Basic situation: The “Arid Land Geography” in Uygur language, “Xinjiang Geography” (a restricted academic journal) originally, was started by former Xinjiang Institute of Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1982, and the “Xinjiang Geography” was renamed as the “Arid Land Geography” in publication from 1985. It has been sponsored by Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, since Xinjiang Institute of Geography and Xinjiang Institute of Biology, Pedology and Desert Research were reorganized on July 7, 1998. Up to the end of 2008, 99 issues in 27 volumes of “Arid Land Geography”, involving more than 1300 papers (translations), were published accumulatively. In which the proportion of the papers written by minority writers occupied 95% of the total. The “Arid Land Geography” in Uygur language is an academic quarterly in 16K with 96 pages.

 

Tenets of the journal: The tenets of the journal are to reflect the research achievements of arid area geography and provide a forum for promoting the academic exchange at home and abroad and flourishing and developing arid area geography.

Publishing contents: The contents include the new theories, new technologies and new methods in arid area geography and its subdisciplines and interdisciplines. Concretely, the contents include the academic papers, research reports, technological reading notes, comprehensive comments, academic activities, information, book review, etc. in physical geography, humanities’ geography, regional geography, natural resources exploitation, environmental evolution, prevention and control of natural disaster, etc.

Readers: They include the geographical working personnel, university/college teachers and students, middle-school teachers, scientists and technicians as well as decision makers of the departments of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, water conservancy, meteorology, geology, industry, traffic, trade, urban construction, tourism, planning, etc.

Characteristics of the journal: As the academic quarterlies aggregated the regionality, specialty and integration, the “Arid Land Geography” and “Arid Zone Research” have a big effect in Xinjiang and other provinces and autonomous regions by their own characteristics, and they have become as the big predominance, one of the signs of comprehensive strength, long-term accumulated intellectual property, and big intangible assets of our institute, and they are also the important windows for understanding the knowledge innovation project of the institute at home and abroad.

Social effects: The pertinent standards and regulations of the state and Chinese Academy of Sciences are strictly enforced whether in layout form or appearance designing in recent years, and the layout and publication of the academic journals have gradually got onto a scientific and standardized track. The journals have been dependent on Science Press from the first issue of 2001, and they are supported by the Publication Foundation and are the only two minority-language academic journals in the planned and managed academic journals of the press. ISSN was gotten for the journal in November 1999, and then the journal began to issue to the foreign countries. Currently, 2~3 shares of the journals are subscribed by foreign subscribers. “Arid Land Geography” was gloriously elected into the “China List of Journals” in 2002, it is the only elected minority-language journal in 505 scientific and technological journals with social effects and economic returns, and it makes a figure in the scientific and technological journals in China. As the only natural science journal in the 21 elected journals of Xinjiang in the “China List of Journals”, “Arid Land Geography” achieves the optimal combination of social effects and economic returns.

Awards:

[1] “Third Award” of the Second (1991~1993) Appraisal and Comparison of Scientific and Technological Journals of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in 1995;

[2] “First Award” of the Third (1994~1996) Appraisal and Comparison of Scientific and Technological Journals of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in 1999;

[3] “First Award” of the Fourth (1997~1999) Appraisal and Comparison of Scientific and Technological Journals of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in 1999;

[4] “First Award” of the Fifth (2000~2001) Appraisal and Comparison of Scientific and Technological Journals of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in 2001;

[5] “First Award” of the Sixth (2002~2003) Appraisal and Comparison of Scientific and Technological Journals of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in 2003;

[6] “First Award” of the Seventh (2004~2005) Appraisal and Comparison of Scientific and Technological Journals of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in 2005;

[7] “First Award” of the Eighth (2006~2007) Appraisal and Comparison of Scientific and Technological Journals of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in 2007;

[8] Laurel of the “Xinjiang First Journal Award” of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in 1999;

[9] Laurel of the “Xinjiang Second Journal Award” of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in 2001;

[10] Laurel of the “Xinjiang Forth Journal Award” of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in 2005;

[11] Laurel of the “Xinjiang Fifth Journal Award” of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in 2007;

[12] Honorary title of the “Advanced Editorial Board in Society Work” of Xinjiang Society of Scientific and Technological Journal Edit in 1998;