• A Comment points out errors of fact or interpretation in an article that previously appeared in a published issue (not merely a preprint) of Ecology or Ecological Monographs, or in an important article or book that is the basis for numerous articles being published in ESA journals.  If the “basis” article appeared in a journal that publishes Comments or Letters, we ask authors to try that journal before submitting to Ecology.
• Comments should be brief; our absolute limit is 16 typescript pages, including everything (cover page, text and references). Tables and figures should be avoided.  Comments do not have abstracts.
• The title of a Comment or Reply should be of the form “[Title of the original paper up to the first colon]: Comment.”
• Comments may be assigned to a Subject-matter Editor for evaluation.  As with regular articles, typically two reviews will be sought.  Every effort will be made to expedite the review process. 
• At the time a Comment is assigned to a Subject-matter Editor, a copy will be sent by the Publications Office to the corresponding author of the original paper.  The authors of the paper being commented upon will be offered the opportunity to submit a signed review to the Subject-matter Editor, who will view such a review as supplemental to and not a replacement for the regular reviews.  The signed supplemental review will be forwarded to the author(s) of the Comment, together with the two regular reviews and the Subject-matter Editor’s decision letter.
• When the Comment is first sent to the authors of the manuscript being commented upon, they will be informed by receipt of this policy document that at such time as the Comment is accepted for publication, they will be sent a copy of the final version and will be invited by the Subject-matter Editor to prepare a response.  The Reply must be completed within four weeks if simultaneous publication is to be guaranteed.  Authors should submit the response online and it will be sent to the same Subject-matter Editor who handled the Comment.  The Reply will typically be reviewed by one reviewer, but the Subject-matter Editor may choose to accept the response without review in cases where the response is short and simple.
• We will attempt to publish all comments on a particular paper plus any response together. We generally neither invite nor publish responses to responses.

rev 5/11/11

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