Our Journals
Scientists around the world publish their research about ecology and environmental science in ESA’s scientific peer-reviewed journals: Ecology, Ecological Monographs, Ecological Applications, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, and the open-access journal Ecosphere. In addition, the ESA’s quarterly publication The Bulletin of the ESA covers ecological events, news, education-related articles, career advice, and reports of interest to the ecological community. The Bulletin also includes commentary and opinion on ecological issues, as well as the official record of the business of the Ecological Society of America.
As the largest journal in the ESA portfolio, Ecosphere published 450 articles in 2019. Our flagship journal Ecology, founded in 1920, continued its solid publishing history with 334 articles. Ecological Applications published 166 articles, Ecological Monographs 51, The Bulletin 157, and Frontiers 50. As of March 2019, Frontiers began offering an open-access option for its peer-reviewed articles – so now, all ESA journals have an open-access publishing option. Additionally, the Frontiers EcoPics series, launched in May 2018, continues to grow in popularity and has attracted many international and early-career authors.
In 2019 we conducted a search for a new Editor-in-Chief of our journal Ecology. Donald R. Strong, Ecology’s long-time Editor-in-Chief, retired in December 2019. Kathryn Cottingham from Dartmouth College was selected by the ESA Governing Board to lead Ecology, and she will begin her term in January 2020.
The ESA’s publishing partnership with John Wiley & Sons, begun in 2016, has resulted in broader institutional reach for our journals and dramatically increased online usage. Through our partnership with Wiley, we continue to reduce publication times for all our journals. Our open-access journal Ecosphere boasts of an average publication time of 2 weeks after author’s final approval of proofs. Our other journals – Ecology, Ecological Applications, and Ecological Monographs – also see an average publication time of 2 weeks after the author’s approval of proofs.
Impact Factors and Rankings
In 2018, the Impact Factors (IF) of all ESA journals remained strong. Based on the number of citations in the previous 2 calendar years, the IF is an important indication of value to researchers, academics, and global scientific audiences.
We are particularly proud of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, which is now the #3 ranked journal in both the Ecology and Environmental Sciences categories.
| Rank: Ecology Category | Journal Title | IF 2018 |
| 23/164 | Ecological Applications | 4.378 |
| 8/164 | Ecological Monographs | 7.698 |
| 27/164 | Ecology | 4.285 |
| 60/164 | Ecosphere [Open Access] | 2.746 |
| 3/164 | Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment | 10.935 |
| Rank: Environmental Sciences | Journal Title | IF 2018 |
| 49/250 | Ecological Applications | 4.378 |
| 3/250 | Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment | 10.935 |
Most Shared Articles
Articles in ESA journals have a strong social media presence. The ESA articles in 2019 with the highest number of Twitter impressions were:
Ecosphere
- A multi‐scale study of Australian fairy circles using soil excavations and drone‐based image analysis https://twitter.com/ESAEcosphere/status/1098647276057231360
- The terrestrial organism and biogeochemistry spatial sampling design for the National Ecological Observatory Network https://twitter.com/ESAEcosphere/status/1100823951570284545
Ecology
- Can praying mantises escape from spider webs? https://twitter.com/ESAEcology/status/1144478029890150400
- Life table invasion models: spatial progression and species‐specific partitioning https://twitter.com/ESAEcology/status/1124033314480848897
Ecological Applications
- Additive and interactive cumulative effects on boreal landbirds: winners and losers in a multi‐stressor landscape https://twitter.com/ESAApplications/status/1132005849247805440
- The potential of satellite greenness to predict plant diversity among wetland types, ecoregions, and disturbance levels https://twitter.com/ESAApplications/status/1143964646879010816
Ecological Monographs
- The intrinsic predictability of ecological time series and its potential to guide forecasting https://twitter.com/ESAMonographs/status/1088896791188107264
- Preferential sampling for presence/absence data and for fusion of presence/absence data with presence‐only data https://twitter.com/ESAMonographs/status/1126207646241976320
The Bulletin of the ESA
- Increasing Pollinator Abundance in Undisturbed Mediterranean Montane Habitats over Recent Decades https://twitter.com/ESABulletin/status/1082407068781432834
- Drivers of Elevational Richness Peaks, Evaluated for Trees in the East Himalaya https://twitter.com/ESABulletin/status/1098339378479407104
Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
- Trends in ecology: shifts in ecological research themes over the past four decades https://twitter.com/ESAFrontiers/status/1086263987052789761
- Connectivity for species on the move: supporting climate‐driven range shifts https://twitter.com/ESAFrontiers/status/1130580267305803776