Editorial Policies

Focus and Scope Section Policies Peer Review Process Publication Frequency Article Fees Open Access Policy

Focus and Scope

Avian Conservation and Ecology is an open-access, fully electronic scientific journal, sponsored by the Society of Canadian Ornithologists and Bird Studies Canada. We publish papers that are scientifically rigorous and relevant to the bird conservation community in a cost-effective electronic approach that makes them freely available to scientists and the public in real-time. ACE is a fully indexed ISSN journal that welcomes contributions from scientists all over the world. While the name of the journal implies a publication niche of conservation AND ecology, we think the theme of conservation THROUGH ecology provides a better sense of our purpose. As such, we are particularly interested in contributions that use a scientifically sound and rigorous approach to the achievement of avian conservation as revealed through insights into ecological principles and processes. Papers are expected to fall along a continuum of pure conservation and management at one end to more pure ecology at the other but our emphasis will be on those contributions with direct relevance to conservation objectives. Additional information on types of papers considered: We encourage papers on birds at any ecological level (individuals to ecosystems) that have a strong hypothesis driven approach to conservation problems. Papers in ACE will ideally have clearly articulated hypotheses and predictions laid out in the Introduction. However, we also recognize the value of descriptive studies that clearly define the value of the findings to real-world conservation objectives. In such cases, the onus will be on the authors to demonstrate that their descriptive study can provide significant value within the scope of current knowledge and future research directions. Papers on the natural history of species will typically not be considered. However, behavioral studies are welcomed if they have a bearing on conservation issues (e.g., whether and how extinction risk covaries with mating systems and human activities, and why it might be expected to; or whether and how dispersal is affected by habitat alteration, and why it might be expected to). Impact studies are welcomed if the consequences of documented effects are examined in a mechanistic ecological context (e.g., whether and how landscape-level habitat alteration by industrial forestry alters processes affecting population growth or community dynamics, and why it might be expected to). Studies conducted in areas essentially free of human influence are relevant if they represent controls against which impacted areas are compared. They may also represent model systems of ecological phenomena with consequences for conservation, provided that the connection to conservation is explicitly stated in the rationale for the research. We recognize the increasing scope of statistical treatments of data that range among frequentist, information theoretic and Bayesian approaches. However, we caution authors against the approach of rejecting trivial null hypotheses as these usually provide little insight into the support for the alternate hypothesis unless conducted in a strict experimental framework. ******** Objectif et champ disciplinaire Écologie et conservation des oiseaux (ÉCO) est une revue scientifique sous format électronique en libre accès, parrainée par la Société des ornithologistes du Canada et Étude d’oiseaux Canada. Nous publions des articles scientifiques rigoureux qui sont d’intérêt pour les spécialistes en conservation d’oiseaux. Nous avons opté pour le format électronique car il est économique et permet l’accessibilité des articles en temps réel pour les scientifiques et le public en général. La revue ÉCO est indexée dans la base ISSN et accepte les articles provenant de chercheurs du monde entier. Bien que le nom de la revue réfère à un champ disciplinaire touchant la conservation ET l’écologie, nous pensons que la conservation par l’écologie est davantage appropriée pour refléter notre objectif. Ainsi, nous sommes tout particulièrement intéressés par les articles qui présentent une approche scientifique rigoureuse menant à la conservation aviaire, au moyen d’avancées au plan des principes et des processus écologiques. Nous voulons que les articles se situent le long d’un gradient – allant de la conservation et de la gestion pures à une extrémité à l’écologie pure de l’autre –, mais privilégierons les articles qui auront des objectifs clairs de conservation. Renseignements additionnels sur le type d’articles souhaités Nous souhaitons recevoir des articles sur les oiseaux à tous les niveaux écologiques (des individus aux écosystèmes), qui présentent une approche élaborée des problèmes de conservation fondée sur des hypothèses. Idéalement, les hypothèses et les prévisions devraient être énoncées clairement dans l’introduction. Toutefois, nous reconnaissons également l’intérêt des travaux descriptifs qui démontrent explicitement la valeur de leurs résultats par rapport à des objectifs de conservation de la réalité courante. Dans ces cas, les auteurs seront responsables de démontrer que leur étude descriptive comporte une avancée comparativement aux connaissances actuelles et qu’elle pourra servir à orienter les recherches futures. Les articles sur l’histoire naturelle d’espèces ne seront généralement pas pris en considération. Par ailleurs, les études comportementales seront considérées si elles ont un lien avec des enjeux de conservation (p. ex. si et de quelle façon le risque de disparition covarie avec le type d’accouplement et les activités humaines, et pourquoi il pourrait covarier; ou encore, si et de quelle façon la dispersion est affectée par les modifications d’habitat, et pourquoi elle pourrait l’être). Les études d’impact seront considérées si les conséquences des effets constatés sont examinées dans un contexte écologique mécaniste (p. ex. si et de quelle façon les modifications d’habitat à l’échelle du paysage par la foresterie commerciale altèrent les processus qui affectent la croissance de la population ou la dynamique de la communauté, et pourquoi elles pourraient en être responsables). Les travaux menés dans des endroits pratiquement non modifiés par les humains sont pertinents s’ils représentent des contrôles à comparer avec des endroits modifiés par les humains. Ces travaux peuvent aussi représenter un système-modèle d’un phénomène écologique ayant des conséquences pour la conservation, à condition que le lien avec celle-ci soit clairement stipulé dans l’objectif de la recherche. Nous reconnaissons l’importance grandissante du traitement statistique des données, que l’approche soit fréquentiste, bayésienne ou de la théorie de l’information. Cependant, nous désirons mettre en garde les auteurs contre le rejet d’une hypothèse nulle qui serait futile, puisque cette façon de faire donne généralement moins de crédibilité à l’acceptation de l’hypothèse alternative, à moins que ce rejet soit mené dans un cadre expérimental strict.

Section Policies - Manuscript Types

Research Paper     Open Submissions   Peer-Reviewed     Indexed   Standard papers reporting research results using the classical format (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Literature Cited). Length restricted to 6000 words exclusive of tables, figures and literature cited. Publication fees are $750 CDN for research papers.     Letter     Open Submissions   Peer-Reviewed     Indexed   Relatively short papers designed to attract attention to innovative concepts or techniques which have the potential to strongly influence the research area. Letters will be of interest to a broader audience than topics addressed in standard research papers. For example, a letter describing a major advance in the estimation of juvenile survival by an innovative method to track bird movements over long time intervals and/or distances is likely to be of interest to avian ecologists generally. Statistical analyses supporting the concept or technique may be preliminary, but nevertheless robust with respect to the inferences drawn. Letters describing innovative concepts or techniques accompanied by too few data, or inappropriately analyzed, will not be accepted. Length is restricted to 3000 words, exclusive of tables, figures and literature cited. Publication fees are $750 CDN for letters.   Forum     Open Submissions   Peer-Reviewed     Indexed   Short papers (1000 word limit) designed to respond/follow up on papers published in recent issues, or to respond to issues raised in other forum articles. Forum papers may also raise attention on issues that were not specifically addressed in the journal. The Editors-in-Chief reserve the right to limit ongoing debates on the same topic to one response and one counter-response. Publication fees are $375 CDN.   Essay     Open Submissions   Peer-Reviewed     Indexed   In-depth reflection on an issue with major implications for avian conservation. Even though no original data are required for this manuscript type, the article must present an original, insightful perspective. Max. length: 3000 words. Publication fee: $750 CDN.   Invited Essay or Review     Open Submissions   Peer-Reviewed     Indexed   Submissions to this category must be invited by the Editors-in-Chief. Essays are in-depth reflections on an issue with major implications for avian conservation. Reviews are comprehensive syntheses of current research on a particular topic relevant to avian conservation. Max. length for invited essays: 3000 words; max length for invited reviews: 7500 words. Publication fee: none.

Peer Review Process

The Editor-in-Chief makes an initial appraisal of each manuscript. If the topic and treatment seem potentially appropriate for the journal, the manuscript is assigned to a subject editor who oversees the review process. Once the review process has been completed, the subject editor recommends acceptance, revision, or rejection of your manuscript. The final decision is made by the Editor-in-Chief. Avian Conservation and Ecology has a "double blind" review process: authors are not told who is reviewing their manuscript and reviewers do not know whose manuscript they are reviewing. Author identity is revealed only to Subject Editors, Guest Editors and EICs. Reviewers are informed of the author's identity upon acceptance or rejection of a manuscript. After a decision is reached, a reviewer is free to contact the authors privately about the manuscript. A decision on the manuscript generally may be expected within 3 months of submission; delays in obtaining reviews may prolong this process. Manuscripts are sent out for review electronically, and all correspondence takes place via e-mail. Although the peer review process is accelerated by the use of electronic communication, traditional high-quality, peer-review standards are applied to all manuscripts submitted.

Publication Frequency

Regular issues are published twice annually, with issues available as 'in progress' as soon as articles are published.

Open Access Policy

This journal provides open access to all of its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. Such access is associated with increased readership and increased citation of an author's work. For more information about this open source publishing system, please read about the Public Knowledge Project's Open Journal System, upon which this publishing system is built. To learn more about Resilience Alliance Peer Review and Publishing Services, see the recent RA Publishing announcement in the December 2005 issue of Ecology and Society.

Indexing of Avian Conservation and Ecology

The journal is indexed in Thompson Scientific's Science Citation Index Expanded, Current Contents - Agriculture, Biology & Environmental Sciences, Zoological Record and BIOSIS Previews. It is also listed with Elsevier's Scopus, CAB Abstracts (http://www.cabi.org), Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com) and the Directory of Open Access Journals (http://www.doaj.org/).

Reviewer Guidelines

Reviewers must use this site (http://www.ace-eco.org/login.php) to agree to review, request a time extension, read the assigned manuscript and submit their review. Passwords are provided in most email correspondence with the journal. If you have forgotten your password, simply press the "forgotten your password?" link below the login prompt and follow the steps to have your password emailed to you. To access the manuscript assigned to you, login to your user interface, click on the 'reviewer' profile and then on the manuscript title. To submit your review, click the "Edit or Submit Review" button on the main manuscript page. The form for submitting your review consists of three parts (please complete all three): a cover letter to the editor, providing a brief, candid summary of your opinion of the paper, the rating sheet, and your recommendation whether to accept, reject, or request revision, and comments for the author (please do not include your recommendation to accept or reject the paper in this section). We recommend that you type your review out and save it in a separate word processing program and then paste it into our review form to prevent loss of information in the possible event of a connection time-out. At anytime, reviewers may contact the Journal office for more information on how to use the website, or help obtaining a new password. Manuscript type and length Different manuscript types have different style and length requirements. If a manuscript exceeds the posted word length limit, please bring it to the Subject Editor's attention. Confidentiality Editors and reviewers must keep all unpublished ACE-ECO manuscripts and any reviews of those manuscripts confidential, except to solicit assistance from a colleague on a specific technical point. Reviewers who agree to review a manuscript must conduct the review themselves and must not pass the manuscript on to another person without first requesting permission to do so. Reviews and recommendations are also considered confidential. Time In fairness to the author(s), you should return your review within 3 Weeks. If it seems likely that you will be unable to meet this deadline, please request an extension or notify the journal of your inability to complete the review in the specified time using the "Request Extension" button. Conflicts of interest Subject Editors, Special Feature Editors and reviewers who feel they cannot participate objectively in the review process must decline to edit or review using the "decline" button (for editors) or "Unable to do the review" button (for reviewers) on the ACE-ECO website. If an editor or reviewer has a previous or present connection with the author(s) or an author's institution that might be construed as creating a conflict of interest, but no actual conflict exists, the editor or reviewer is required to mention this issue in the "Comments to the editor" section at the beginning of his/her editorial recommendation or review (respectively). If the reviewer can’t identify an author from the MS, then there is presumed to be no conflict of interest. Comments for the author(s) What is the major contribution of the paper? What are its major strengths and weaknesses, and its suitability for publication? Please include both general and specific comments bearing on these questions, and emphasize your most significant points. General Comments: Importance and interest to this journal's readers Scientific soundness Originality Degree to which conclusions are supported by the data Specific Comments: Presentation Does the paper tell a cohesive story? Is a tightly reasoned argument evident throughout the paper? Where does the paper wander from this argument? Do the title, abstract, key words, introduction, and conclusions accurately and consistently reflect the major point(s) of the paper? Is the writing concise, easy to follow, interesting? Length Does the manuscript exceed the posted word limits? What portions of the paper should be expanded? Condensed? Combined? Deleted? Is the division between the main article and the appendices appropriate? Methods Are they appropriate? Current? Described clearly enough so that the work could be repeated by someone else? Data presentation Are all of the figures, tables and appendices necessary for the understanding of the article? When results are stated in the text of the paper, can you easily verify them by examining tables and figures? Are any of the results counter-intuitive? Are all tables and figures legible and clearly labeled? Well planned? Too complex? Statistical design and analyses Are they appropriate and correct? Can the reader readily discern which measurements or observations are independent of which other measurements or observations? Are replicates correctly identified? Are significance statements justified? Errors Point out any errors in technique, fact, calculation, interpretation, formatting or style. (For style, we follow the "CBE Style Manual, Fifth Edition", and the ASTM Standard E380-93, "Standard Practice for Use of the International System of Units".) Citations Is the Literature Cited section correctly formatted (see Author Guidelines)? Are all (and only) pertinent references cited? Are they provided for all assertions of fact not supported by the data in this paper? Overlap Does this paper report data or conclusions already published or in press? If so, please provide details. Discussion Is information in the discussion relevant to the questions being asked in the introduction and to the results presented? Is the length and scope of the discussion appropriate given the scope of the study?

Journal Management Committee

Editorial and publishing policies are overseen by a joint management committee with representatives from both Society of Canadian Ornithologists and Bird Studies Canada. As of April 2012, the management committee members are as follows: Charles Francis, Chair Nicola Koper Pierre Drapeau Jon McCracken Kathy Martin Rob Butler

Author Fees

There is a charge of $750 Cdn for all accepted research papers, letters and essays. Forum articles are $375 Cdn. These fees help offset operational costs and permit open access to full text. Authors are invoiced shortly after their article is accepted. Payment must be received before an article can be published. Refunds Authors may withdraw their article at anytime prior to copy editing for a partial refund. Once the copy editing process has been initiated, no refund will be issued. Please address any general questions regarding the fee policy or refunds to: managing_editor@ace-eco.org.

Avian Conservation and Ecology ISSN: 1712-6568