ISSN

not available (PRINT)
3078-2279 (ONLINE)

Focus and scope

The African Journal of Biodiversity Conservation (AJBC) is an open access, peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary online journal that covers all aspects of nature conservation in Africa. AJBC publishes regular papers from all disciplines interested in basic and applied conservation ecology, as well as general nature conservation at various spatial, temporal, and evolutionary scales, ranging from populations to ecosystems, and from microorganisms and fungi to higher plants (Botany) and animals (Zoology). The aims of this journal are devoted to protecting, restoring and promoting sustainable use of terrestrial and marine ecosystems, sustainable forest management, combatting desertification, regulating climate, and halting and reversing land degradation and biodiversity loss. All publications that show critical linkages between nature and human wellbeing with a perspective from or on Africa will be considered. In addition, AJBC seeks to serve as a platform for the dissemination of ideas on best conservation practices, opinion pieces, shared experiences, critical analyses, and comprehensive reviews to encourage cooperation between all role-players from within and outside Africa.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The journal, in terms of its focus and scope, and, by extension, by the articles that are published in it, aims to respond to the following SDGs:

• Goal 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
• Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
• Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
• Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development.
• Goal 15: Protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

Historic data

The increased focus on research in the Department of Nature Conservation, Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT), led to a call for an open access in house journal that would serve as a platform for the dissemination of primarily postgraduate student research. This publication was initially envisaged to cater for students enrolled at NQF (National Qualifications Framework) levels 9 and above. The initial target was for a medicinal based journal as many departmental outputs centred on plant-based pharmaceutics and anti-microbial investigations. However, staff research interests shifted to focus on a range of conservation projects necessitating a need for a journal that catered for a broader audience. Journals that catered to the needs of conservationists were limited, especially in South Africa, and the rest of Africa. Robust discussions between staff and Advisory Board members from KZN-Wildlife and South African National Parks (SANPARKS) supported the narrative that a journal that caters for the needs of students and academics was needed to facilitate the dissemination of conservation knowledge. The idea of a journal that primarily focuses on the conservation of biological diversity in Africa was thus born.

Many postgraduate students registered in the Conservation Department work with staff in research units associated with big five reserves that are centred around communities. Research that involves universities, communities, services or industries working together is therefore important for sustainable conservation practices and bridging the gap between traditional practices and current world situations. Knowledge sharing is important especially since the conservation field is dynamic and research has shifted to focus more on basic and applied conservation ecology, as well as general nature conservation at various spatial, temporal, and evolutionary scales. This multidisciplinary journal will publish knowledge on innovations or breakthroughs in any scientific conservation field. Although some other international journals publish papers on conservation science, Africa, with its vast conservation areas and resources, should become a leader for the distribution of conservation knowledge. Evidence-based conservation research will underpin management decisions and help to ensure that we assist to mitigate the crisis affecting African biodiversity. We hope that this journal will form the basis of a cultural shift and inspire a new generation of academics. In line with our scope, best practice ideas, opinion pieces, shared experiences, critical analyses, and comprehensive reviews from within and outside Africa are encouraged.

Publication frequency

The journal publishes one issue each year. Articles are published online when ready for publication and then printed in an end-of-year compilation. Additional issues may be published for special events (e.g. conferences) and when special themes are addressed.

Types of articles published

Read full details on the submissions guidelines page.

Open access

This is an open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) definition of open access. Learn more about the journal copyright, licensing and publishing rights.

Review process

The journal has a double-blinded peer review process. Manuscripts are initially examined by the editorial staff and are sent by the Editor-in-Chief to two expert independent reviewers, either directly or by a Section Editor. Read our full peer review process.

Marketing

AOSIS has a number of ways in which we promote publications. Learn more here.

Membership

AOSIS is a member and/or subscribes to the standards and code of practices of several leading industry organisations. This includes the Directory of Open Access Journals, Ithenticate, Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association, CrossRef, Portico and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Learn more here.

We are working closely with relevant indexing services to ensure that articles published in the journal will be available in their databases when appropriate.

The full text of the journal articles is deposited in the following archives to guarantee long-term preservation:

• AOSIS Library
• Portico
• South African Government Libraries

AOSIS is also a participant in the LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) initiative. LOCKSS will enable any library to maintain their own archive of content from AOSIS and other publishers, with minimal technical effort and using cheaply available hardware. The URL to the LOCKSS Publisher Manifest for the journal is, https://africanbioconservation.org/index.php/ajbc/gateway/lockss. Please inform us if you are using our manifest as we would like to add your name to the list above.

A journal's Impact Factor was originally designed in 1963 as a tool for libraries to compare journals, and identify the most popular ones to subscribe to. It was never intended to measure the quality of journals, and definitely not the quality of individual articles.

The Impact Factor is a journal-level measurement reflecting the yearly average number of citations of recent articles published in that journal. It is frequently used as a proxy for the relative importance of a journal within its field; journals with higher Impact Factors are often deemed to be more important than those with lower ones. Therefore, the more often articles in the journal are cited, the higher its Impact Factor.

The Impact Factor is highly discipline-dependent due to the speed with which articles get cited in each field and the related citation practices. The percentage of total citations occurring in the first two years after publication varies highly amongst disciplines. Accordingly, one cannot compare journals across disciplines based on their relative Impact Factors.

We provide several citation-based measurements for each of our journals, if available. We caution our authors, readers and researchers that they should assess the quality of the content of individual articles, and not judge the quality of articles by the reputation of the journal in which they are published.