Journal of Ecology

Contents

Journal of Ecology The Journal of Ecology is a peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing research on the ecology of plants, populations, communities and ecosystems. It is produced by the British Ecological Society and has played a central role in debates about succession, competition, biogeography and conservation since the early 20th century. The journal has engaged authors and readers linked to institutions such as the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, Kew Gardens, and international centers including the Smithsonian Institution, Max Planck Society, and Chinese Academy of Sciences.

History

Founded in 1913, the journal emerged during a period of institutional consolidation exemplified by organizations like the Royal Society and the Linnean Society of London. Early editors had affiliations with the University of Edinburgh, University of Manchester, University of Glasgow and field stations such as Wytham Woods and the Hastings Reserve. The period between the World Wars saw contributions from authors linked to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the Natural History Museum, London, and the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, reflecting networks that included the Royal Society of Edinburgh and colonial botanical gardens in Kew. Post-war expansion incorporated research from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Michigan, and the Australian National University. Landmark editorial shifts paralleled developments at the International Biological Programme, the United Nations Environment Programme, and the rise of global syntheses such as those produced by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.

The journal emphasizes research on plant ecology, vegetation dynamics, functional traits, population biology and ecosystem processes. Authors often come from departments at Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University, University of British Columbia, ETH Zurich, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, Stockholm University and institutes like the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Its policy aligns with ethical frameworks from bodies such as the Committee on Publication Ethics, the National Research Council (US), and the European Research Council. Topics routinely include field studies in places like the Amazon Rainforest, the Congo Basin, the Sundarbans, and Great Barrier Reef regions, alongside modelling work referencing methods developed at institutions such as Los Alamos National Laboratory and Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.

Published bimonthly by the British Ecological Society, the journal offers subscription and open access options under mechanisms used by publishers including Wiley-Blackwell, Elsevier, and Springer Nature; it participates in transformative agreements with consortia such as Jisc and initiatives parallel to the Horizon 2020 open science agenda. Distribution networks involve libraries at the Bodleian Library, British Library, Library of Congress, and university consortia like the California Digital Library and HathiTrust. Digital archiving is managed through platforms comparable to Portico and collaboration with indexing services run by organizations such as Clarivate Analytics and Elsevier Science.

The journal is indexed in major databases and services analogous to Web of Science, Scopus, BIOSIS Previews, and CAB Abstracts, with metadata curated in systems used by CrossRef, ORCID, and DataCite. Citation tracking occurs via products from Clarivate Analytics and the Institute for Scientific Information. Library catalogs apply standards from organizations like the Dewey Decimal Classification and Library of Congress Classification; bibliometric analyses reference datasets originating at entities such as the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

Throughout its run the journal has influenced debates connecting work at the Royal Society, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and policy discussions within the European Commission and national agencies such as the Natural Environment Research Council and US Fish and Wildlife Service. Citation metrics are compared with titles published by societies such as the Ecological Society of America and journals like Nature, Science, Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Ecology Letters, and Global Change Biology. Reviews and commentary have appeared in outlets including the Times Higher Education Supplement, the New Scientist, and specialist newsletters from institutions like the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

The journal has hosted influential papers on succession and niche theory that intersect with work by figures associated with University of Chicago, Cornell University, Duke University, and the University of California, Los Angeles. Special issues have focused on themes tied to conferences organized by groups such as the British Ecological Society meetings, the Ecological Society of America symposiums, the International Congress of Ecology, and workshops at centers like the Santa Fe Institute and Island Biology Conferences. Notable contributions have engaged debates connected to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Ramsar Convention, and the Bonn Convention.

The editorial board comprises academics and researchers affiliated with institutions like University of Aberdeen, University of Leeds, University of Exeter, University of Stirling, University of Sheffield, University of Newcastle (Australia), University of Cape Town, University of Nairobi, Peking University, Tsinghua University, National University of Singapore, University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Seoul National University and research organizations such as the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and the Smithsonian Institution. Peer review follows single- or double-blind procedures consistent with guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics and incorporates data-sharing expectations modelled on repositories maintained by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and the Dryad Digital Repository. Editorial decisions reference advice from external reviewers drawn from networks including the Royal Society, the European Commission research panels, and specialist societies like the British Mycological Society.

Category:Academic journals