Trees for Life Journal (ISSN: 1559-1891) is an open-access journal of traditional knowledge and scientific studies of beneficial trees and plants published online by Trees for Life, a nonprofit organization.

Vision:

People around the world sharing traditional knowledge and scientific studies of trees and plants for the benefit of humanity.

Mission:

To provide an international forum on beneficial trees and plants for:

• Bringing traditional knowledge to the attention of the scientific community,

• Fostering and propagating small-scale field studies of traditional claims to promote further scientific studies, and

• Effectively translating scientific knowledge for application at the grassroots level.

Further Reading

A Bridge Between Science and Traditional Knowledge– Balbir Mathur, President, Trees for Life

A New Adventure in Service – Jeffrey Faus, Managing Editor

Open Access

All works published in Trees for Life Journal are open access, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License. Everything is immediately available online without cost to anyone, anywhere—to read, download, redistribute, include in databases, and otherwise use—subject only to the condition that the original authorship is properly attributed. Copyright is retained by the author.

Trees for Life Journal endorses the following definition of Open Access Publishing:

Definition of Open Access Publication

An Open Access Publication¹ is one that meets the following two conditions:

The author(s) and copyright holder(s) grant(s) to all users a free, irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual right of access to, and a license to copy, use, distribute, transmit and display the work publicly and to make and distribute derivative works, in any digital medium for any responsible purpose, subject to proper attribution of authorship², as well as the right to make small numbers of printed copies for their personal use.

1. Open access is a property of individual works, not necessarily journals or publishers.

2. Community standards, rather than copyright law, will continue to provide the mechanism for enforcement of proper attribution and responsible use of the published work, as they do now.

Scope

The Trees for Life Journal is an international, multidisciplinary journal that aims to build a bridge between the grassroots world and the scientific world. We focus on expanding the global pool of knowledge about beneficial trees and plants that could benefit humanity. We promote translation of traditional knowledge and anecdotal evidence into small-scale field studies and clinical investigation, and of clinical evidence into practical applications. We encourage participation of people from a broad spectrum of backgrounds, disciplines and areas of expertise.

Funding

The Trees for Life Journal receives funding from individuals and seeks grants from foundations that wish to further the mission of the journal.

Contents

• Open Forum for sharing traditional knowledge, ideas for possible new uses and proposed subjects for studies

• Essays are published articles on relevant topics. They are in three general categories:

  • Traditional uses – beneficial uses that are known and have been practiced, but may not have been formally studied

  • Reviews – reviews of the current scientific knowledge and literature

  • New uses – new ideas for potential uses and techniques

• Research studies can be posted online for comments from the community and guidance from an expert “mentor.”

  • Studies in Progress give details of research as it happens.

  • Manuscripts are posted in draft form for feedback and improvement.

  • Research Articles are the final published articles about the research studies.