EDITORIAL

Abstract

We are delighted to announce that Ecological Monographs has implemented a totally web- based system for manuscript submission. Authors no longer need to send hard copies or e-mail attachments to the Publications Office or the Editor-in-Chief in order to have their work considered for publication. Manuscripts may now be sent to the journal over the Internet in the original digital format (e.g., Word, WordPerfect, or LaTex), and there are several format options for figures, including JPEG, TIFF, and Excel. The new system will convert the files into a merged PDF for editors and reviewers. Please check 〈http://esapubs.org/esapubs〉 for current instructions before submitting new manuscripts. Peer review will be conducted via the same integrated system, with password-protected confidentiality for reviewers. Our hope is that the entire submission and review process will be expedited. We are confident that there will be significant savings in terms of postage and paper costs, both for ESA and for authors. Another benefit of the new system is that corresponding authors may check the status of their manuscripts on-line at any time. Authors and reviewers may also use the system to update their addresses and contact information. The Publications Office staff has worked diligently to test the new software during the last part of 2003. The aim has been to make the system as user-friendly as possible. Of course, we welcome feedback and suggestions from authors and reviewers for making further improvements. We are actively promoting more concise papers in ESA journals. Our editors are increasingly skeptical of submissions longer than 20 manuscript pages to Ecology/Ecological Monographs. Currently, a large fraction of submissions are being rejected with a request for shortening. Submissions of more than 30 typescript pages must be accompanied by a cover letter that provides an explanation and justification for the length. Manuscripts longer than 50 ms pages may be considered for Ecological Monographs only with permission of the Editor-in-Chief. Digital appendices in Ecological Archives 〈http://esapubs.org/esapubs/archive/archive_main.htm〉 provide a major avenue to concise papers. Authors should examine some digital appendices to get a feel for the ways in which authors have used Ecological Archives to shorten the print portions of their publications. Long submissions that do not make use of digital appendices have a very high probability of being rejected and returned to authors for shortening. The new policies are intended to raise the interest of readers, increase the number and disciplinary breadth of papers we can publish, and speed the rate of publication.