Description

Ecological research is rapidly expanding around the globe and expanding in its perspectives on what defines “ecology.” New outlets for this burgeoning research are needed that will ensure the high standards necessary for the published work to have important impacts on the discipline of ecology and on environmental management and policy. Accordingly, the Ecological Society of China (ESC) and the Ecological Society of America (ESA) are jointly developing a new journal that will provide a high quality publication forum for a global population of researchers. ESA will provide expertise based on its long experience in publishing some of the most widely cited and influential ecological journals in the world, ESC will provide the funding, and members of both societies will be involved in the development and editorial operations of the new journal.

Mission and Scope

The new journal will focus on research applying the principles and concepts of ecology to support sustainable development, especially in regions undergoing rapid anthropogenic change.  The journal will encourage submissions on multi–scale research, the application of integrative and interdisciplinary approaches, and international collaborations between scientists from industrialized and industrializing countries.

Editorial Structure

1. The journal will have a single Editor in Chief, familiar with both Chinese and US scientific cultures and acceptable to both ecological societies.
2. The Editor in Chief would be aided by a number of Associate Editors in Chief (two to four) who would be evenly distributed between the US and China.  Their task would be to commission articles, consider new submissions, and assign to the Associate Editors who form the Editorial Board.
3. The Editorial Board should be truly international and should ensure substantial representation of specific countries beyond the U.S. and China, such as India, Africa, Russia, etc.  The task of the editorial board would be to consider manuscripts assigned by the Associate Editors in Chief, suggest reviewers, consider reviews, and make recommendations at each state of peer review.
4. To ensure true international integration and breadth of perspectives in evaluation, a mechanism of reciprocity should be built into the editorial and review processes.  For example, while the processes should allow flexibility, it would be inappropriate to have the responsible editor and reviewers all be from the same region as the submitting author. 
5. It may be useful to offer the Associate Editors in Chief and the Editorial Board short term appointments because they may feel these roles will require extra effort due to language problems.  For example, one-year initial appointments with renewal possible each year will allow us to attract individuals to serve this new international journal.
6. Key to the success of the journal will be active commissioning of articles from the best authors in multiple countries, at least in its early stages of development.  The commissioning will be the responsibility of the Editor in Chief, the Associate Editors in Chief and the Editorial Board.  The ESC and ESA will also encourage members of their council and committees to submit high quality papers to the journal.  ESA journal editors could also refer manuscripts that do not fit the scope of existing ESA journals.

Operations of the journal

1. The journal would be open access and published online only.  Articles in the new journal should be posted online as soon as they are ready for publication, with issues closed at the end of each month.
2. The editorial office will be located in Beijing, but will use ESA’s online submission software and styling tool. 
3. Authors who are non-native English speakers may be required by editors to use a language polishing service. Articles will not be reviewed until they are considered to be at an acceptable level of English.