Introducing Research Articles

Abstract

editorial ISSN 1948-6596 Introducing Research Articles As Frontiers of Biogeography has begun to flour- ish, increasing submissions have made authors’ predilections more clear, and our view of the jour- nal’s role has matured. Last issue we announced that Frontiers will meet the previously unfulfilled need for Monographs in biogeography (Lomolino and Field 2014). This issue, we publish our first full -length Research Articles (Pompe et al. 2014, Schweiger and Beierkuhnlein 2014). This means Frontiers now has a full range of article types re- porting original research, having earlier provided the community with a venue for Correspondence on matters arising in biogeography, and Research Letters for original scientific research that is of particular note and most effectively communi- cated quickly. We have published updated Infor- mation for Authors 1 , which reflects these new ad- ditions and clarifies some issues related to com- mon problems, so please check these guidelines when preparing a contribution to the journal. Research Articles are full-length articles, similar to the majority of papers regularly pub- lished in Diversity & Distributions, Ecography, Global Ecology & Biogeography, and Journal of Biogeography. Our goal is not to compete with these ‘big four’ biogeography journals, or other established titles that regularly publish biogeogra- phy, but rather to provide a versatile alternative for good science by authors who would like a little extra helping hand and/or to join our non-profit, society-based, open-access community (see Daw- son et al. 2014). You might view our Research Arti- cles as a stepping stone to the big four (a place to cut your teeth). Or they might be an option if your good research didn’t strike lucky at your first- choice venue—in which case send your prior edi- torial decision, reviews, and responses to the edi- tor-in-chief to request expedited handling at Fron- tiers. You may desire the freedom to write in a more engaging way than some journals allow (we encourage clear, lively writing styles). Increasingly, perhaps, it will be your first choice; if you’re con- sidering ‘gold’ open access, we hope you’ll find Frontiers more and more difficult to beat. Michael N Dawson 1 , Richard Field 2 and Joaquin Hortal 3 Frontiers of Biogeography editors-in-chief mdawson@ucmerced.edu richard.field@nottingham.ac.uk ibs@mncn.csic.es References Dawson, M.N, Field, R. & Hortal, J. (2014) Guides, not gate- keepers. Frontiers of Biogeography, 6, 2–4. Lomolino, M.V. & Field, R. (2014) Re-articulation and re- integration of publications: monographs in biogeogra- phy. Frontiers of Biogeography, 6, 57–59. Pompe, S., Hanspach, J., Badeck, F.W., Klotz, S., Bruelheide, H. & Kuhn, I. (2014) Using ecological and life-history characteristics for projecting species responses to climate change. Frontiers of Biogeography, 6, 119– Schweiger, A.H. & Beierkuhnlein, C. (2014) Water tempera- ture and acidity regime shape dominance and beta- diversity patterns in helocrenic spring plant communi- ties. Frontiers of Biogeography, 6, 132–143. 1 http://escholarship.org/uc/search?entity=fb;view=authorinformation, last accessed 23/09/2014 Your participation in frontiers of biogeography is encouraged. Please send us your articles, com- ments and/or reviews. We are also open to suggestions on content and/or structure. Please check http://www.biogeography.org/html/fb.html for more information, or contact us at ibs@mncn.csic.es and frontiersofbiogeography@gmail.com. frontiers of biogeography 6.3, 2014 — © 2014 the authors; journal compilation © 2014 The International Biogeography Society