Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment

Instruction to Authors » Review

Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment publishes timely, interesting, and informative articles on all aspects of ecology and related disciplines. It features synthetic reviews focusing on current research, new concepts and technologies, and the latest developments around the world.

Frontiers is aimed at all professional ecologists and researchers working in related disciplines. It focuses on current ecological issues and environmental challenges, and features a small number of short, high impact research communications of interest to researchers from a broad range of specialties and backgrounds. These papers should therefore be accessible and understandable to those reading outside their area of expertise.

All articles are subject to peer review before they are accepted for publication.

Readership

Professional ecologists from a wide range of backgrounds (academia, agencies, NGOs, non-profits), working in all sub-disciplines of ecology
Scientists working in related disciplines (eg, environment, conservation)
Scientists working with ecological data and concepts (eg, statisticians, economists)
Resource managers, policymakers, and any other interested groups and individuals.

Review Article Topics
Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment will consider reviews on any subject involving ecology and related disciplines, but we are particularly interested in:

Global issues
Broadly impacting research
Cross-disciplinary or multi-country comparisons or endeavors
Use of new techniques and technologies
New approaches to old problems
Practical applications of ecological science

Authorship

Please only include as authors those who have made a substantial contribution to the article. The maximum numbers of authors is 10, except in very special circumstances, which should be made clear in the accompanying letter to the Editor.

Criteria

Broad interdisciplinary appeal, not only to ecologists but also to those in other disciplines.
Length: 3500 words, not including a short abstract, and not more than 50 references and 6–7 figures and/or tables. (Additional tables or figures may be posted as web-only material on the journal’s website).
Writing style must be crisp, concise, and accessible, and should avoid or explain all terminology that might be unfamiliar to a multidisciplinary readership.
Content should involve one or more of the following:

Research with important policy or resource management implications
Research with practical applications
Global environmental or resource issues
Fundamental, novel advances in ecological science or related areas
Use of new approaches or technologies to address current or long standing ecological/environmental issues

Articles are divided into a number of sections:

Abstract
Each article should begin with an abstract (maximum 150 words). This is one of the most important sections to engage the readers’ interest. Titles and abstracts are the reader’s first point of contact with an article, so these should be as lively and imaginative as possible. It should do more than just repeat in brief what the article says–it must ‘hook’ readers in, by explaining what the article is about and why it is worth reading. This and the early introductory paragraphs should try to convey the enthusiasm that the writer feels for his/her subject.
“In a nutshell” (Review articles only)
Provide 3–5 bullet points to give non-specialist readers, particularly policy makers, the simplest essence of the piece. These should be in the clearest language possible, with no jargon or repetition from the abstract, and they should not exceed 75 words in all.
Introduction
The first paragraph or two of the piece should serve two purposes: convincing the reader to read the rest of the article, and setting the scene by briefly introducing the subject of the article and placing it into context for the reader. Common attention-grabbing devices include a provocative statement, an interesting image or anecdote, or a rhetorical question. Offer something to pique the interest, to make readers stop and think, “Hmm, that sounds interesting . . .” Since the journal has such a varied audience, placing the topic into context, with all the necessary background information, is particularly important.
Conclusions
The final paragraphs should tie things together, emphasizing the conclusions that can be drawn from what has been discussed in the article. Authors should try to answer the questions, “What is the bottom line here? What does all this really mean in a practical sense?” and then point the topic down the road–even go out on a limb a bit—by suggesting solutions, speculating on future developments, emphasizing the implication for policy making or resource management, and proposing directions for future research. After giving readers a clear picture of the topic, finish with where it is (or should be) headed, and leave readers with something to think about.

Writing Style
The writing style for Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment is probably less “traditional academic” than many authors are used to. It is aimed at wider audience than most academic journals. Please avoid all specialty related jargon (explain/define in the text)and dense blocks of text.

It is crucial that the language of Frontiers reviews be as clear and accessible as possible throughout, even when tackling the more complex aspects of a subject.

The following guidelines apply to both the abstract and main body of the text:

Briefly and clearly explain technical concepts and terms as soon as they arise.
Pick commonly used words rather than complex technical terms.
Use the active instead of the passive voice, and shorter sentences rather than longer ones.
Write concisely, avoiding filler (eg “The fact that” and “In order to”).
Break the text up into paragraphs of no more than a few hundred words, and add short, imaginative subsection headings whenever the subject changes, or simply to avoid overlong blocks of text.
Give the scientific name (genus and species, in parentheses and italics) of a species the first time it is used, in addition to its common name, if any, which can then be used throughout the text. Genus names should start with a capital letter and may be abbreviated to a single letter thereafter, if no confusion will result.
Spell out all acronyms unfamiliar to the general reader (including those not in the USA) at first mention, putting the acronym in parentheses and using it from then on.
Include specific details such as names, places and numbers when appropriate and permissible.
Ask yourself if your piece will be interesting and clearly understandable to readers from other subspecialties. If in doubt, consider showing your article to colleagues in other departments.
Footnotes are not used; work the information into the text or include as a separate panel. It is possible to include Web-only material to appear in the online version of Frontiers.
If you use automatic citation software such as Reference Manager, remove all form field shading before submitting your manuscript (MS Word: Tools -> Options -> View -> Tool Shading “Never”)
Add pages numbers and line numbers to your final manuscript.

Submissions

All manuscripts should be submitted to Frontiers through our online manuscript tracking system, which can be accessed through the "Manuscript Submission" button on this site's home page. The submission page contains instructions to authors on the automated submission and the peer review processes. There is no need to send a hand copy by post but please keep electronic copies of what has been uploaded.

Please note that while most electronic formats can be used for images, JPEG (.jpg) files saved in CMYK mode (not RGB) are preferred. Images must have a minimum resolution of 300dpi at a width of 5 inches (125 mm). Please note that low-resolution images, such as PowerPoint slides and pictures downloaded from the Internet, are acceptable for the review process, but are not of sufficiently high resolution for final publication. Images scanned directly from books, journals, or other printed materials are also not suitable for publication, as they will reproduce very poorly no matter what the resolution. We will need your images in an acceptable format before we can accept your manuscript for publication. Please contact journal staff for further details.

Please keep copies of everything you have uploaded. The journal will accept no responsibility for materials loss or lost in transit.

Illustrations
Authors are strongly encouraged to illustrate their articles with high-quality color photographs and graphics to attract the reader’s attention, to complement and clarify the text, and to break up the pages. No charges will be made for their inclusion, but permission must be secured to reproduce any previously published images. We must have images in an acceptable format before we can accept a manuscript for publication. Please contact journal staff for further details.

Format and Resolution
Adequate figure resolution is essential to a high-quality print and online rendering of your paper. Raster line art, grayscale, and color artwork must have a resolution of 300 dots per inch (dpi) at 6 inches (15 cm) width - file size 3-5 MB. Both these requirements must be satisfied; one or the other is not enough. Each image should be a separate file, labeled (for example) “03FRN0021 Smith Figure 1”.

Electronic figure files must be submitted in one of the following formats: JPEG (.jpg), Adobe Illustrator (AI), or Encapsulated PostScript (EPS). We cannot accept files in other formats.

Figure Layout
In laying out figures, keep things clear and simple and try to maximize the space given to the data. Avoid wasted empty space and clutter.

Frontiers figures are most often between 3.5 and 4.5 inches (8.9–11.4 cm) wide; please create your original images as close to these dimensions as possible to avoid distortion caused by shrinking or enlarging, and to preserve the best resolution.
Titles or labels not absolutely necessary for understanding the figure should be removed and/or explained in the figure legend.
Graphics should be provided on a white background; we can add colored tints to the background.
Use of color for the graphic elements (lines, symbols, etc) is welcomed, particularly where this helps readers to understand what is being illustrated
Use solid symbols for plotting data if possible, unless data overlap or there are multiple symbols. Make symbols large enough that they will be distinguishable when the figure is reduced.
Do not use three-dimensional graphics unless absolutely necessary.
Scales or axes should not extend beyond the range of the data plotted
Standard line weight (thickness) is 0.5 points for boxes, graphs, etc, but this can be increased to up to 2 points for line graphs.
Keys to symbols should be kept as simple as possible and be positioned so they do not needlessly enlarge the figure. Details can be included in the captions.
Tick marks along the axes of graphs should point outwards from the axis (left of y-axis and below x-axis)

Typefaces and Labels in Graphics

Use sans-serif fonts such as Arial or Helvetica
Capitalize only the first word in each label or sentence, as well as all proper nouns
Italicize scientific names, mathematical variables, and “et al.”; otherwise use only plain or bold text
Label both X- and Y-axes and give units in parentheses
Crowded X-axis labels may be tilted at 45 degrees
Include SI units in parentheses. If there is room, write out variables -- eg Temperature (K). Use negative exponents instead of backslashes
Use leading zeros on all decimals (eg 0.3, 0.55)
Multipart figures should ideally have four or fewer parts. Please distinguish the parts of multipart figures using letters “(a)”, “(b)”, “(c)”, etc, in both images and figure captions.

Colors and Contrast

Avoid using colored type.
Avoid using colored background shade.
Avoid using grayscale, similar patterns or colors that may blur together upon reduction, and any combination of red and green.
Use white type and scale bars over darker areas of photographic images

Figure Captions

Each figure needs an explanatory caption.
Each caption should be under 100 words, and preferably under 50. Be clear and concise. Information in overlong captions should be integrated into the text.
Credits for images, when these come from ANY source other than the author, should be given after a caption, in the format “Courtesy of AB Johnson” or “© Oxford Scientific Films”. Authors are not credited for their own images.
Include figure captions and image credits in a single list, after the References and tables.

Tables

Tables of reasonable size and sidebars (panels) containing extra information are also welcomed. Very large tables may have to be displayed as Web-only material on the electronic version of the journal.

Do not place tables within the manuscript text; these should be placed after the References.
Try to limit tables to 200 words and five columns; if you have more information than this, please consider, in order of preference, (1) trimming down the information, (2) dividing it into multiple tables, or (3) contacting editorial staff for guidance on Web-only material (see also below)

References Section: Examples

: Fryxell JM and Sinclair ARE. 1988. Causes and consequences of migration by large herbivores. Trends Ecol Evol 3: 237–41.

: Anderson RM and May RS. 1991. Infectious diseases of humans: dynamics and control, 2nd ed. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.; Wright S. 1978. Evolution and the genetics of populations, Vol 4: variability within and among natural populations. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

: May RM and Anderson RS. 1983. Parasite-host coevolution. In: Futuyama DJ and Slatkin M (Eds). Coevolution, 3rd ed. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer.

: Schaefer M. 1975. Experimental studies on the importance of interspecies competition for the lycosid spiders in a salt marsh. Proceedings of the 6th International Arachnological Congress; 19–20 Mar 1974; Amsterdam. Amsterdam: Nederlandse Entomologische Vereniging.

: NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). 1961. Climatological data–Kansas. Asheville (NC): Environmental Data and Information Service, National Climatic Center. Report NOAA-03-88-1.

: Smith RD. 1992. Little brown birds are really interesting. In: Jones X (Ed). Interesting birds of North America. Proceedings of the symposium at the 112th meeting of the American Birding Society; 1992 Mar 2-4; Los Angeles, CA. Washington: American Birding Soc.

: Feth JA. 1947. The geology of Northern Canelo Hills (PhD dissertation). Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona.

: Smith RS. My trip to India. http://cs.geotown.com/smithtrip.html. Viewed 14 Dec 1999.; Bird Ecology Society (BES). 1999. Ecology of birds at the turn of the millennium. www.ecologyofbirds.com. Viewed 14 Dec 1999.; GVU’s 8th WWW user survey. (nd). www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/usersurveys/ survey 1997–10. Viewed 8 Aug 2000.

: Baker JK. 1999. Switch to dollar bodes ill for Ecuador. Washington Post. Sept 12: Sect B: 2.

: Fulton RS. Predator–prey relationships in an estuarine littoral copepod community. Ecology. In press.

Conflict of Interest
We ask that all authors disclose any financial and personal relationships with other persons or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of financial conflicts include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications, and travel grants occurring within three years of beginning the work submitted. If there are no conflicts of interest, authors should state that there are none. Acknowledgements, including relevant sources of funding, should be declared in a brief statement at the end of the text.

Format of Submissions
All manuscripts should be submitted through Frontiers’ online manuscript submission system, which can be accessed through our website at www.frontiersinecology.org. There is no need to send a hand copy by post but please keep electronic copies of what has been uploaded.

Images should be provided electronically via email or ftp. Most standard electronic formats can be used, but JPEG files (.jpg) saved in CMYK mode (not RGB) are preferred. Images must have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi at a width of at least 5 inches (125 mm). Please note that low-resolution images such as PowerPoint slides, pictures downloaded from the Internet, and pictures embedded in a Word document are acceptable for the review process, but are not of sufficiently high resolution for final publication. Images scanned directly from books, journals, or other printed materials are also not suitable for publication, as they will reproduce very poorly no matter what the resolution. Again, we will need your images in an acceptable format before we can accept your manuscript. Please contact journal staff for further details.

Editorial Queries
Because Frontiers is a relatively new publication, editorial office staff are keen to work closely with authors, to help them with the style and tone of their article, and to answer any questions. Please feel free to contact one of the editors to discuss your article.