Focus and Scope

The Journal of Environmental Investing (JEI) is an inter-disciplinary, peer-reviewed, open-access journal that publishes original research in all areas at the intersection of the environment and investing. The JEI presents research papers, commentaries, case studies, and reviews on manifold topics. It focuses on the critical issues of creating, deploying, financing, structuring, and managing successful market-based solutions to the environmental challenges of today.

The JEI's mission is to facilitate the flow of capital to solutions to problems arising from natural resource depletion, pollution, demographic changes, sustainability, and climate change. To fulfill this mission, the JEI carries high-impact research articles as well as thoughtful analyses that make environmental solutions more attainable by articulating their investment risks and opportunities. The JEI serves as a platform to bring together disciplines ranging from science to policy to finance, so that such challenges can be pragmatically addressed from academic and applied perspectives.

At the heart of the Journal of Environmental Investing is free access to unbiased and objective information about environmental investing. It is written for and by asset owners and managers, investment professionals, scientists, economists, policy makers and regulators, technologists, academics, investment professionals, and other stakeholders interested in the search for real solutions to the sobering state of global environmental affairs.

Section Policies

Articles

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Peer Review Process

Publication Frequency

Regular issues are published semi-annually, with issues available as 'in progress' as soon as articles are published. Special feature issues are published separately throughout the year. 

Open Access Policy

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.

Archiving

This journal utilizes the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. More...

Types of Manuscripts Sought

Environmental professionals in academic or research laboratory settings may be more likely to submit formal research reports. Professionals in investment management, consulting practice, agencies, or other organizations may be more likely to submit manuscripts based on case studies.

Under most circumstances, Research Articles will not be over 5000 words of text. Most will be substantially shorter. Tables, figures, and reference lists need not be included in the word count. All Research Articles are peer reviewed.

Reviews: manuscripts that organize and summarize a research literature or case study literature that is otherwise scattered and not easily accessible. Reviews will generally be about 6000 words of text. Tables, figures, and reference lists need not be included in the word count. All Reviews are peer reviewed.

Commentaries: manuscripts that discuss a particular subject or problem. Typically, these manuscripts will identify the subject and discuss it in terms of (a) recent research of importance, (b) the implications of research for practice, (c) the interactions among research, policy, and practice, or (d) the investment context of the subject. Under most circumstances, Commentaries will be about 5000 words. Tables, figures, and reference lists need not be included in the word count. All Commentary manuscripts are peer-reviewed.

Book Reviews: manuscripts that portray the content, quality, and significance of books of wide interest to environmental professionals and their practices. Book Reviews should normally not exceed 750 words, but with the approval of the editor may reach 1500 words.

Environmental Investment Data: manuscripts that report on data related to environmental investing. These reports will generally range from 800-1200 words and include references to sources of the data and will support JEI's goal of being a repository of environmental investing data. Tables, figures, and reference lists need not be included in the word count. Only in rare circumstances will Environmental Investment Data be subjected to peer review.

Points of View: statements of opinion intended to provoke discussion and debate on particular issues. These manuscripts will generally range from 500 to 1000 words. Such manuscripts will not be subject to peer review, because they are personal opinion; however, the editor may seek advice on matters of tone and fairness.

Letters to the Editor: responses to Research Articles, Environmental Reviews, Commentaries, Book Reviews, News Articles, Points of View, and Editorials. These manuscripts will generally range from 50 to 500 words. Letters to the Editor will not be peer-reviewed, but they may be used to solicit responses from others for simultaneous publication. 

The editors welcome inquiries about manuscript ideas. You may also contact the editors to request exceptions to the word count limits given above.

Information for Contributors

Only electronic submittals will be accepted. Authors should submit their work directly through the JEI website. Please indicate in your electronic submittal under which section the work should be considered: Research Articles, Reviews, Commentary, Book Reviews, News Articles, Points of View, and Letters to the Editor. Also, in email, please put in the subject line,  “Journal of Environmental Investing Submittal.” All manuscripts will be accepted in Word format with the “.doc” extension (please do not save as a “.dot” or “.dotx” file). 

Manuscripts should be organized as follows: 

Cover sheet: Attach a cover sheet with the following information:  manuscript title; author name(s) and title or position; institutional affiliation; and the corresponding author’s address, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address. All pages should be numbered, with the cover sheet as page one. To facilitate blind peer reviews, author names and affiliations should appear only on the cover sheet. 

Acknowledgments: Place on a separate sheet, located after the cover sheet. The study sponsors, if any, should be included in the acknowledgments.  

Abstract: An abstract of no more than 225 words should accompany the manuscript on a separate sheet (page 3). The abstract should be a stand-alone summary of the manuscript's central findings and argument, not an overview of the manuscript's outline. The title of the manuscript should appear at the top of the abstract page.  

Main Text: Manuscripts by authors schooled in the natural and social sciences will typically have separate sections for Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions. Authors schooled in the legal and humanistic disciplines are likely to organize their materials in a way that illuminates the logical connections between different elements of the argument. In all cases, use appropriate section headings to help guide the reader. 

Following are general guidelines for preparing the basic elements of the manuscript. If you have questions that are not addresses under one of these descriptions, please contact the Journal. 

Text Font:  Please use 12-point Times New Roman for all text. Double space the entire manuscript.

Document Layout: The margins for the entire document are one inch at the top and bottom; the left margin: 1.25; the right margin: 1.19; and the header and footer from
the edge: 0.5.

Paragraph Layout: Left alignment. Any indentations, such as for block quotations, should be 0.25.  Spacing between paragraphs should be 14 pts. Text Headings:  Please do not  “stack” headings on top of each other; use the text to preview the subheads in a section rather than diving right into the first subhead.  The following system is used in the Journal: A-level headings stand alone and are 12-point, boldface type with standard initial letter capitalization; B-level headings (subheads) stand alone and are 12-point, boldface italic type with standard initial letter capitalization; and C-level heads (subheads) begin their relevant paragraphs, are followed by a period, and are 12-point, boldface type with standard initial letter capitalization. If your paper organization requires additional levels of headings, please design with the intent of making hierarchy obvious (you can also consult the Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed., University of Chicago Press).

Spelling, Word Usage, and Text Styling:  For points not otherwise covered in these guidelines, please use Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (10th ed.) and The Chicago Manual of Style (16th ed., University of Chicago Press).

Foreign Abbreviations:  Spell out e.g., etc., i.e., et al., vs., and so forth as their English equivalents. In other words, use the terms for example, and so on, that is, and others, and versus (except in citing legal cases, where v. is used).

Colloquialisms, Contractions, and Acronyms:  Avoid slang and word contractions except when they appear in quotations and in examples containing “natural” dialogue.

Resist the use of acronyms and other forms of abbreviation. As a general rule, an acronym is appropriate only (a) if it is used frequently in a portion or all of a manuscript or (b) if the acronym itself has entered common usage in everyday conversation (e.g., “USEPA” for “United States Environmental Protection Agency”). The first time an accepted acronym is used in your paper, spell the term out and place the acronym immediately after it, enclosed in parentheses; then, in its additional appearances, use the acronym.

Quotations and Extracts:  Quotations and extracts from other works are handled in one of two ways, depending on length.

For a quotation of fewer than 100 words, run the quotation into the regular text. Enclose it in quotation marks, and cite the source in the text (for further explanation, see “in-text citations” under number 6 on Citations, Notes, and References). If the quotation is a fragment, remember to incorporate it grammatically into the surrounding text.

For a quotation of 100 words or more (an extract), use a block formation, that is, set it off from the rest of the text. Omit the quotation marks and indent the entire extract (and omit the paragraph indentation in the first line). Leave an extra line of space above and below the quotation. The font size and style should be the same as the body of the manuscript (12 pt Times New Roman). Place the citation at the end of the quotation in square brackets, not parentheses, and place the final punctuation after the closing bracket.

Authors are strongly encouraged to illustrate their work with tables, figures, maps, and photographs. Please identify all illustrations as figures and number consecutively throughout manuscript (Figure 1: The Cost for 2010; Figure 2: The Cost for 2011, etc.) All figures should be referred to within the text. For example, “As Figure 1 illustrates” and  “Global emissions rose in 2009 (Figure 5).”

Figures:  Authors should submit any figures in electronic form, preferably TIF (line drawings should be at least 600 ppi; halftone or gray-scale figures should be at least 300 ppi) or EPS (with fonts embedded) format. Color figures must be at least 300 ppi CMYK. Provide figure captions together on a separate page. Tables (in Word or Excel that the editorial office will be able to manipulate for formatting purposes) should not duplicate data also provided in figures or in the text. For tables of data that might be of value only to a few readers, authors should consider indicating that the data is available on request from the author. Table and figure captions/legends should make them understandable without reference to the text. Tables and figures must be referred to in the text. 

Citations, Notes, and References: Use in-text citations rather than footnotes or endnotes to identify sources and tangential material, or to provide explanations.  Follow the in-text citation style found in The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition. 

Full bibliographic information for all references cited in the text should appear at the end of the manuscript. Reference entries should be alphabetized by author name, or if there are no individual names, by organization. Follow the reference style found in The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition.  

Sources and Permissions: Please identify the sources of all text, figures, or tables (even your own previously published work).  The following guidelines will assist you in dealing with the permissible items in your work as you prepare your manuscript.  Please be aware that these guidelines reflect only our internal administrative policy. They are not to be considered determinative or to be a statement of what does or does not constitute “fair use” in every case in the legal sense. Also, the guidelines do not relieve you of any obligations under your Publishing Agreement or under copyright laws.  You are permitted to quote words, tables, figures, and other material by outside authors to support your own points, provided that the information is accurate and appropriately credited. Depending on the source, length, or nature of a quotation, permission from the copyright holder may be needed.  As author, you are responsible for:

obtaining written consent from the copyright holder,

submitting all permissions with your final manuscript, and

paying any fees involved in obtaining permission, unless otherwise stated in your contract.

NOTE: Requesting permissions can be a lengthy process. Some publishers will take three months or longer to reply to your request. Therefore, please initiate requests to secure permission to reprint items as you incorporate those items into your manuscript. Please do not wait until you are compiling your complete and final manuscript to begin the request process. Not all requests may be granted by the time of publication, and publication could be delayed. Keep in mind that for legal purposes, the signed originals of all permission releases must be submitted with your final manuscript. 

The Journal will use a blind peer-review process. The reviewer will not know the identity or location of the author(s), and the author(s) will receive reviewer's comments without the reviewer's identity or location. Authors are invited to submit names of appropriate reviewers, but the final choice of reviewers lies with the editor. Authors will be notified of the disposition of their manuscript as soon as possible. 

Upon acceptance of manuscripts, authors will be requested to send the editorial office an electronic version of the manuscript. Please contact the editorial office for exceptions: an author's access to computing equipment will not be a factor in the publication of a manuscript. 

The final version of the manuscript should include a short biographical sketch of each author (150 words or less per author). 

All authors must sign the “Transfer of Copyright Agreement” and a disclosure of commercial interests before the manuscript can be published. The Transfer Agreement enables the JEI to protect the copyrighted material for the authors, but authors do not thereby relinquish proprietary rights or rights to use their work in the future. The copyright transfer covers the exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute the manuscript, including reprints, photographic reproduction, microfilm, electronic versions, and all other reproduction methods, plus translations into languages other than English. 

It is a condition of publication that manuscripts submitted to this Journal have not been published previously, in part or in whole, in a peer-reviewed journal. All prior presentations of the manuscript material must be disclosed to the editor at the time of initial manuscript submission. It is also a condition of publication that the author(s) will not simultaneously submit or publish the material elsewhere. 

The corresponding author will receive page proofs for final proofreading shortly before the article is scheduled for publication. Authors bear full responsibility for accuracy and completeness of their material. Any corrections (not revisions) should be made at this time, and the page proofs must be returned to the publisher within 48 hours of receipt. Extensive revisions are strongly discouraged at this stage of the publication process and, if permitted by the editor and publisher, are likely to result in special charges to the author.

FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How frequently is JEI published?

A: Regular issues are published semi-annually, with issues available as 'in progress' as soon as articles are published. Special feature issues are published separately throughout the year. 

Q: What does a subscription to JEI cost?

A: This journal provides open access to all of its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. Such access is associated with increased readership and increased citation of an author's work. For more information about this open source publishing system, please contact the Editor-in-Chief or read about the Public Knowledge Project's Open Journal System, upon which this publishing system is built.

Q: What topics are covered by JEI?

A: JEI takes an interdisciplinary approach to exploring the intersection of environment and investing, as natural resource usage and stewardship affect all sectors of the economy as well as international goals for sustainable development. We identify the following as salient topics for research and discussion:

• Water quality and quantity
• Air pollution
• Waste management
• Deforestation and land degradation
• Chemical and toxic emissions
• Biodiversity loss
• Depletion of the ozone layer
• Quality of fisheries and oceans
• Energy supply
• National security
• Human development
• Global changes in demographics
• Public health
• Poverty
• Human rights
• Labor rights

 The Journal explores these themes individually and relationally. In addition, the Journal has a special and timely interest in illuminating macro trends redefining the global investment sphere, such as the growing economic and industrial importance of emerging markets, or the continuing trends of resource scarcity and degradation.

Q: What constitutes environmental investing?

A: The Journal defines environmental investing as market-based initiatives that attempt to solve the challenges and capture the opportunities arising from societal interest in limiting environmental damage while boosting economic returns. In general, environmental investing can be placed in one of five categories (often with substantial cross-over between categories):

• Clean technologies (clean transportation, clean power, and energy storage and energy efficient technologies)
• Sustainable property
• Land use, agriculture, and forestry (including payment-for-ecosystem services)
• Carbon and greenhouse gases
• Water

     Pollution (water and air quality, waste management)

Q: What is the peer-review process?

A: The Editor-in-Chief makes an initial appraisal of each manuscript. If the topic and treatment seem potentially appropriate for the Journal, the manuscript is assigned to an associate (or subject-matter) editor who oversees the review process. Once the review process has been completed, the associate editor recommends acceptance, revision, or rejection of your manuscript. The final decision is made by the Editor-in-Chief.

JEI has a "double blind" review process: authors are not told who reviewed their paper and reviewers are not told who wrote the paper. Peer reviewers are informed of the identity of the authors after the manuscript is either accepted or rejected. After a decision is reached, a reviewer is free to contact the authors privately about the manuscript.

A decision on the manuscript generally may be expected within four (4) months of submission; delays in obtaining reviews may prolong this process. Manuscripts are sent out for review electronically, and all correspondence takes place via e-mail. Although the peer review process is accelerated by the use of electronic communication, traditional high-quality, peer-review standards are applied to all manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Environmental Investing. 

Special Features

Special Feature Editor Role and Responsibilities 

Special features are a set of manuscripts subject to peer review that cover a similar topic, and are solicited, collected and edited by a Special Feature Editor. Unless otherwise agreed upon, special feature articles are published as they are ready across multiple issues and then compiled and presented on a special page dedicated to that feature. The Editors-in-Chief may add additional manuscripts that are relevant to the special feature at their discretion.

If you are interested in submitting a proposal for a special feature, please e-mail the following information to the Editor-in-Chief (acalvello@thejei.com)

• Define the focus and objectives of the special feature;
• Identify the Special Feature Editor(s);
• List the set of papers to be submitted as part of the special feature (minimum of 8 papers and 1 editorial); and
• Indicate the source of funding for the special feature.

Special Features - Description and Guidelines for Proposals 

A Special Feature Editor is a Subject Editor selected by the Editor-in-Chief(s) to oversee the review of a special feature issue. The responsibilities of a Special Feature Editor include:

• Finalizing the focus and objectives of the special feature, together with the Editors-in-Chief;
• Deciding upon a deadline for manuscript submissions to the special feature, with the help of the managing editor;
• Special Feature Editors must collect and submit a minimum of 8 high quality papers to trigger the review process.

The Journal of Environmental Investing is sponsored by the generous support of BE Bio Energy Group AG, Powering Energy Change.

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