increases the value and usefulness of the data, and provides opportunities for the creators to receive academic credit. Publishing a dataset submission in the JSWC requires two elements, each with its own digital object identifier (DOI):
- A data paper submitted through the online submission system, peer-reviewed, and accepted.
- A dataset uploaded to a permanent repository, peer-reviewed, and accepted. As an alternative for a dataset DOI, the URL that points to the dataset may be submitted.
Data papers are stand-alone papers that describe the dataset(s) by giving details about the purpose and objectives for collecting the data, the scope of the dataset, the collection methods, and the data QA/QC process, processing, format, accessibility, and availability. Data papers document the data and provide information on data availability so that other researchers can use and analyze the data for purposes that go beyond the original purpose for which the data were collected. Data papers do not interpret the data. Main characteristics and examples of how the data were or can be used should be included. Data papers should be submitted to the JSWC using the online submission system: http://www.editorialmanager.com/jswc/.
The dataset and the supporting metadata must be uploaded and formally archived to a JSWC-approved data repository, so that any qualified scientist is able to obtain the data, free of charge. The authors will be responsible for preparing data in the format required by the selected data repository. Authors are responsible for any fees necessary to support publication of the data. An appropriate data repository is one that is commonly used by the scientific community it supports and will be active for a very long time.
Before submitting, please review the full JSWC Dataset Paper Policy.
Special Issue/Section Proposals
A Special Issue/Section groups related research manuscripts on key topics and emerging trends in soil and water conservation. All manuscripts for a special issue/section must go through the journal's peer review process. Proposals for special topics, which must have at least one SWCS member as a core organizer, will be reviewed by the research editors and then approved by the Editorial Board. See the section Journal Special Issues/Special Sections Rules in the Editorial Policy for proposal guidelines and the publishing process, and submit proposals to the Managing Editor (pubs@swcs.org).
For information on any of these topics, please contact
J. Gordon Arbuckle, Jr.
Research Editor, Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
Co-Chair Editorial Board, Soil and Water Conservation Society
Department of Sociology, Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa, USA
arbuckle@iastate.edu
Gretchen Sassenrath
Research Editor, Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
Co-Chair Editorial Board, Soil and Water Conservation Society
Southwest Research and Extension Center, Kansas State University
Parsons, Kansas
gsassenrath@ksu.edu
Abigail Christian
Managing Editor, Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
Soil and Water Conservation Society
945 SW Ankeny Road
Ankeny, IA 50023
pubs@swcs.org