Data papers, supplements, and digital appendices for ESA journals
What does Ecological Archives publish?
Ecological Archives publishes materials that are supplemental to articles that appear in the ESA print journals (Ecology, Ecological Applications, and Ecological Monographs), as well as peer-reviewed Data Papers with abstracts published in the printed journals. Ecological Archives is published in digital, Internet-accessible form. Three kinds of publications appear in Ecological Archives: Appendices, Supplements, and Data Papers. Ability to publish appendices and supplements in Ecological Archives allows authors to shorten the paper version of a manuscript without withholding germane material not essential for understanding the paper. It also allows authors to make available substantial amounts of supporting material such as methodological details, data tables, graphs illustrating additional analyses, photographs, additional references, and supplemental discussion, all as citable entities.
Appendices in Ecological Archives are directly viewable (or executable in the case of sound or video) with a standard web browser. They are self-contained; all critical supporting materials are present in the caption, footnotes, or are in the associated original article. These supporting materials will typically take the form of tables, graphs, or photographs. Authors of field studies are encouraged to submit a photograph(s) of their study site for inclusion as a digital appendix.
Supplements can include, but are not limited to, original and derived data sets, source code for simulation models, and software for unusual statistical analyses. Authors are encouraged to submit supplements so as to facilitate new analyses of their data, as well as validation of analyses already conducted. Appropriate metadata are required and must be provided in a standard format. Materials previously submitted to the ESA Supplemental Publication Service from 1981 through 1997 are treated as Supplements, but without requirement for strict conformance to current metadata standards.
Data Papers are compilations and syntheses of data sets and associated metadata deemed to be of significant interest to the ESA membership and the scholarly community. Data papers are peer reviewed and are announced in abstract form in the appropriate print journal as a Data Paper. Data papers differ from review or synthesis papers published in other ESA journals in that data papers normally will not test or refine ecological theory. Data Papers can facilitate the rapid advancement of ecological knowledge and theory at the same time that they disseminate information. In addition, Ecological Archives provides a reward mechanism (in the form of peer-reviewed, citable objects) for the substantial effort required to compile and adequately document large data sets of ecological interest.
So as to encourage authors to keep their printed papers short, ESA does not charge fees for publication in Ecological Archives of appendices and supplements that cumulatively total less than 10 MB. For more information on publication fees see Financial Arrangements. Ecological Archives is publicly available, free of charge.
