Northwest Scientific Association

Northwest Science

Purpose and scope

Like the Northwest Scientific Association (NWSA), Northwest Science was founded in the 1920s. It is the only peer-reviewed journal that focuses on natural sciences in the Northwest region of North America, including Alaska, western Canada (British Columbia, Yukon, Alberta, and Northwest Territories), and the northwestern United States (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and northern California).

The pages of Northwest Science are open to original and fundamental research in the basic, applied, and social sciences. Papers are welcome from authors outside of the Pacific Northwest if the topic is suitable to our regional audience.

Northwest Science editorial team

Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Lucy Kerhoulas
Managing Editor: Dr. Kathryn Peiman
Editorial Board

Authors with questions about submitting to Northwest Science are encouraged to contact Dr. Lucy Kerhoulas (lucy "dot" kerhoulas "at" humboldt "dot" edu).

All Northwest Science submissions are refereed by at least two qualified peer reviewers. For further details of the submission process and requirements, please refer to our Author Guidelines. As of 2023, Northwest Science offers Open-Access publication in addition to a conventional publication model in which submission costs are based on page charges. Please refer to Publication Costs for more details.

Accessing Northwest Science

Recent and current issues: Issues of Northwest Science from 2007 - present (volume 81 onwards) are accessible online at BioOne.org, free to all NWSA members; click here for member access after first logging in to NWSA (link at the upper right of this website). Non-members can view Table of Contents and individual abstracts here. Accepted abstracts and pre-prints of selected articles for issues currently in press are available here.

Note: Articles in Volume 96 on BioOne are temporarily free to everyone courtesy of BioOne. However, you must create a free BioOne account to access these papers. Click "Download Paper" then create an account--BioOne requires minimal information to create a free account. Northwest Science members also must create BioOne accounts also to access these papers.

Archival issues (volumes 1 - 80 / 1927 - 2006): NWSA is working with the Biodiversity Heritage Library to provide digital access to the archive of Northwest Science from 1927 - 2006. We anticipate that this digital archive will become available during the first half of 2026. Until this time;

Scanned pdfs of specific Northwest Science articles, pre-2007, are available upon request. Please contact Robin Lesher providing the full citation.
Scanned pdfs of Northwest Science articles from 1983 - 2003 are available to view and download on the Washington State University digital library.