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Role of low-impact-factor journals in conservation implementation.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Choi, JJ; Gaskins, LC; Morton, JP; Bingham, JA; Blawas, AM; Hayes, C; Hoyt, C; Halpin, PN; Silliman, B
Published in: Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology
October 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. This suggests a potential mismatch between the incentives for academic researchers and the scientific needs of conservation implementation. To explore this mismatch, we looked at federal implementation of the United States Endangered Species Act (ESA), which requires the use of the "best available science" to list a species as endangered or threatened and thus receive powerful legal protections. In assessing the relationship between academic sources of this "best available science" and ESA implementation, we looked at the 13,292 sources (e.g., academic journals, books, reports, regulations, personal communications, etc.) cited by the second Obama administration (2012-2016) across all ESA listings. We compared the IFs of all 4836 journals that published peer-reviewed papers cited in these listings against their citation frequency in ESA listings to determine whether a journal's IF varied in proportion with its contribution to federal conservation. 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 we support continued attention to cutting-edge, multidisciplinary science for its ability to chart new pathways and paradigms, our findings stress the need to value and fund the taxa- and region-specific science that underpins actionable conservation laws.

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Published In

Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology

DOI

EISSN

1523-1739

ISSN

0888-8892

Publication Date

October 2024

Start / End Page

e14391

Related Subject Headings

  • Ecology
  • 4104 Environmental management
  • 3109 Zoology
  • 3103 Ecology
  • 07 Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences
  • 06 Biological Sciences
  • 05 Environmental Sciences
 

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Choi, J. J., Gaskins, L. C., Morton, J. P., Bingham, J. A., Blawas, A. M., Hayes, C., … Silliman, B. (2024). Role of low-impact-factor journals in conservation implementation. Conservation Biology : The Journal of the Society for Conservation Biology, e14391. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.14391
Choi, Jonathan J., Leo C. Gaskins, Joseph P. Morton, Julia A. Bingham, Ashley M. Blawas, Christine Hayes, Carmen Hoyt, Patrick N. Halpin, and Brian Silliman. “Role of low-impact-factor journals in conservation implementation.Conservation Biology : The Journal of the Society for Conservation Biology, October 2024, e14391. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.14391.
Choi JJ, Gaskins LC, Morton JP, Bingham JA, Blawas AM, Hayes C, et al. Role of low-impact-factor journals in conservation implementation. Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology. 2024 Oct;e14391.
Choi, Jonathan J., et al. “Role of low-impact-factor journals in conservation implementation.Conservation Biology : The Journal of the Society for Conservation Biology, Oct. 2024, p. e14391. Epmc, doi:10.1111/cobi.14391.
Choi JJ, Gaskins LC, Morton JP, Bingham JA, Blawas AM, Hayes C, Hoyt C, Halpin PN, Silliman B. Role of low-impact-factor journals in conservation implementation. Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology. 2024 Oct;e14391.
Journal cover image

Published In

Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology

DOI

EISSN

1523-1739

ISSN

0888-8892

Publication Date

October 2024

Start / End Page

e14391

Related Subject Headings

  • Ecology
  • 4104 Environmental management
  • 3109 Zoology
  • 3103 Ecology
  • 07 Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences
  • 06 Biological Sciences
  • 05 Environmental Sciences