A review of policy research articles published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research in the past 40Â years: Progress at the science-policy interface?

The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region has been the focus of scholarly research from a wide range of disciplines across the natural and social sciences. Scholars and practitioners recognize that research at the interface of science and policy is increasingly important if we are to address the current and future challenges in the region. This article presents an analysis of policy research articles published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research (JGLR) over the period of 1975-2013. Although JGLR is primarily a publication outlet for natural science scholarship related to the Great Lakes, the findings from this analysis indicate that the JGLR has been a consistent outlet for policy research related to the Great Lakes, particularly research at the science-policy interface. This article presents patterns, gaps and reflections on the evolution of policy research published in the journal over the past 40 years, and what the publication of policy research in JGLR means for strengthening the science-policy interface in the future.