Restoration Ecology

Published on behalf of the Society for Ecological Restoration International

Edited by:
Richard Hobbs

Print ISSN: 1061-2971
Online ISSN: 1526-100X
Frequency: Bi-monthly
Current Volume: 18 / 2010
ISI Journal Citation Reports® Ranking: 2008: 55/124 Ecology
Impact Factor: 1.892

TopAuthor Guidelines

Restoration Ecology is a peer-reviewed quarterly journal published for the Society for Ecological Restoration International by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The journal publishes research papers, reviews, opinions of readers, and technical reports on all aspects of ecological restoration, defined as assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed (SER Science and Policy Working Group, 2002). Contributions may span the natural sciences, including ecological and biological aspects, as well as restoration of soil, air and water when set in an ecological context; and the social sciences, including cultural, philosophical, political, educational, economic, and historical aspects.

Restoration Ecology will not distinguish between basic and applied research and encourages all contributors to consider both the practical and the more fundamental implications of their work.When case studies are presented they should be used to illustrate broad principles. All ecosystem types are considered including terrestrial, aquatic and marine. In summary, the editors welcome manuscripts including:

• Research papers on restoration and ecological principles that help explain restoration processes,

• Research papers on the socio-ecological aspects of restoration,

• Research papers that document setbacks and surprises encountered during restoration,

• Descriptions of techniques that the author has pioneered and that are likely to be of use to other practicing restorationists,

• Review papers that summarize literature on specialized aspects of restoration,

• Opinion papers, which provide commentary or analysis and may be more speculative than research papers but documented by literature.

Book reviews will be solicited by the Book Review Editor.

Texts of articles should conform to the following limits on length (this does not include abstract, citations, tables, etc.): Research papers: 3,000-5,000 words (6-10 journal pages); Reviews: no more than 5,000 words (10 journal pages); Opinion pieces: no more than 3,000 words (6 journal pages); Short communications: no more than 1,000 words (2 journal pages). Articles longer than the maximum lengths indicated above may be considered for publication under exceptional circumstances but authors need to provide justification for exceeding the length guidelines. Authors submitting excessively long articles will generally be asked to significantly reduce the length prior to review.

Authors should consult recently published issues of the journal to familiarize themselves with style and layout and consider the requirements detailed below.

OnlineOpen

OnlineOpen is available to authors of primary research articles who wish to make their article available to non-subscribers on publication, or whose funding agency requires grantees to archive the final version of their article. With OnlineOpen the author, the author's funding agency, or the author's institution pays a one-off fee of USD$3000 to ensure that the article is made available to non-subscribers upon publication via Wiley InterScience, as well as deposited in the funding agency's preferred archive. For the full list of terms and conditions, see http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/authorresources/onlineopen.html#OnlineOpen_Terms.

Any authors wishing to send their paper forOnlineOpen will be required to complete the combined payment and copyright license form (Please note this form is for use with OnlineOpen material ONLY.)

Once completed this form should be sent to the Editorial Office along with the rest of the manuscript materials at the time of acceptance or as soon as possible after that (preferably within 24 hours to avoid any delays in processing). Prior to acceptance there is no requirement to inform an Editorial Office that you intend to publish your paper OnlineOpen if you do not wish to. All OnlineOpen articles are treated in the same way as any other article. They go through the journal's standard peer-review process and will be accepted or rejected based on their own merit.

The copyright statement for OnlineOpen authors will read:
© [date] The Author(s)
Journal compilation © [date] [Society for Ecological Restoration International]

Submission of Manuscripts

Authors with Internet connections should submit manuscripts, including figures, to the Restoration Ecology submission website (http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/rec). By accessing this website you will be guided stepwise through the creation and uploading of files; the system automatically generates an electronic PDF proof which is used for reviewing. For assistance, contact Scholar One technical support at 434-817-2040 or email: support@scholarone.com.

All correspondence, including the Editor's decision and request for revisions, will be by e-mail. Any queries should be directed to Dr Susan Yates, Managing Editor, Restoration Ecology, School of Plant Biology M090, The University of Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia or restoration.ecology@uwa.edu.au. Manuscripts must be in English and submitted exclusively to Restoration Ecology. If accepted, papers become copyright of the Journal and the Society. Authors must give signed consent for publication by submitting a Copyright Assignment Form, but permission to use material elsewhere (e.g., in review articles) will normally be granted on request.

Authors are asked to provide the names of potential referees. Authors should always retain a copy of all material. All text must be double-spaced, with margins of at least 1 1/4'. Number all pages. All papers will routinely be copyedited by the publisher, but upon acceptance and final revision authors are to ensure the manuscript conforms to the journal style. http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/RE_Style_Guide.pdf.

Abstracts

The abstract of research papers, reviews and opinion pieces should be about 250 words and complete without reference to the text. The abstract should state concisely the goals, methods, principal results, and major conclusions of the paper. Key words are required for use by Abstract services.

Text

All text should use only American English spelling. Original data research papers should contain six sections:

1) The Introduction should include a literature review and objectives, including how the study specifically addresses restoration objectives or hypotheses;

2) The Methods section should include a site description with latitude and longitude if appropriate. A site map should be included only if the information cannot be obtained from a standard atlas, and experimental design maps are published only if the design cannot be sufficiently described in words.

3) The Results section should include all results presented as succinctly as possible, and should not have the same data presented in different ways (e.g., both in a table and a figure). The results should be separate from the Discussion.

4) The Discussion should cite international literature appropriate to the topic and consider the broader implications of the work (i.e., its relevance in the context of other ecosystem types and/or geographical locations).

5) The Conclusion section or paragraph should explain the restoration implications of the study, if not already explicitly addressed in the Discussion.

6) A box on 'Implications for Practice' should summarize in dot points and in plain English implications of the work that may interest practitioners. (Please note that this section should not simply provide a dot point summary of the paper or reiterate findings or issues from the paper that do not have implications for practice. Rather the points should highlight how key findings should be used or taken into account for practical purposes.)

Review papers, opinion, or commentary papers are not required to follow a set format, but must be supported by published international literature. These papers should also include a box on 'Implications for Practice', as in (6) above.

Taxonomic Names

For organisms, cite scientific name (in italics) followed by common name in parentheses. If no common name is available, include family name in parentheses. Thereafter, either the scientific name or common name may be cited if used consistently. The genus name can be abbreviated after the first use.

Tables and Figures

Tables must be typed double-spaced, without vertical rules, and should not duplicate material in the text or figures. Brief headings should be placed at the top of all tables. They should be consecutively numbered within the manuscript.

Figures include original drawings and photographs and should be supplied to fit within either a single column or across the full page. All illustrations, including lettering, should be capable of 66 to 50% reduction without loss of clarity or legibility. When possible, show statistical significance directly on tables and figures, to make interpretation easier for readers.

Photographs of research sites are encouraged for inclusion in articles since they are especially relevant in restoration ecology. Color photographs will be printed in black and white unless authors indicate their willingness to pay for color printing; however, there is no charge to authors for color images in the online version. Photographs may be submitted as separate figures or in sets with a narrow white border between each photograph. Figures should be consecutively numbered.

For review purposes embed all figures and tables with the text in a single document whenever possible. Upon acceptance you will be asked to provide all line artwork (vector graphics) as Encapsulated Postscript (EPS) and bitmap files (halftones or photographic images) as Tagged Image Format (TIFF), with a resolution of at least 300 dpi at final size. Do not send native file formats. More detailed information on the submission of electronic artwork will be provided upon acceptance of the manuscript and can be found at http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/authors/digill.asp.

All tables and figures must be called out within the text.

Cover Photograph

Authors may submit color photographs not less than 5 x 8 inches with a descriptive legend for possible use for the cover of the Journal. The same illustrations may be used as a figure in the text.

Literature Cited

Only articles that have been published or are 'in press' may be included in the Literature Cited. In the text, unpublished studies should be referred to as such or as a personal communication and should include an affiliation. Example: (R. Davis 1999, Harvard University, Boston, MA, personal communication). References in the text should be inserted in parentheses, in chronological order as follows: (Johnson & Van Cleve 1976; Cairns 1981; Plafkin et al. 1989). The reference list should be in alphabetical order according to first-named author. Papers with two authors should follow those of the first-named author, arranged in alphabetical order according to the name of the second author. Papers with more than two authors should follow in chronological order. All authors' names, dates, title of book or article, publisher and place of publication must be included. Do not use abbreviations. The following are examples:

Keto, J. 1982. Therecovery of Lake Vesijärvi after sewage diversion. Hydrobiologia 86:195-199.

Keto, J., and I. Sammalkorpi. 1988. A fading recovery: a conceptual model for Lake Vesijärvi management and research. Aqua Fennica 18:193-204.

Leverenz, J. W., and D.J. Lev. 1987. Effects of carbon dioxide-induced climate changes in the natural ranges of six major commercial tree species in the western United States. Pages123-155 in W. E. Shands and J. S. Hoffman, editors. The greenhouse effect, climate change, and U.S. forests. The Conservation Foundation, Washington, D.C.

McKneeley, J.A. 1995.The interaction between biological diversity and cultural diversity. International Conference on Indigenous Peoples, Environment, and Development, Zurich, 15-18 May 1995. International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Gland, Switzerland.

Newmark, W. D. 1986.Mammalian richness, colonization an extinction in western North American national parks. Dissertation. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Plafkin, J. L., M. T.Barbour, K. D. Porter, S. K. Gross, and R. M. Hughes. 1989. Rapid bioassessment protocols for use in streams and rivers: benthic macro-invertebrates and fish. EPA/444/ 4-89-001. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C.

Stockwell, C. A., G. C. Bateman, and J. Berger. 1991. Conflicts in national parks: helicopters, big horn sheep, and Grand Canyon. Biological Conservation. (In press.)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Climatic Data Center, 2002-2003. URL http://www.erh.noaa.gov/iln/climate.htm [accessed on 13 February 2003]

BE SURE TO CROSS-CHECK ALL REFERENCES CITED IN THE TEXT WITH THOSE LISTED IN LITERATURE CITED BEFORE SUBMITTING THE MANUSCRIPT.

Proofs

Authors are expected to proofread their article promptly and carefully, correcting any printer's errors. Proofs should be returned within 48 hours of receipt. Because changes to typeset text are expensive, authors making excessive changes will be invoiced by the Publisher.

Page Charges (US$)

There are no page charges for those without institutional or grant support for them. Page charges of $150 per page will be assessed for those with grants or institutional support for publication costs, $35 for those with limited support, $10 per page for those without grant support, but willing to pay at this rate. These charges will be collected by the Publisher. An author's inability to pay will in no way influence whether his or her paper will be accepted for publication. There is a non-waivable $900 charge per page for color figures.

Offprints

The Publisher will supply the author with a free PDF offprint. A link to an offprint order form will be included with the page proofs, and authors may order hardcopy offprints in lots of 100.

Richard J. Hobbs, Editor-in-Chief
June 2005