Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
Title	Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
Discipline	Soil science; Conservation science; Environmental science
Abbreviation	J. Soil Water Conserv.
Publisher	Soil and Water Conservation Society
Country	United States
History	1946–present
Frequency	Bimonthly
Openaccess	Hybrid
Issn	0022-4561

Journal of Soil and Water Conservation The Journal of Soil and Water Conservation is a peer-reviewed scientific journal focusing on soil conservation, watershed management, and sustainable land use. Established in the mid-20th century, the journal has published research, policy analyses, and technical reports relevant to practitioners and scholars associated with United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations Environment Programme, and regional conservation organizations. Its readership includes members of the Soil and Water Conservation Society, staff of the World Bank, researchers at the United States Geological Survey, and faculty at institutions such as Iowa State University, University of California, Davis, Cornell University, Texas A&M University, and University of Minnesota.

History

The journal traces roots to post-World War II initiatives that linked land stewardship to national recovery, influenced by agencies like the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Soil Conservation Service. Early editorial direction intersected with work by researchers affiliated with United States Department of Agriculture, Land-Grant University networks including Pennsylvania State University and Kansas State University, and international programs supported by the Rockefeller Foundation and Ford Foundation. Throughout the Cold War era, contributions referenced comparative studies from regions such as the Great Plains, Loess Plateau, Sahel, Andes, and Himalayas, connecting to policy dialogues at the United Nations Conference on Food and Agriculture and later Earth Summit deliberations. Modernization of the journal paralleled digital transitions at publishers like John Wiley & Sons and Elsevier, while maintaining ties to professional societies such as the American Society of Agronomy and the International Union of Soil Sciences.

Scope and Content

The journal publishes multidisciplinary content encompassing applied research, modeling, field experiments, and policy evaluations that address soil erosion, sediment transport, nutrient cycling, conservation tillage, agroforestry, and watershed planning. Articles often reference methodologies used in projects associated with Conservation Reserve Program, Wetlands Reserve Program, and international programs funded by the World Bank or coordinated through United Nations Development Programme. Authors draw on data and collaborations with organizations such as National Aeronautics and Space Administration, European Space Agency, US Geological Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and universities including University of Florida, North Carolina State University, and Ohio State University. Content categories include research articles, review papers, case studies from regions like the Mississippi River Basin, Mekong Delta, Nile Basin, and Amazon Basin, technical notes, and policy perspectives addressing frameworks from bodies like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Abstracting and Indexing

The journal is indexed and abstracted in major bibliographic and citation services used by researchers affiliated with Clarivate Analytics, Scopus by Elsevier, and databases managed by institutions such as National Library of Medicine and ProQuest. Metadata and citations are discoverable through infrastructures supported by CrossRef, ORCID, and initiatives linked to Digital Commons repositories at land-grant institutions. Libraries at organizations including the Library of Congress, Smithsonian Institution, and university consortia maintain subscriptions and catalog records, facilitating discovery through cataloging standards promoted by entities like the American Library Association.

Publication and Access

Published bimonthly by the Soil and Water Conservation Society, the journal operates a hybrid access model offering subscription access alongside author-paid open access options for compliance with funder mandates from agencies such as the National Science Foundation and US Department of Energy. Distribution channels include indexing platforms used by academic libraries at Harvard University, Yale University, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, and technical libraries serving agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency. Digital archival partnerships and licensing agreements reflect practices observed among scholarly publishers including Taylor & Francis and Springer Science+Business Media.

Editorial Leadership and Peer Review

Editorial governance involves an editor-in-chief supported by associate editors and an international editorial board with members from institutions such as University of Wisconsin–Madison, Iowa State University, University of British Columbia, Wageningen University, University of Sydney, and Chinese Academy of Sciences. The journal employs a double-blind or single-blind peer review process consistent with standards advocated by organizations like the Committee on Publication Ethics and uses manuscript submission systems comparable to those used by Nature Publishing Group and American Society of Agronomy journals. Editorial policies address conflicts of interest, data availability, and reproducibility aligning with guidance from National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Impact and Reception

The journal has influenced conservation policy, on-the-ground practice, and academic curricula, cited in assessments by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, reports from the World Resources Institute, and guidelines from the Convention on Biological Diversity. It is referenced in technical manuals produced by the Natural Resources Conservation Service and in modeling studies from research groups at Montana State University, Purdue University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Imperial College London. Metrics of scholarly impact are tracked by services from Clarivate Analytics and Elsevier, and its articles inform extension programs and capacity-building initiatives led by entities such as the Food and Agriculture Organization and regional development banks including the Asian Development Bank.

Category:Soil science journals Category:Environmental journals