Editors' Corner

Introducing the ‘New’ Microbial Ecology

Microbial Ecology as a discipline has been going through major transformations in these first years of the 21 st century, so it is only logical that the journal Microbial Ecology must also undergo major changes to meet changing needs and research demands. This brief editorial seeks to describe how Microbial Ecology is being revamped to address the practical and scientific challenges of the rapid progress in microbial ecology. Here we will stress the following points that we see as critical to a forward-thinking overhaul of Microbial Ecology to make it a prime resource for the global community of microbial ecologists:

1. Changes in the focus of the journal to stress major topics in microbial ecology and novel and integrated approaches of study.
2. Editorial and editorial board changes to fit this demand for cutting edge perspectives and expertise.
3. Journal layout changes that provide more diverse, flexible and influential formats for publication of novel scientific research, as well as reviews to highlight important progress and opinion pieces to shape future research.
4. Administrative changes that provide a more streamlined submission, review, and publication scheme, thereby greatly increasing the speed of the review and publication process.

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1) Putting the focus on microbial ecology
Microbial ecology lies at the heart of functioning for almost every ecosystem on the planet. Understanding, predicting and utilizing microbial functions in the environment is therefore a scientific priority, one which hinges on investigations of how microorganisms interact with their biotic and abiotic environments, with each other, as well as with their neighbors and hosts.

As the title suggests, Microbial Ecology is committed to providing a dedicated international forum for the presentation of manuscripts of high scientific quality, relevant to the study of microbial activities and interactions. Although highly diverse due to the scope of habitats studied and approaches used, Microbial Ecology has one key defining theme within the scientific work it presents, namely, a unique focus on ecology. Thus, Microbial Ecology targets not only the description of the microbes that are inhabiting the Earth’s various natural and engineered ecosystems, but also their activities and interactions and the ecological principles that govern their distribution and evolution. Thus, key topics within the scope of Microbial Ecology include:

1. microbial population and community ecology
2. theoretical and mathematical advances in microbial ecology
3. microbial drivers of biogeochemical processes
4. inter- and intraspecific microbial communication
5. tropic interactions with animals and plants, spanning the spectrum from mutualisms to parasitism and pathogenicity
6. strategies of microbial adaptation

Novel molecular and genomics approaches have obviously been a great impetus to progress in the field of microbial ecology and the journal Microbial Ecology strives to reflect modern methodological developments and approaches. However, the focus of Microbial Ecology is the application of such advancing technologies to answering interesting and important ecological questions, not pure method development. Polyphasic and interdisciplinary approaches are often the most appropriate to tackle complex questions within microbial ecology, and these receive special attention within the scope of Microbial Ecology. Question-driven research using the following approaches falls within this modern perspective:

1. molecular, genomic and post-genomic advances in the understanding of microbial interactions and phylogeny
2. microbial processes and interactions in extreme or unusual environments and environmental pollution
3. functional approaches to studying host-microbe interactions and communication
   

2) New editors and editorial board

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The rapid progress in microbial ecology, especially with the introduction of novel molecular, genomics and post-genomics approaches, demands that reviewing perspectives and expertise remain equally advanced. Keeping this in mind, it was our goal to create an editorial board with the following characteristics: 1) a range of modern expertise consistent with the diversity of environments and methods of interest in microbial ecology, 2.) a focus on microbial ecology from the molecular to the theoretical level, 3.) an active mix of young scientists with fresh perspectives and established microbial ecologies with broad awareness, and 4.) dynamic enthusiasm in microbial ecology, translating to timely, well thought out input into the review and publication process.

The editorial board of Microbial Ecology has been significantly strengthened by addition of a number of new members who certainly meet these criteria. However, microbial ecology is by no means standing still. Reflecting this, the composition of the editorial board will also remain dynamic with frequent additions and changes to anticipate shifts in editorial needs in the new and emerging sub-disciplines of microbial ecology.

The editors and editorial board are also charged with increasing the visibility and readership of journal through promotional activities and submission of their own quality research for consideration. With respect to this latter point, it will be the policy of the editors to encourage editorial board members not only to submit original research papers, but also topical mini-reviews and position papers where appropriate (see below).

3) More dynamic journal layout
The new Microbial Ecology seeks to be more dynamic both in the formats available for manuscript presentations as well as topics that will be highlighted. In order to stimulate discussion, Microbial Ecology now allows for the publication of more provocative manuscript forms including notes, mini-reviews and forum pieces. Authors are encouraged to submit novel perspectives and important summaries on important topics within microbial ecology. In addition, the editors and editorial board will actively solicit contributions by influential scientists on current and hot topics, and special issues dedicated to topics of particular interest will become more common.

The International Society for Microbial Ecology (ISME) has become a central organization within the community of microbial ecologists, and we look forward to strengthening the ties between the society and its flagship journal, Microbial Ecology. With this in mind, Microbial Ecology will include special sections and issues dedicated to particular programs sponsored by ISME, including ISME meetings, and provide a forum for discussion of important topics within the community of microbial ecologists. Furthermore, journal highlights will be presented on ISME’s web-site and via e-mail newsletters to increase the exposure of the journal and its contents. In line with the international character of microbial ecology, the journal Microbial Ecology holds ISME’s ambition to increase representation of top scientists from developing countries. This desire is already evident in the more diverse international representation on the new editorial board, and we seek to strengthen this still further in the near future.

4) Bringing Microbial Ecology into the fast lane.
Publishing has moved into the electronic age, and the new Microbial Ecology seeks to take full advantage of the benefits afforded by online submission and review facilities. By switching to online reviewing formats and insisting on timely review responses, we seek to cut the time from submission to notification of editorial decision to four weeks. Microbial Ecology has also gained firm commitments from the publisher to improve dramatically both the time from acceptance to on-line publication as well as the time from acceptance to appearance in print. With respect to on-line publication, DOI numbers and on-line availability should be within 10 weeks of acceptance. With respect to appearance in print, Microbial Ecology has received a 50% increase in page allotment, which should facilitate the publication of worthy manuscripts within four months of submission. Stricter deadlines for reviewing, editing and publishing will also result in a more regular pattern of journal publication.

On the way to becoming a more influential and established publication, Microbial Ecology will be appearing as a monthly journal as of 2007. We see this as a logical and necessary step to accommodate the growing number of quality manuscripts, and improve the impact of the journal.

Not only do authors have the right to timely review and publication, they also should be kept informed as to the progress of their work, and be provided the opportunity to help ensure fair and informed reviewing. With respect to the former point, electronic tracking of manuscripts now allows manuscripts to be followed from submission to print. As to the latter point, authors are also now afforded the opportunity to suggest editors and reviewers for their manuscripts.

Summary: New changes, great opportunities
Microbial ecology is an exciting and dynamic discipline, and the new face of Microbial Ecology seeks to provide an equally exciting and dynamic forum for this modern discipline. The editors wish to thank the editorial board, the outgoing editors, and the ISME board for providing all the support and effort necessary in this endeavor. Further, we wish to thank all the authors of Microbial Ecology manuscripts past, present and future for putting us in a position to be involved in building Microbial Ecology into the primary resource in its field.

Wishing you a hearty welcome to the ‘new’ Microbial Ecology,

George Kowalchuk
Karen Nelson
Mark Bailey

Editors, Microbial Ecology