[1] IMS is the copyright-holder and co-publisher, along with the United Nations University (UNU), of the quarterly journal Mountain Research and Development (MRD).
"[3] The practical purpose of the IMS was to provide a vehicle for collaboration with United Nations University in the publication of a new mountain research and applied study journal.
IMS and the new journal, MRD, were aided financially and intellectually by the UNU, Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Hochgebirgsforschung, UNESCO, the Commission on High Altitude Geoecology of the International Geographical Union (IGU), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).
[5] The specific impetus for the founding of the IMS stemmed from 1974 conference on the Development of Mountain Environment that was convened by the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ) in Munich.
The membership of the founding editorial and advisory boards was international, representing sixteen nations, and special attention was paid to facilitating publication in English of manuscripts submitted in any language.