Occasional Papers

In 2021, the Society resolved to establish a line of Occasional Publications for works that did not fit the established format of the annual journal, the Proceedings of The Royal Society of Queensland. Occasional Publications are to be formally peer-reviewed in the traditional manner to confirm scholarly authenticity, and will usually follow the same modified APA system for style and referencing as used for the annual Proceedings, but could be of different structure and length. A work of monograph length, for example, could be published as an Occasional Paper. Occasional Papers may be edited by the Society’s Honorary Editor, or they may be referred to a Guest Editor who will arrange referees.

The Occasional Paper format will also suit subsequent online dialogue such as critical reviews by other authors or critics.

Guidelines for responding to a published Occasional Paper:

In the interests of transparency, respondents should identify themselves, unless there is an ethical reason for not doing so, in which case the respondent is invited to contact the President to advise of their views without using the contact form below. It will be assumed that respondents consent to web-publication of their response after moderation, unless specifically requested otherwise. However, respondents’ email addresses will not be published without their consent. Should a response seem to be substantial enough to warrant publication as an appendix to the original Occasional Paper, the Society will contact the author to negotiate.

At October 2023, several manuscripts are being considered by their authors for submission as Occasional Papers.


Occasional Paper No. 1:

Coal Seam Gas Mining: Potential to Induce Seismic and Aseismic Events and Aquifer Discontinuity
This paper has been subjected to peer review by expert referees in the normal manner and has been amended in the light of their feedback and input from two successive Society Editors. It was released as a “preprint” with accompanying press release in order to expose the issues to public debate, prior to final copyediting, improving the graphics, formatting and proofreading.

Not having received contrary feedback, Council of the Society on 30 July 2024 deemed the paper to have been accepted on that date. (Typesetting however is still outstanding as at 17 January 2025). The paper was formally published on the public web on 2 August 2024. Subsequently, it was assigned a volume number of 134 in the Council’s Proceedings.

The Society still welcomes thoughtful responses to the weighty issues exposed in the paper. These can be in the format of an article submitted to the Proceedings, or a comment via the form below.

Respond to Occasional Paper 1

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