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Land Systems
Land Systems
LS

Manuscript types

We accept the following types of articles:

  • Research articles
    • Description: These articles describe original research that advances understanding of land systems and their role in sustainability. They should be as concise as possible, with supporting information provided in the supplement if needed.
    • Length: in principle <5000 words, variable references + 4 display items. Longer submissions may be accepted if this is required for the scientific robustness, clarity or completeness, but overlong submissions might be rejected, or authors might be asked to condense their submissions.
  • Letters to & from early scholars
    • Description: These articles allow communication between early-career and more senior scholars, ranging from practical advice about navigating a highly interdisciplinary field to pressing issues inside the walls of academia, such as unconscious bias and its expression.
    • Length: 1500 words, no more than 20 references + 1 display item.
  • Opinions
    • Description: These commentary articles aim to stimulate or engage in debate on controversial topics, long-standing problems, or current issues by expressing personal points of view supported by empirical evidence and/or philosophical arguments. These articles do not have an abstract.
    • Length: 1000 words, no more than 10 references + 1 display item.
    • Authors interested in publishing such a manuscript are invited to submit a one-page abstract to the editorial board before submitting a full manuscript. The abstract will be evaluated for a potential invitation to submit a full-length paper.
  • Perspectives
    • Description: These articles explore a policy or applied problem or topic in the realm of land systems and sustainability using an evidence-based approach. They should clearly lay out future research and policy implications or recommendations based on their findings.
    • Length: 2000 words, no more than 20 references + 3 display items.
    • Authors interested in publishing such a manuscript are invited to submit a one-page abstract to the editorial board before submitting a full manuscript. The abstract will be evaluated for a potential invitation to submit a full-length paper.
  • Reviews
    • Description: These articles present a systematic, evidence-based synthesis designed to advance understanding of important concepts, problems, and topics related to land systems and sustainability. They should tackle issues that require a review approach to deepen understanding and use systematic searches and syntheses of available information to generate insights, identify knowledge gaps, and illuminate trends.
    • Length: flexible, as long as the writing is concise. Overlong submissions may be rejected, or authors may be asked to condense their submissions.
    • Authors interested in publishing such a manuscript are invited to submit a one-page abstract and article outline to the editorial board before submitting a full manuscript. The abstract will be evaluated for a potential invitation to submit a full-length paper.

Authors can publish supplementary information related to their article, including data, text, figures, tables, and code, that support their arguments, free of charge.