Three new initiatives at JBI

In addition to providing a choice venue for publishing the full range of biogeographical research, the Journal of Biogeography (JBI) has also long supported our scientific community in other ways too, e.g. organizing workshops for early career researchers (ECRs) to demistify the publishing process, funding symposia and special issues, providing travel grants to meetings, and supporting conference events. More recently we introduced this Journal of Biogeography blog and more social media to increase the reach of your research. We now add three major new initiatives to support ECRs and beyond, which will be rolled out in the coming six months.

First, we are delighted to announce a new Editorial Academy. The aim of the academy is to help early career biogeographers who are interested in scientific publishing to learn more about the process and to gain experience with the guidance and support of an experienced mentor. There will be multiple positions, each gaining first hand experience as an Associate Editor (with reduced workload) at JBI while working alongside one of the senior editorial team (Michael Dawson, Rosemary Gillespie, Holger Kreft, Richard Ladle, Christine Meynard, Jon Sadler). This partnership will give insight into the way a journal operates, illuminate the sometimes challenging decisions to be made by the editorial team, and allow the academy member to explore their potential to become a full-fledged member of the editorial board. We hope it also provides insight more broadly, beyond the academy, into the qualities of successful publishing as we increasingly build bridges between the editorial team and community of authors; in our view, these are ultimately one and the same. The more transparent and inclusive the process, the more rapid — i.e. fewer rounds of review — and straightforward it will be for all to support publication of creative and high quality biogeographic research. More information on this opportunity and guidelines on how to apply are available on this blog and at the journal’s website.

Second, we will soon open a call for proposals for one or more Global Colloquia.  The event may be stand-alone, or may be staged in association with a larger meeting, it may be in-person or virtual. The topic may be on any aspect of biogeography.  A goal of the colloquium should be to publish a synthesis paper and/or a series of papers that represent the range of topics discussed. We intend these colloquia to become a regular activity that helps biogeographers develop, exchange, and explore ideas that advance biogeography through consolidation of fragmentary knowledge, synthesis across disciplines, and innovation.  This call is not solely for ECRs, but we encourage proposals by and/or including ECRs, as well as biogeographers from our global audience. More information on this opportunity and guidelines on how to apply will be available in a month or two. [UPDATED 15 Aug: see announcements at the blog or the journal].

Third, in October 2020, we will invite submissions of manuscripts by Early Career Researchers for consideration for publication and JBI Awards for Innovation.  This opportunity is modeled after the early career awards first introduced when our current editor-in-chief was on the senior editorial team at Frontiers of Biogeography, and subsequently mirrored by Ecography, and is intended to provide a premium venue for emerging and innovative synthetic biogeography. Our general thinking here is that there is so much good biogeography out there that one award per year is insufficient, and it’s not always well aligned with your publication schedules, so we’ll provide more opportunities at the other end of the year. There will be awards in categories for several article types and all accepted manuscripts will be published free full access for one year. More information on this opportunity and guidelines on how to submit manuscripts will be released in October.

Our goal with each of these three JBI initiatives is to support and provide opportunity for the biogeography community to share the research about which you’re excited and that will advance and shape our discipline in the coming years.

In all these initiatives, following our updated vision and scope, which now includes an equity-diversity-inclusion statement, JBI aims to foster outstanding science that reflects the disciplinary, human, and geographic diversity of biogeography and biogeographers. Submissions will be welcomed from applicants of all ethnicities, races, colors, religions, sexes, sexual orientations, gender identities, national origins, disabilities, ages, or other individual status.