The PARKS journal from the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas is being relaunched at the World Conservation Congress in September 2012 as an online, open access, peer-reviewed journal, covering field and policy research that contributes directly to protected area management. It aims to strengthen international collaboration in protected area development and management by serving as a global forum for the exchange of information. The journal will cover all protected area management approaches and governance types. It will focus on research that helps ensure protected areas fulfil their primary role in nature conservation, while also addressing critical issues such as ecologically sustainable development, social justice and climate change adaptation and mitigation. Particular encouragement will be given to contributors with direct and in-depth field experience, including protected area managers and rangers as well as researchers and academics. We invite submissions from those involved in innovative approaches to protected area management and governance, including indigenous and community conserved areas, financial sustainability and development of professional standards. The principal readership will be protected area specialists, researchers, students, policy makers and protected area managers from around the world. Papers submitted for publication should be evidence-based, using accepted scientific methods or drawing upon precise observations to support conclusions. Purely theoretical studies without field application are unlikely to be accepted. Papers that stimulate debate on new or forthcoming issues relevant to protected areas, such as linkages to convention targets, will normally be commissioned. PARKS will be available at http://www.iucn.org/about/union/commissions/wcpa/wcpa_puball/wcpa_parksmag/wcpa_parkseditorialpolicy/