by Olivia Bragg
It’s official, IMCG will collaborate with IPS to launch a new, peer-reviewed international research journal focusing on mires, peatlands, and peat. For IPS, this will replace the International Peat Journal (IPJ), but it shouldn’t be just more of the same. It will cover ALL aspects of peatland research from conservation, ecology and wise use to balneology; and it will have free worldwide distribution via the internet. Thus it will already be an invaluable vehicle for the communication of scientific information. It will also strive to achieve an official impact factor through ISI accreditation. This becomes available only when the topic is judged to have reached critical mass because it generates a lively flow of high-quality publications. And that is the challenge. Can we prove that peatland research is now well on the way to qualifying as a “hot research topic?” Send me your next good paper soon, and we’ll see.
If you’re already excited at the prospect, I would love to hear from you, and there are some additional ways that you can get involved. In particular, your input to a couple of current issues would be appreciated.
First, we need strong IMCG representation on the Editorial Board (EB). In addition to myself (Editor), Jack Rieley (Deputy Editor) and Michael Trepel (Web Administrator), eight former (IPS) members of the IPJ EB have kindly agreed to continue this work for the new journal, giving representation from the UK (3), Finland (2), Germany (1), Indonesia (1) and Sweden (1). The job description is quite vague, but the principal function of the EB is to assist the Editor with policy and direction and to promote the Journal internationally. Most EB members also offer to peer-review around three manuscripts per year, and to provide help with (English) language revision if appropriate. For accreditation purposes, the eminence and publication records of EB members are taken into account. So especially if you are from a part of the world not yet represented on the Board and publish actively in the scientific literature, please consider whether you would be able to volunteer yourself (or suggest someone else) for the EB. I’ll be approaching individuals in the near future in any case.
Secondly, if we are to apply a rigorous peer review process across the full scope of the Journal, we shall need an extensive panel of reviewers. Indeed, we are indebted to a number of people from IPS and IMCG - as well as from the wider research community - who have contributed reviews for papers already “in the pipeline.” Obviously I don’t know exactly what range of expertise we have within IMCG, so if you can offer to review articles within your own research area, please let me know what topics you could cover.
The name of the Journal has still to be agreed upon. Most people think that the words “mire”, “peat”, “peatland” and “research” should all be included but that we cannot take a name that has already been used, so it is beginning to look something like Mire and Peat Research: The International Peatland Journal. Any further ideas for a name – especially if they are brilliant - could still be taken on board.
As far as timing is concerned, the web site is already waiting for its final name and the first manuscripts to reach the end of the review process. Papers can be posted individually, so the race is now on to launch!
Finally, this is an official call to all IMCG members for the submission of new manuscripts. Instructions to Authors are available by e-mail from me. The current statement of scope follows:
The Journal will publish high-quality research papers on all aspects of peatland science, technology, and wise use, including:
- ecology, hydrology, survey, inventory, classification, functions and values of mires and peatlands;
- scientific, economic, and human aspects of the management of peatlands for agriculture, forestry, nature conservation, environmental protection, peat extraction, industrial development and other purposes;
- biological, physical, and chemical characteristics of peat; and
- climate change and peatlands.
Short communications, review articles, and book reviews on these and related topics will also be considered; and suggestions for special issues of the Journal based on the proceedings of conferences, seminars, symposia and workshops will be welcomed. The submission of material by authors and from countries whose work would otherwise be inaccessible to the international community is particularly encouraged.