About the Journal

1.   Focus and Scope

The aim of Landscape Review (ISSN 2253–1440) is to showcase the relationship between research and professional practice in the field of landscape architecture. It offers a forum for scholarly writing and critique on a wide range of topics that particularly impact Oceania, and more broadly, the rest of the world.

We encourage articles that further develop research ideas and findings from previously published peer reviewed sources, critiques or reflections, to analyse and synthesise them for impact within professional practice and/or academic research.

2.   Audience

The articles published in Landscape Review will be of interest to a broad readership, including:  

  • landscape architecture practitioners and allied disciplines who are committed to ensuring their design, planning and management practice is informed by the latest and relevant research;
  • policy advisors and decision makers in business and government who seek to ensure best practice in landscape change and land development;
  • landscape architecture researchers who seek to maximise their impact and those with an interest in the impact of academic research in society;
  • students and teachers seeking up to date knowledge on research applications.

3.   Journal History

Landscape Review  was established in 1995 by the Department (now School) of Landscape Architecture, Lincoln University, Christchurch, New Zealand. The journal is committed to the development of a culture of research, scholarship and research-informed practice in landscape architecture.

Issue 14(1) was the first fully digital issue of Landscape Review. In addition, all earlier back issues have been scanned and are searchable via the index feature of this site by author, title or issue.  We have endeavoured to contact every author and have only been able to upload articles of authors who have agreed to this. We continue to archive all published work on our journal web site.

If you are the author of an article which has not been uploaded, or if you have contact details for an author, please go to Contact Us on the journal web site.

4.   Open Access

Open access is the condition where the copyright holder of a scholarly work grants usage rights to others using an open license (Creative Commons or equivalent) allowing for immediate free access to the work and permitting any user to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, crawl them for indexing, pass as data to software , or use them for any other lawful purpose.

5.   Funding

Landscape Review does not have article processing charges or submission charges. This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

Landscape Review is currently funded by internal support from Lincoln University Library and the Faculty of Environment, Society and Design in Aotearoa New Zealand. Further funding is generated from editorial work with the Landscape Research Group (LRG), a registered charity (No. 287610) in the UK.

Journals@Lincoln is an open access pathway through which peer-reviewed research outputs can be made publicly available to meet funder requirements when arising from research projects that may be fully or partially funded through government research investment. Data@Lincoln is also an open access repository for publishing research data to comply with funder and publisher requirements.

Future partnerships with other universities, research bodies, philanthropic organisations, government agencies, corporate entities and individual reader donors may be sought to strengthen editorial excellence, innovate and deliver greater engagement with our readership, and monitor the impact of authors’ work beyond our immediate readership. Any future acknowledgements of contributions will remain relevant and unobtrusive.

6.   Editorial Process

Landscape Review is a peer reviewed scholarly journal. The governance and management structure comprises a Chief Editor appointed by the School of Landscape Architecture, two Managing Editors, one drawn from academia and one from professional practice within Oceania, each appointed for a nominal term of three years, and an Editorial Board.

The three editors named on the website collectively exercise editorial control over the content of the journal. They may issue either open or individual invitations to contribute to a particular theme or topic, but editorial decisions are always made only on the merit and relevance of the submitted manuscript.

Landscape Review's Editorial Board members provide a critical component in maintaining oversight of the editorial decision-making process, particularly the selection of reviewers and authors for articles. They are listed on the journal web site with their respective affiliations and relevant expertise. Board members may be asked to advise the editors of potential authors or reviewers for a manuscript or may from time to time take on the reviewer role themselves.

All contributions to this journal (except for Reports) will undergo a double-blind review process by at least two reviewers (ideally an academic and a practitioner) based on an initial editorial screening. Report contributions will be editorially reviewed. We also welcome proposals for Special Issues.

Reviewers will be sought from both public and private professional practice and academic staff in tertiary education institutions. We seek to protect the anonymity of authors and reviewers unless an individual specifically requests to have their identity known. We would however like to acknowledge and list all our reviewers annually with their permission.

Reviewers will be invited to review manuscripts, provide feedback for authors and make recommendations that assist the editors in making a decision on publication. Turnaround periods for review vary depending on a reviewer's workload, but we aim to be able to provide a response to authors as soon as possible, based on an online review template.

Landscape Review will be published once or twice a year, as one or two issues in a volume, with five contributions per issue. The entire issue will be published online simultaneously (rather than article by article). Readers can register on the Landscape Review web site and receive notifications of the release of new issues.

7.   Guiding Principles

A.      Trust and integrity

This journal is committed to serving the public good and freedom of speech while retaining a respectful, independent, transparent and trustworthy editorial process that fosters trust between our readers and authors. Generally speaking, authors will have attained a research level Masters or PhD, or have equivalent experience with research-based project work in professional practice. The journal will seek diversity in the cultural background, gender, age and geography (where an author is based) of its authors and reviewers.

B.      Conflict of interest

Authors and editors are obligated to disclose any affiliation, grant, financial interest or gifts that may be relevant, or perceived to be relevant, to the topic about which they are writing. This is not intended to prevent publication, but to protect the author’s reputation and the integrity of the journal by declaring the existence of conflicts of interest. Any views expressed in articles are the personal opinions of the experts named. They may not represent the views of the journal.

C.       Mistakes and inaccuracies

If a mistake is made, we will correct it as soon as possible. We strive for fairness and accuracy at all times and encourage readers to advise us of any significant errors. A full retraction of a contribution will be done as a last resort when:

  1. there is a legal requirement to do so;
  2. major flaws, inaccuracies or breaches of community standards renders the work unsalvageable; or
  3. the internal editorial process was somehow compromised.

D.      Complaints

Complaints should be emailed to the Editor at Contact Us on the journal web site. The Editor responsible for the article will assess the complaint and discuss it with the author. If the Editor and author agree there is a factual error, a correction will be published. If the author and Editor find no significant error worthy of correction, the complaint will be rejected. The complainant will be notified of the outcome of the complaint.

If a complainant is not satisfied with the outcome of a complaint, they may contact the Editor, who will attempt to resolve the issue to the satisfaction of all parties. If this fails, the Editor may refer the complaint to the Editorial Board and the complainant will be invited to make a further submission, if required.

E.      Licencing

We believe in the free flow of information and so publish under a Creative Commons license which means readers may republish our contributions for free according to certain guidelines under the Creative Commons - Attribution license. Please use the DOI reference provided for each article when republishing or citing the work.