Editorial

Abstract

Ecological Monographs is ESA's journal for comprehensive papers that integrate and synthesize research findings with the broader scientific literature. We publish original research papers, concepts and syntheses, and reviews. All of these types of papers establish new benchmarks in the field, define directions for future research, and contribute to fundamental understanding of ecological principles. Many of the papers explicitly transcend the boundaries between “basic” and “applied” ecology and derive principles for ecological management in its broadest sense. Rapid advances in ecological science increasingly depend on the fusion of data, statistical models, and analytical models. Over the last 20 years, the Ecological Society of America, through a series of working groups, ad hoc committees, and policy papers, has encouraged ecologists to voluntarily share their data and models freely and openly. We established Ecological Archives as a repository for lengthy tables of raw and derived data and for archiving computer code and executable models. More than 75% of our authors now use Ecological Archives for publishing supplemental material associated with papers published in Ecological Monographs. Beginning in 2011, we begin moving ecological data archiving and sharing to a new level. At its November meeting, the ESA Governing Board approved a motion that authors of accepted manuscripts that were submitted to Ecological Monographs after 1 January 2011 will be required to archive the associated data in a permanent, publicly accessible data repository, such as Ecological Archives, Dryad, or ORNL-DAAC. While we will be working throughout the year to develop precise guidelines for data archival, our general principle is that the data that are archived must be of sufficient resolution to allow for: replication of summary graphs and tables in the paper; replication of statistical analyses presented in the paper; and usage in novel statistical analyses, meta-analyses, or parameterization of simulation models. In general, this will mean “raw” data (not simply tables of means and standard deviations), provided in non-proprietary, machine-readable formats. Archived data sets must be accompanied by clear and precise metadata that describe measured variables, their units, and the locality and scale of measurements. We recognize that requiring data and metadata submission adds an additional level of work to the final preparation of a manuscript, and we will work with authors to streamline the process. At the same time, the free and open availability of data will speed the creation and use of ecological knowledge and will enhance the long-term value of papers, published in Ecological Monographs. The journal continues to rank among the top 10 ecological journals in terms of impact factors. According to the ISI Journal Citation Reports, the 2009 impact factor of Ecological Monographs was 4.86 (ranked 10th among ecological journals), its five-year impact factor was 8.29 (ranked 4th among ecological journals), and the cited half-life of more than 10 years continues to show the lasting value of its papers to the ecological sciences. During 2010, 143 manuscripts were submitted to Ecological Monographs—roughly 35% more than in 2009. Approximately half of the manuscripts that we receive are sent out for review, and the average time from submission to a first decision for these reviewed manuscripts is 61 days. The overall acceptance rate continues to hover around 15%, making Ecological Monographs one of the most selective journals in the field. Virtually all articles are published within a year of acceptance—as a quarterly journal, Ecological Monographs is hard-pressed to publish more rapidly, but the backlog for print generally is only three issues. To reduce the time authors must wait to formally publicize their findings and increase the visibility of our papers, last year we introduced a pre-print option for papers. We are pleased to say that nearly all authors are taking advantage of this option, which assigns papers a citable digital object identifier (DOI) within days of final acceptance and makes the final version available to subscribers and the scientific news media. Manuscripts submitted to Ecological Monographs are complex, integrative, and lengthy, and they demand substantial time and effort from reviewers, editors, and the professional staff in the ESA's Publications Office. We remain most grateful to the volunteer subject-matter editors on the boards of both Ecology and Ecological Applications and the community of reviewers who continue to read, thoughtfully review, and edit these manuscripts conscientiously and in a reasonable amount of time. The dedication of our editors and reviewers is more than matched by the talented professional staff who work assiduously with authors to move their manuscripts through to publication as quickly as possible, and who will continue to help authors through the transition to mandatory data archiving.