---
name: conbio-topic-selection
description: Use when deciding whether a project fits Conservation Biology and which article type to target. Conservation Biology is the Society for Conservation Biology's flagship journal, so the test is novelty plus transferable, direct relevance to conserving biological diversity, not local description alone. Helps frame the question; it does not collect data.
---

# Topic Selection & Fit (conbio-topic-selection)

*Conservation Biology* publishes science that **changes how biodiversity is conserved**. The bar is not
"new for this site" — it is **"novel, transferable, and consequential for conservation."** Use this
skill to pressure-test fit before you invest.

## When to trigger

- Choosing among possible projects or framings for a Conservation Biology submission
- A reviewer/colleague said the work feels "local," "descriptive," or "not generalizable"
- Deciding between a **Contributed Paper** and a **Research Note**
- Considering an **Essay**, a **Review**, or **Conservation Practice and Policy**

## The Conservation Biology fit test

A strong submission usually clears all four:

1. **Direct conservation relevance.** The result bears on a real decision: what to protect, how to
   manage, what to restore, which threat to prioritize. State the conservation problem first.
2. **Novelty + transferability.** It advances theory, method, or evidence in a way that travels beyond
   the focal taxon, site, or system. A finding others can use, not a one-off case report.
3. **Sound on its own scientific terms.** Ecological, statistical, or social-science methods done
   rigorously and matched to the question (see `conbio-study-design`).
4. **A clean, answerable scope.** Sharp enough to answer convincingly within the article-type word cap.

## Reach beyond your study system

| If your work is… | reach the field by… |
|------------------|----------------------|
| a single-site / single-species study | drawing the general mechanism or decision rule it informs |
| a method/tool development | showing the conservation questions it newly answers, with a worked case |
| a policy or management analysis | generalizing the lesson so other programs can apply it |
| a synthesis | identifying the trend or consensus that reshapes practice |

## Article-type choice

- **Contributed Paper** — full empirical study, IMRAD, broad relevance (~6,000–7,000 words).
- **Research Note** — one focused or preliminary contribution (~3,000 words). Do not pad into a paper.
- **Review** — comprehensive synthesis of a well-developed literature (~7,500–8,000 words).
- **Essay** — a forward-looking, evidence-grounded argument on a conservation issue (~6,000 words).
- **Conservation Practice and Policy** — applied tools, policy, or management lessons (~5,000 words).

## Anti-patterns

- "First record / first study in region X" as the whole contribution (descriptive, local-only)
- A clever model or method with no conservation payoff
- A sound study whose result would not change any conservation decision
- Choosing Contributed Paper length out of habit when a Research Note would land harder


## Fit pass for Conservation Biology

Use this as a second-pass capability check. First lock the species/system threat, conservation decision, and uncertainty relevant to action; then test whether the manuscript addresses conservation-science reviewers who ask whether evidence changes biodiversity, management, or policy action.

- **Primary move:** Score fit, novelty, evidence readiness, and audience ownership; reject prestige-only targeting when a sibling venue owns the contribution.
- **Decision ledger:** return `claim / evidence / blocker / next edit` rows so the next pass can patch the manuscript directly.
- **Neighbor test:** compare against Biological Conservation for applied conservation breadth, Global Change Biology for climate/ecosystem process, Ecology Letters for theory-forward ecology; if the neighboring outlet has the stronger audience claim, recommend re-routing before polishing.
- **Verification floor:** before submission-ready advice, re-open `resources/official-source-map.md` for volatile rules and name the one unresolved fact that could change the recommendation.

## Output format

```
【Question】one sentence
【Conservation problem】the decision or threat it informs
【Novelty + transferability】what advances and who else can use it
【Article type】Contributed Paper / Research Note / Review / Essay / Practice & Policy
【Fit verdict】strong / needs reframing / off-fit (why)
【Next】conbio-literature-positioning
```

## Supplementary resources

- [`../../resources/external_tools.md`](../../resources/external_tools.md) — conservation data sources by domain
- [`../../resources/official-source-map.md`](../../resources/official-source-map.md) — article types and scope