The Ecological Society of America (ESA) officially launched its latest journal, Ecosphere (www.esajournals.org) at its 95th Annual Meeting. Ecosphere, a peer-reviewed, online-only, open access publication, welcomes submissions from all subdisciplines of ecological science. This new publication expands the breadth and depth of papers published by ESA and significantly reduces time from submission to publication.
Working with publishing services provider Allen Press, Inc., ESA staff were able to realise their vision of a rapid-publication journal to expedite the dissemination of research in an open access environment. This was achieved by creating a fully electronic workflow that harnesses the power and flexibility of XML, or Extensible Markup Language.
ESA approached Allen Press in the spring of 2010 about developing a workflow that would allow them to publish accepted papers within a matter of days. Project planning began in April, and within 4 months ESA launched the first issue of Ecosphere. More than 20 Allen Press staff, including departmental representatives from peer review, file distribution, composition, and online publishing, collaborated with ESA Publications staff led by David Baldwin, Managing Editor, and Ellen Cotter, Associate Managing Editor, to discuss solutions and provide guidance for this integrated author-to-reader workflow.
Manuscripts for consideration for Ecosphere are submitted to ESA Publications via EcoTrack, a derivative of the Allen Press-supported peer review system AllenTrack (powered by eJournal Press), where they undergo rigorous peer review. Decisions are made within 4-6 weeks. Since the journal will have no subscriptions, authors pay a one-time fee in lieu of traditional page charges. Enhancements to EcoTrack allowed ESA to offer discounts to members (and encourage membership) as well as collect fees directly in the peer review system prior to publication.
Although Ecosphere is an online-only journal, this expedited workflow can also be used for print publications as well as for other types of electronic deliverables. The various elements can integrate seamlessly with other peer review and online journal systems. To expedite publication, ESA has made authors responsible for copyediting before submission.
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