|
|
|
|||||
| Home | | | | | Archives | | | | | International Mountain Society | | | | | | | Contact |
|
MRD attaches great importance to maintaining the acknowledged high standard of its research sections. The sections (see individual descriptions) offer a choice selection of recent, original research on mountains, sustainable mountain development, and mountain development experiences. Coverage ranges widely, from topics in the natural sciences to anthropological, economic and sociocultural issues. Contributions have contemporary relevance, offer scientific insights or methodological innovations, include disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary approaches, and are relevant to sustainable mountain development and policy. Manuscripts submitted for publication in MRD must not have been published elsewhere. Papers must present arguments and evidence in a concise and readable form (max. length according to guidelines = 25,000 characters including spaces). They are written by scholars and development specialists from throughout the world and cover all continents. Contributions by authors from developing countries are encouraged. All manuscripts submitted to the editors for publication in one of MRD's two peer-reviewed sections are sent to 2 independent reviewers. For MountainDevelopment papers, one of the reviewers will have experience in development practice. Reviewers of papers in both peer-reviewed sections are requested to assess the value of the manuscript in terms of scholarship and research and to comment on the value of the work presented. In addition, reviewers of MountainDevelopment papers are asked to assess the practical value of the insights presented. The review process is strictly confidential: authors' identities are not disclosed to reviewers, and reviewers' identities are not disclosed to authors unless explicitly requested by the reviewers. Papers in MRD cover several types of knowledge. The following distinction between knowledge types is useful in sustainable development research and is used to distinguish between MountainDevelopment and MountainResearch articles: Systems knowledge describes how current systems—ie society, the economy, the environment, etc—work. In order to shape sustainable development, all actors concerned need to be involved in defining a vision and negotiating what are the “right” things to do, ie they need to develop target knowledge together. They do this on the basis of systems knowledge, which helps find missing links and enhance understanding of complex wholes. Transformation knowledge is needed to shape the transition from the current to the envisaged situation, to decide how to do the “right” things and put the vision of sustainable development into practice, and to define what corrective action is needed.
Papers in this section focus on "transformation knowledge." Transformation knowledge helps shape the transformation from a given current state of development, human–nature interactions, institutional arrangements, etc, to a more sustainable form of mountain development. Papers should address a multi-disciplinary community of development-oriented researchers, policy-makers, decision-makers, project planners, and people in educational institutions. The audience is thus a broader one than for a purely academic paper. MountainDevelopment articles offer insights into well-researched and validated development and policy experiences, exploring the transferability of these experiences across mountain contexts. They can also present findings of practice-oriented research aimed at coping with development challenges in mountain regions. If possible, MountainDevelopment papers should address upcoming issue focus themes announced on the MRD website. Other papers will be considered for non-thematic, ie open issues. Manuscripts should present innovative experiences, approaches and recommendations for sustainable mountain development. They should be embedded in the relevant national or international debate. Results should be presented based on sound facts, systematized procedures and well-founded arguments. Conclusions should, if possible, offer "short and crisp" key messages for practitioners, policy-makers, and decision-makers. Manuscripts will be reviewed by two experts who have an academic and development background. The review criteria focus more on the applicability and legitimacy of findings for development than on the scientific originality and replicability of results.
This section contains papers on original and innovative scientific research relevant to sustainable mountain development; it focuses on enhancing “systems knowledge” . Papers may present new concepts and methodologies employing disciplinary, interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary approaches. In addition, case studies on little researched topics or mountain areas are welcome. Papers must present sound scientific research of relevance to an international academic audience. Papers should address a scientific community interested in mountains, mountain people, sustainable mountain development, development-oriented research, and interdisciplinary interaction. Disciplinary papers are welcome provided they address an academic audience broader than that dealing with the specific field of research presented.
This section is reserved for institutional members of the International Mountain Society (IMS), who use it to present information about their mountain initiatives, priorities, and networks.
MountainNotes articles present mountain research and mountain development agendas of global relevance, reviews of the state-of-the-art in research and development, etc. Papers are reviewed by the Editors.
Books on mountain-relevant topics are reviewed by experts on request from the MountainMedia Editor (Prof. Martin Price, Centre for Mountain Studies, Perth College, University of Highlands and Islands, Perth, Scotland).
This section occasionally publishes Letters to the Editor containing various forms of responses from readers to material published in MRD, etc. It offers a platform for exchange of opinions and comments. |
||||||||||||||||||
Copyright © MRD, 2010 Last update: March 2011 – contact webmaster |
|||
Peer-reviewed