Mission Statement: Papers published in Ecological Monographs will provide integrative and complete documentation of major empirical and theoretical advances in the field and will establish benchmarks from which future research will build. Justification for their length must be based on characteristics of the research, analysis, and presentation of results and not simply because they involve large data sets or long-duration studies.
The pages of Ecological Monographs are open to integrative original research papers and synthetic reviews.
Articles published in Ecological Monographs are original research papers documenting complex, original observational, experimental, or theoretical studies that by their very integrated nature defy dissolution into shorter publications focused on a single topic or message. The latter are more appropriately submitted to Ecology or Ecological Applications.
Reviews should be comprehensive and synthetic papers that establish new benchmarks in the field, define directions for future research, contribute to fundamental understanding of ecological principles, and whenever possible, derive principles for ecological management in its broadest sense (including, but not limited to: conservation, mitigation, restoration, and pro-active protection of the environment). Reviews should be more than simple compilations of facts and overviews of the literature. Rather than focusing only on the recent literature and highlighting trendy topics, Reviews should reflect the development of a topic and encompass relevant natural history, observational and experimental data, analyses, models, and theory.
Concepts & Synthesis. The Concepts and Synthesis section publishes papers that conceptually advance the field of ecology. These papers are expected to go well beyond works being reviewed and include discussion of new directions, new syntheses, and resolutions of old questions.
Perspectives. This section, prominently featured at the beginning of the issue, is intended to contain papers that provide synthetic overview, critical commentary, or historical perspective, primarily by established ecologists. Often these will be invited papers, but aspiring authors should feel encouraged to contact the Editor-in-Chief.
Submissions to Ecological Monographs should be accompanied by a detailed cover letter outlining the content of the manuscript and discussing how the work meets the new goals of the journal. Although authors should identify the ESA journal to which a manuscript is being submitted, the final decision as to which ESA journal an accepted manuscript is published rests with the Editors-in-Chief and the Managing Editor.
Papers submitted to Ecological Monographs will be examined carefully to ensure that they meet the goals and scope of the journal. Manuscripts sent out for review will be handled by the Editor-in-Chief or by members of the editorial boards of Ecology and Ecological Applications.
Articles for Ecological Monographs are generally over 50 manuscript pages (16 printed pages). Abstracts should be no longer than 350 words.
rev. 1/3/09
