Reviews in Environmental Science and Management

Peer-reviewed scientific journals are considered to be the main medium for for scientists to communicate their findings to each other and to the interested public. However vast amounts of money are spent every year on scientific investigations that are never published in peer-reviewed science journals. The questions posed by environmental managers and consultants often stretch current science and require the development of unusual tools and approaches, which deserve greater recognition and application. The scope of the research can be broad, and require the collaboration of scientists from a range of disciplines. The threat of litigation and legal scrutiny also means that the work is commonly carried out to a high standard, and often involves peer review by leading international researchers.

There are a number of reasons why this work is not published in scientific journals, but commercial sensitivity, time and budget constraints are frequent issues. Also, the relatively broad “systems-level” focus of this work may not fit well with the discipline orientated, and concise publication requirements of many science journals. Consequently, much of this work remains confined to the grey literature (EIA's, EES's, consultants reports etc.)

Reviews in Environmental Science and Management is a new serial publication from Southern Cross University, NSW, Australia. Titles will include multi-authored reviews of areas of environmental science or management as well as monograph-length works with a more restricted authorship.
The goals of the series are:

• to provide a channel of publication for high-quality material that does not fit the remit of the academic journals or have a sufficient market for traditional commercial publication.
• to meet the increasing need for published material that helps to bridge the gap between science and management, enabling managers and scientists alike to understand what the others are saying.

The publisher states:

The series aims to publish material of the highest quality: all manuscripts are reviewed by four or more practitioners in a field and are thus subject to stringent peer review. The series meets all the existing criteria of the Australian Government for defining scholarly publications. Titles will initially be published at roughly yearly intervals.

The first issue of this new journal has just been released.

Reviews in environmental science and management. Predictions for use in resource management: the concept of the composite model with estuary case studies. By Malcolm O. Green and Chris Hatton. Published in 2007 by Southern Cross University Press, P.O. Box 157, Lismore NSW 2480, Australia (http://scupress.scu.edu.au). 146 p.; softcover. ISBN: 1-875855-66-1.