Study: Smaller, more specific academic journals hold more sway over conservation policy

Phys.org  October 17, 2024
Academic review, promotion, and tenure processes place a premium on frequent publication in high-impact factor (IF) journals. However, conservation often relies on species-specific information that is unlikely to have the broad appeal needed for high-IF journals. Instead, this information is often distributed in low-IF, taxa- and region-specific journals. To explore mismatch between the incentives for academic researchers and the scientific needs of conservation implementation researchers at Duke University looked at federal implementation of the ESA. Most of the peer-reviewed academic articles referenced in ESA listings came from low-IF or no-IF journals that tended to focus on specific taxa or regions. Although they supported continued attention to cutting-edge, multidisciplinary science for its ability to chart new pathways and paradigms, their findings stressed the need to value and fund the taxa- and region-specific science that underpins actionable conservation laws… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE

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