Instructions for Authors · Open Access Pub
Instructions for Authors
ISSN 2637-6075 · Open access under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license · Published by Open Access Pub
What the Journal of Plant and Animal Ecology asks of a manuscript, from the first check of fit through to the files that accompany a submission. The requirements apply across the range of ecological work the journal considers; where a requirement depends on the kind of study, that is said.
The sequence
From fit to submission
Check the fit first
Read the Aims and Scope page. The journal asks whether the work advances understanding of plants, animals, their interactions or the ecological systems they belong to. If you are unsure, the editorial office will advise before you prepare a full submission.
Prepare the manuscript
Write in clear English, structured to suit the contribution. The journal considers four forms of contribution — Primary research, Review and synthesis, Methods and resources and Short reports — and each uses the structure its argument needs: an empirical study normally carries an abstract, introduction, methods, results and discussion. State the ecological question in the abstract and again in the introduction.
Assemble the declarations
Funding, competing interests, author contributions, ethical approvals and permits, and the data-availability statement. These are checked at screening, and a submission missing them is returned before review.
Choose one route and submit
Primary route: ManuscriptZone. Alternative route: Simple manuscript submission form. Authors must use only one submission route for the same manuscript.
Preparing the manuscript
What a submission must contain
Language and style
Clear scientific English. Give the full scientific name of each organism at first mention, with the authority where it matters, and use it consistently afterwards.
Language editing is available from providers of the author's choosing. Editorial assessment rests on the substance of the manuscript, so the choice is the author's alone.
Abstract and keywords
A self-contained abstract that states the question, the approach, the principal result and what follows from it, with keywords that describe the organisms, the system and the ecological process studied.
Figures and tables
Supply figures at a resolution that stays legible in print, in a standard raster or vector format, with axis labels and units complete. Each table and figure carries a caption that can be read on its own.
Material reproduced from another source requires permission from the rights holder and a credit line.
References
Cite published, retrievable sources and give a DOI where one exists. Use one reference style consistently throughout the manuscript.
Reporting and study design
Report the design honestly and completely: sites, dates, sampling effort, replication, instruments and analytical methods, in enough detail for the work to be repeated.
Where an established reporting guideline applies to the study type, follow it and say which one was used.
Data and materials
Every empirical research manuscript must include a data-availability statement. Identify where the supporting data can be found, or the conditions under which they are available.
Locations of endangered species and other sensitive information may be withheld or shared under documented restrictions; record that this is the case.
Ethics, permits and species protection
Report animal-ethics approval with its reference, the permits under which fieldwork was carried out, and compliance with the rules governing protected, endangered and traded species. Research involving human participants reports approval and consent.
Interventional clinical trials must be registered in an accepted public trial registry at or before the first participant provides consent for enrollment. The registry name, registration number, and registration date must be reported in the manuscript.
Artificial intelligence
Disclose any use of generative artificial intelligence in preparing the manuscript, naming the tool and what it was used for. AI tools are not authors, and the authors remain responsible for the whole submission.
Double-blind preparation
For double-blind review, remove author names, affiliations, acknowledgments, funding details, institution names, and other identifying information from the reviewer manuscript. Provide identifying information separately in the title-page file or submission form.
Requesting double-blind review is a matter for the submitting author; single-blind by default; double-blind review is available on request.
Before you submit
Submission checklist
- Manuscript file, structured to suit the contribution
- Title page with author names, affiliations and the corresponding author
- Abstract and keywords
- Figures and tables with complete captions
- References in one consistent style
- Funding and competing-interest statements
- Author-contribution statement
- Ethical approvals, permits and consent where applicable
- Data-availability statement for empirical research
- Permissions for any reproduced third-party material
- Disclosure of any generative AI used in preparation
- Anonymized manuscript where double-blind review is requested
Anything else
Confirming the details
Formatting requirements that depend on the kind of contribution — length, abstract format, and the number of references, figures and tables — are confirmed by the editorial office for the intended contribution type. Write to [email protected] with a short description of the work and the editorial office will confirm what applies.