Climate Research—further developing a multidisciplinary journal for the 21st century

Abstract

With this issue of Climate Research (CR) we begin our tenure as Editors-in-Chief. By way of introduction: Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth (www.cees.no/ component/option,com_staff/person,nilsst/ and www. cees.no/ecoclim/) has worked on a broad spectrum of topics surrounding the ecology and evolution of animal populations and on the effects of climate change on population dynamics. Dr. James W. Hurrell (www. cgd.ucar.edu/cas/jhurrell/) is an atmospheric scientist with interests in climate variability and climate change. Our complementary backgrounds represent a combination of expertise that we believe will energize CR. Predicting the potential effects of climate on ecosystems, and vice versa, is a grand challenge. It is also of paramount socio-economic importance. Such predictions can only result from a deeper understanding of the mechanistic and causal links between Earth’s ecosystems and her climate. We will work towards making CR a more dynamic outlet for high-quality original research that contributes to meeting these challenges. To achieve this, we will: • Ensure that submitted manuscripts are handled promptly and efficiently, while also being subjected to the highest standard of quality control through peer review • Monitor the performance of editors and reviewers • Broaden and strengthen the editorial board • Continue with the tradition of publishing highquality collections of papers from conferences, symposia and other settings, as Theme Sections or CR Specials • Develop the scientific aspects of CR by encouraging submission of Reviews and ‘As I See It’ articles (personal, but well-substantiated points of view) Questions, comments and suggestions on any or all of the above are welcome. In the coming issues of CR we will publish our own perspectives in a series of ‘As I See It’ articles on topics such as the interaction between climate and organisms, climate and ecosystems, and climate and society. These will be designed to stimulate discussion and to focus attention on some of the key emerging issues in climate research. Inter-Research (IR), the publisher of CR, will continue to emphasize rapid publication of articles (approximately 3 months from final acceptance) and the highest professional standard of presentation through copy editing, typesetting and printing. Further, through the ‘Inter-Research Symposia’ –– a 25th anniversary initiative (www.int-res.com/ir25) –– IR will sponsor selected symposia on subjects that will benefit the CR community and stimulate submission of timely research articles. For any journal, authors are the most important resource. Our job will be to provide the mechanisms for authors to communicate their results most efficiently, while preserving the highest standards of peer review. To accomplish this, we will rely on our distinguished editors and referees. We believe that this approach will attract the very best papers within the field of climate research.