Continental Shelf Research publishes articles dealing with the biological, chemical, geological and physical oceanography of the shallow marine environment, from coastal and estuarine waters out to the shelf break. The continental shelf is a critical environment within the land-ocean continuum, and many processes, functions and problems in the continental shelf are driven by terrestrial inputs transported through the rivers and estuaries to the coastal and continental shelf areas. Manuscripts that deal with these topics must make a clear link to the continental shelf. Examples of research areas include:

Physical sedimentology and geomorphology
Geochemistry of the coastal ocean (inorganic and organic)
Marine environment and anthropogenic effects
Interaction of physical dynamics with natural and manmade shoreline features
Benthic, phytoplankton and zooplankton ecology
Coastal water and sediment quality, and ecosystem health
Benthic-pelagic coupling (physical and biogeochemical)
Interactions between physical dynamics (waves, currents, mixing, etc.) and biogeochemical cycles
Estuarine, coastal and shelf sea modelling and process studies.