Australian Forestry: The challenges of sustaining a strong regional journal
Abstract
Australian Forestry is a peer-reviewed publication published by the Institute of Foresters of Australia that is important to both the forest industry and the forestry research community in Australia. In recent years the journal has struggled to remain viable in the face of a number of structural changes in the Australian forest industry and forestry research community, and increased tension between pressure on academic researchers to publish in journals with a high impact factor and the desire to communicate research results to an industry readership at tolerable cost. In 2014 the management of the journal was changed, including the establishment of a new editorial board to oversee a strategic review of the journal and provide strategic management into the future.
As part of this review an extensive survey was commissioned of members of the Institute of Foresters of Australia on their views of the journal. The survey was conducted to get a better profile of both the market within Australian foresters and the expectations of that market. Along with this survey the journal publishing report was reviewed for the previous 2 years. The review was intended to gain insight into the publication results but also see how the publication metrics aligned with the perceptions and expectations provided by the readership survey.
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