The University of the Philippines Los Baños Journal of Environmental Science and Management and School of Environmental Science and Management (JESAM-UPLB) in partnership with the Continuing Education and Training Division (CETD) held a special lecture on “Practical Guide in Writing a Journal Article” last February 18, 2025 via hyflex mode at the SESAM Boardroom. The event was attended by 400 participants both online and onsite.

Dr. Rico C. Ancog, Dean of UPLB SESAM, emphasized the importance of timely and effective research results communication which transcends to the public and eventually affects development and policy. He also reiterated the role of scientists and universities not just in knowledge production but ensuring that the knowledge produced is well-communicated. Further, Dean Ancog supports the relevance of hosting avenues for students and young researchers to find more meaning and relevance in their current work. 

Dr. Thadeus P. Lawas, Managing Editor of JESAM and University Extension Specialist at SESAM, briefly introduced the Journal of Environmental Science and Management. The journal is one of the 16 journals published by UPLB and one of three UPLB-based journals indexed by the Web of Science. The journal has been indexed in several databases, such as Scopus and Web of Science, since 2009. Dr. Lawas further shared the journal’s focus area in various environmental science topics that include environmental planning, management, and restoration. He also detailed other services offered by JESAM, such as special issue publication and seminars on journal writing and publishing and mentoring on journal management. 

Dr. Sining C. Cuevas, UPLB SESAM Adjunct Associate Professor, gave the lecture on journal article writing. The lecture was centered on sharing practical guidelines on writing journal articles, focusing on journal manuscript structure and key components; the process of choosing a journal for publication; and dealing with rejections. Dr. Cuevas highlighted the importance of establishing the paper’s direction and knowledge gap by observing coherence throughout the paper. Addressing the stated objectives and knowledge gap was emphasized. Practical tips for choosing journals for publication and how to avoid predatory journals were also included in the talk. Lastly, some points on how to increase research engagements of published articles to increase the visibility of the paper were also shared.

Dr. Felino P. Lansigan, Editor-in-Chief of JESAM and UPLB Professor Emeritus, reiterated the responsibility of academics to share their research outputs and contribute to the big body of knowledge. He also reminded the audience that the analysis should be faithful to the methodology and how the results were obtained. Dr. Lansigan closed the event by inviting the participants to submit to JESAM.

JESAM, with the latest Impact Factor of 0.4, is among the Philippine-based journals included in the 2024 Clarivate Analytics Journal Citation Report.  It is produced semi-annually by the University of the Philippines Los Baños – School of Environmental Science and Management (UPLB-SESAM). JESAM accepts submissions of research articles on environmental science and management covering environmental planning and management, environmental restoration, and similar topics. Prospective authors can check JESAM’s Author Guidelines and submit manuscripts through the website.  (Catherine B. Gigantone, Cherry S. Padilla, Rosemarie Laila Areglado-Dimasuay, Thaddeus P. Lawas)