With this first issue of 2024, you will notice 2 important updates to Journal of Mammalogy (JM).
First, what you are now viewing is an entirely revised and updated style layout. These changes will look a bit odd to long-time readers of JM. We hope, however—that as your eyes become accustomed to, e.g., a new color scheme, new fonts and locations for headings and subheadings, and tweaks to the Literature Cited format—you will agree with us that it modernizes the journal and makes it more attractive in several ways (many of you might already have noticed these changes as you work through page proofs or in viewing prepublished papers as they are posted in “Advance access” on the JM website).
Indeed, a number of updates that you will be able to find in the recently updated “Instructions to authors” at https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/pages/General_Instructions bring our style into greater compliance with the most recent CSE (Council of Science Editors) Manual, thereby simplifying the production process and ensuring that fewer errors are introduced into published papers. I would ask colleagues looking toward a future submission of a manuscript for possible publication in JM to please use the current “Instructions to authors” as a guide to correctly formatting your manuscript prior to submission (indeed, in doing so, you will be decreasing the time required for somebody on the production team—often myself—to reformat before a final acceptance decision can be rendered).
Second—alas, as a harder pill to swallow for some of us more senior mammalogists—with this issue, we have now migrated away from printing and sending to nearly all ASM members a hardcopy version of JM (we will continue to print a few hardcopy versions for archival purposes and for a few ASM members that do not have ready access to the internet). You will however always continue to be able to download a pdf version of any articles from the website (I suspect that many younger members already have seldom seen a need to maintain shelfs full of hardcopy issues). I would emphasize one distinct benefit that accrues from this transition to online-only publication—there no longer will be a need to convert your hard-won color figures into less desirable black and white versions for the print version if you cannot afford color figure charges, because there no longer will be additional charges for color figures.
Other changes in JM format that you will find either in this issue or one in the near future is that we will no longer be publishing Book Reviews, Books Received, or ASM History pieces—but are hoping that contributions in each of those categories will continue to be posted on the JM website.
I would like to offer a gentle reminder to our greater community of colleagues. As background, I frequently hear from our Associate Editors that they have difficulties finding at least 2 external reviewers for a manuscript—at times scrolling through 10 or more names before finally having found 2 that have accepted their invitations. I fully realize just how busy all of you are with research, teaching, and service duties—and that doing a thorough review on a manuscript can be a tedious, time- and energy-consuming process. Nevertheless, I need to emphasize that our (and most other journals) review structure is rooted in the concept that if you have expectations of publishing papers (in JM or elsewhere), as a professional research biologist you should feel an obligation to agree to review papers from other colleagues as well. How many? Some of us believe that a reasonable general rule is for you to accept 2 invitations to review a paper for every paper that you publish. Again, this process that we all are heavily vested in does not operate efficiently unless each of us steps up now and then and contributes some time and energy.
On behalf of Publications Director Jake Goheen, Managing Editor Burton Lim, and the remainder of the JM Editorial Board comprised currently of about 28 Associate Editors, I would like to thank our partners at Oxford University Press and Newgen for always being helpful and friendly, and as such making this work more pleasurable than it otherwise would be. And, if any of you might have interest in becoming an Associate Editor in the future, send Jake an email and he can place you on his list of prospects.
Finally, I am hoping to see many of you at the 103 rd Annual Meeting of ASM in Boulder, Colorado, next June!