About

The Journal of Political Ecology (JPE)  is a peer reviewed, Diamond Open Access journal in the social sciences. It began in 1994 at the University of Arizona, where it remains, hosted by the UA Libraries. 

JPE publishes research into the linkages between political economy and human environmental impacts, across different locations and academic disciplines. Articles published in this journal make a contribution to the academic field of political ecology. This is of course a broad field, but it uses tools drawn from political economy, multi-scalar analysis of environmental issues and ecologies, access to resources (e.g. by race, gender, status, wealth), environmental and social justice, feminist, materialist and intersectional theories, and studies of vulnerability and disadvantage. Articles may provide political ecology case studies, extend the field into new areas, or critique it with adequate justification.

There are other homes for articles on related topics like sustainability science, environmental and ecological economics, resilience theory, quantitative political science or international relations, or articles without reference to human-environment relationships. Those wishing to publish ethically and open access can see a listing of other journals and their urls and reputations produced by the co-editor, here.

This is a "DIY" journal, with the work done by volunteer editors and referees from academic institutions. There is no budget. Over the years, the JPE has published several important contributions to the field of political ecology, and spanned several disciplines, while remaining free of charge. It is cited more often per article than many commercial journals charging authors or libraries and individuals for access.

Articles are double-blind refereed, which can take up to 2-3 months [much longer if referees do not reply!]. A description of the journal can be found in Spanish here and in English (at the end of an argument for academic-controlled OA journals) here. For updates on political ecology, see for example, the POLLEN network, or the Undisciplined Environments site.

From 2011, JPE has been listed and ranked in the SCOPUS global bibliographic and citation database (Citescore 2023: 4.1 - upper quartile for several fields - eg anthropology (40/587), geography (227/815), development (76/372), politics 94/701), is in the Web of Science Emerging Sources Citation Index (now indexed for the first time: 2022: 2.3), and is also in several listings including DOAJ.  Articles are archived in perpetuity by Portico. Authors retain copyright via a CC-BY licence. 

In 2022, an editorial collective started a new section called Grassroots publishing short articles engaging trans-local environmental realities and questions with authors drawn from activists and scholars from the Global South. It is a platform for those movements concerned with the politics of sustainability, natural resources access and related social inequalities in both rural and urban settings. We are interested in grassroots’ initiatives that envision sustainable ways of inhabiting the planet as well as critical reflections on political ecology and the environmental effects of globalisation for local communities. Questions may be directed to grassrootsjpe@gmail.com  https://www.grassrootsjpe.org/