Global Change Biology

Author Guidelines

Editorial Office contact details:

Global Change Biology
University of Illinois
121F Institute for Genomic Biology
1206 West Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801-3838
USA
Tel. +1-217-333-9651 or +217-300-9011
Fax +1-217-244-3637
E-mail: gcb@life.illinois.edu

Online manuscript submission

Submit your manuscript electronically to Global Change Biology through ScholarOne Manuscripts: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/gcb.

Overview of the Editorial Process

All submitted manuscripts will be processed through plagiarism detection software. In submitting your manuscript you accept that it may be screened against previously published literature. Plagiarized manuscripts will be rejected immediately.

GCB is committed to rapid evaluation and publication of submitted papers. To this end, we strive to return the Editor's decision and reviewer comments within 60 days of submission and to publish papers online within 30 days of receipt of the final version of the manuscript and all necessary files and forms.

In order to achieve this, manuscript review is based on a two-stage process.

• During the first stage, manuscripts are assigned to appropriate members of the Editorial Board who determine if the manuscript should be sent for peer-review. This decision is based on the submission questions and abstract.  In 2012, the average time for this stage was 5 days and 60% of manuscript progressed to the second stage.  

• During second stage, manuscripts are assessed by two or three independent reviewers. The final decision is made by the Subject Editor. In 2012, the average time for stage two is 42 days and 21% of submitted manuscripts were accepted for publication.

• A decision letter will be emailed to the corresponding author once the Subject Editor has made his or her decision.

• If at any time during the review process the corresponding author has a question regarding the status a manuscript or the nature of the peer review process, he or she should contact the Editorial Office.

Accepted articles will appear online with a DOI 2 weeks after the final version of the manuscript and all necessary files and forms are received by the Editorial Office. The typesetter will notify the corresponding author via e-mail to electronically retrieve page proofs 4-6 weeks after the final files are received by the Editorial Office. After the proofs are corrected, the article will appear on EarlyView until it is assigned to an issue.

Types of papers

Global Change Biology will consider the following manuscript types:

Primary Research Articles present the results of a completed research project and are up to 6500 words in length.

Technical Advances present exciting new research tools, methods, and techniques, including new modeling approaches, and should include a detailed description of the methodological design and discussion of how this technique improves the study of global change biology, and should be no more than 4000 words. The Results and Discussion may be combined.

Research Reviews examine a defined specialist subject that is of topical interest. Reviews should include a Conclusions section in place of Results and Discussion sections and should be no more than 6500 words.

Editorial Commentaries are an in-depth discussion highlighting recent exciting research published in Global Change Biology or other high profile journals of the same subject. Commentaries are meant to be complementary to the corresponding article rather than a restatement of conclusions; they should describe the most important conclusions of the article and its implications, place the paper into context with the current information, when relevant, denote strengths and weaknesses of the paper, and review questions that remain to be addressed. Figures reviewing current dogmas and gaps in knowledge, tables with open questions, or controversies citing opposing papers are invited and encouraged. Opinions are welcome as long as they are factually based. Commentaries only have the following sections: body, reference, tables, figures and figure legends. They should include no more than 2 tables/figures and 10 references, and be no more than 2000 words.

Letters to the Editor are a short discussion of articles recently published in Global Change Biology or other high profile journals of the same subject. Letters only have the following sections: body, reference, tables, figures and figure legends. They should include no more than 2 tables/figures and 10 references, and be no more than 1500 words. Opinions are welcome as long as they are factually based. If a letter is found acceptable for publication, a copy of the letter will be sent to the authors of the original article (when appropriate) so that they may have an opportunity to provide a rebuttal letter. If the rebuttal letter is accepted for publication it may be published with the original letter. This process may delay publication of the initial letter.

Opinions present novel analyses of a field central to the journal and include new ideas and perspectives that have broad and current interest. These may include emerging frameworks arising from a synthesis of recent research, alternative interpretations of a field of research, controversial perspectives on current areas of research of high interest, or reason the need for a new direction in research. This list is not exclusive and the Editors are interested to hear of other ideas. While this category of article is designed to allow expression of viewpoints that may run counter to established viewpoints, articles must be anchored in sound reasoning developed from the peer-reviewed literature. The article must be sufficiently complete to convince reviewers of the value of the contribution. Articles that are essentially reviewing a topic, a statement of opinion not reasoned from the peer-reviewed literature, arguing for redirection of government funding for research and those primarily discussing the authors’ own work will not be considered. Opinions articles only have the following sections: body, reference, tables, figures and figure legends. They should include no more than 2 tables/figures and 60 references, and be no more than 4000 words. Authors interested in submitting an Opinion should first send a one-paragraph proposal (300 words) to the Editorial Office.

Word limits apply to the main body of the text (Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, and Acknowledgements).

Pre-submission English-language editing

Authors for whom English is a second language may choose to have their manuscript professionally edited before submission to improve its grammar, spelling, punctuation and clarity. See Blackwell Publishing's list of suppliers of editing services. All services are paid for and arranged by the author, and use of one of these services does not guarantee acceptance or preference for publication.

Conflict of Interest

Wiley-Blackwell requires that all authors disclose any potential sources of conflict of interest. Any interest or relationship, financial or otherwise, that might be perceived as influencing an author’s objectivity is considered a potential source of conflict of interest. These must be disclosed when directly relevant or indirectly related to the work that the authors describe in their manuscript. Potential sources of conflict of interest include but are not limited to patent or stock ownership, membership of a company board of directors, membership of an advisory board or committee for a company, and consultancy for or receipt of speaker’s fees from a company. The existence of a conflict of interest does not preclude publication in this journal. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to review this policy with all authors and to collectively list in the manuscript (under the Acknowledgments section), and in the online submission system ALL pertinent commercial and other relationships. Corresponding authors will be asked to confirm whether or not a conflict of interest exists as part of the submission process.

Ethics of Experimentation

The Journal will only accept manuscripts in which there is evidence of the ethical use of animals or harmful substances. The care and use of experimental animals must comply with all relevant local animal welfare laws, guidelines and policies, and a statement of such compliance should be provided to the Journal Editor. Where possible, alternative procedures that replace the use of animals, either partially or completely, for example in vitro biological systems, should be used. Where this is not possible, the minimum number of animals should be used and pain and suffering reduced, consistent with attaining the scientific objectives of the study. All reasonable steps must be taken to ensure the humane treatment of animals, so as to minimize discomfort, distress and pain. Animals in pain or moribund should be painlessly killed according to local euthanasia regulations. The journal encourages corresponding authors of manuscripts involving animal research to refer to the ARRIVE guidelines (www.nc3rs.org.uk/ARRIVE) before submission of a manuscript.

Human Investigations

Manuscripts reporting data obtained from research conducted in human subjects must include assurance that informed consent was obtained from each patient. In addition, the manuscript must include assurance that the study protocol conformed to the ethical guidelines of the 1975 Declaration of Helsinki as reflected in approval by the institution's human research review committee. A statement to this effect must be provided within the Methods section.

Instructions for Authors

1. Compile the electronic version of your manuscript according to the formatting instructions below.

2. Gather the following information which will be necessary to complete your submission:

Contact information for all authors

• First name, middle initial and last name
  
• Postal address
  
• E-mail address
  
  

Name and e-mail address of 3-5 suggested reviewers. While these selections may be taken into account, the final selection is subject to the Editor's discretion. These suggestions must be without a conflict of interest with the authors including former or current coauthors (within the past 4 years), students, mentors and members of the same academic institution. Authors may also indicate up to three non-preferred referees.

Answers to the following questions (max 50 words per answer). Please take time to prepare your answers to these questions; this information may be used to determine if the manuscript should progress to stage two of the review process.

• What is the scientific question you are addressing?
  
• What is/are the key finding(s) that answers this question?
  
• What are the three most recently published papers that are relevant to this question?
  
• Why is this work important and timely?
  
• Does your paper falls within the scope of GCB; what biological AND global change aspects does it address?
  
• Provide information about suggested and non-preferred reviewers including their area of research and how it relates to your paper. Also provide justification for why you do not prefer certain reviewers.
  
• Provide justification for any non-conformance to author guidelines and/or formatting
  
  

3. Use the submission check list as a guide to ensure that files are correctly prepared for submission.

4. Submit your manuscript electronically through the Global Change Biology ScholarOne Manuscripts site. Enter the Author Center and click 'Click here to submit a new manuscript'. The instructions at the top of the screens will guide you through the submission process.

Formatting Instructions

Manuscripts may be submitted in the following file formats: Microsoft Word or Corel WordPerfect, Rich Text Format or Post Script (NOT a pdf).

All pages should be numbered consecutively, starting with 1 for the title page and including those containing acknowledgements, references, tables and figure legends. Manuscripts must be page size letter (8.5 x 11 inch) or A4 (210 x 297 mm) with margins of at least 2.5 cm. Lines must be double-spaced and text must be in Times New Roman font, 12 point. English spelling should conform to The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English. Both American and British English are acceptable, but must be consistent. Do not include section numbers or suggestions for the placement of tables and figures in the text.

Sections

Primary Research Articles should be arranged as follows, with each section beginning on a separate page. Manuscripts in other categories should be modified appropriately.

1. Title page
      i. Title: this should be concise and informative            
      ii. Running head: a shortened title with no more than 45 characters, including spaces
      iii. List of authors
      iv. Institute or laboratory of origin: Where authors have different addresses, use numbered superscripts to refer to each address provided
      v. Corresponding author: include their telephone, fax and email details
      vi. Keywords: 6 – 10 key words or short phrases to enable retrieval and indexing by searching techniques. Authors are encouraged to include scientific names, common names, and pseudonyms that are not mentioned in the title.
      vii. Type of Paper

2. Abstract
This should provide a concise statement of the motivation for the work done, the scope of the work and the principal findings. The abstract should be less than 300 words for Primary Research Articles and Reviews, and 150 words for Technical Advances. Commentaries and Letters do not contain abstracts.

3. Introduction
This should argue the case for your study, outlining only essential background, but should not include either the findings or the conclusions. It should not be a review of the subject area, but should finish with a clear statement of the question being addressed.

4. Materials and methods
This should allow replication of all experiments described and demonstrate the validity of those experiments for the research being conducted.

5. Results
This should not include material appropriate to the Discussion section. Reviews, Commentaries and Letters do not have Results sections.

6. Discussion
This should highlight the significance of the results and place them in the context of other work. It should not introduce new material, be over-speculative, reiterate the results, or exceed 20% of the total length. The Results and Discussion sections may be combined for Technical Advances papers. A Conclusion replaces the Results and Discussion section for Reviews.

7. Conclusions
Only Reviews may have conclusions sections. All other article types should incorporate any conclusions into the Discussion section, and should not include a “Conclusions” subheading.

8. Acknowledgements

9. References
The reference list should be in alphabetical order and include the full title with the name of the journal given in full. The number of references is limited for Commentaries and Letters (max 10). When there are eight or more authors, only the first three should be listed, followed by "et al.". For example:

van Uitregt VO, Wilson RS, Franklin CE (2007) Cooler temperatures increase sensitivity to ultraviolet B radiation in embryos and larvae of the frog Limnodynastes peronii. Global Change Biology, 13, 1114-1121.

Alcamo J, Kreileman E, Krol M et al. (1998) Global modelling of environmental change: an overview of IMAGE 2.1. In: Global Change Scenarios of the 21st Century: Results from the IMAGE 2.1 Model (eds Alcamo J, Leemans R, Kreileman E), pp 3-71. Pergamon, Oxford.

Llorens L (2003) Plant ecophysiological responses to experimentally drier and warmer conditions in European shrublands. Unpublished PhD thesis, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, 266 pp.

Hill JK, Thomas CD, Huntley B (2001). Climate and recent range changes in butterfiles. In: 'Fingerprints' of Climate Change - Adapted Behaviour and Shifting Species Ranges (eds Walther G-R, Burga CA, Edwards PJ) pp. 77-88. Kluwer Academic/ Plenum Publishers, New York.

When there are more than two authors, use the first author followed by "et al.". Use commas between the author and date of publication, and to separate different publications by the same author. Semicolons separate citations of different authors. Cite two or more publications by different authors in chronological sequence, from the earliest to latest. For example:

      (Cramer et al. 2001)
      (Lindroth et al. 1997, 1998)
      (Post & Kwon 2000; Cramer et al. 2001)

We recommend the use of a tool such as EndNote or Reference Manager for reference management and formatting.

10. Supporting Information legends
Short legend for each supporting information file.

11. Tables
Each table should be on a separate page, numbered, and accompanied by an explanatory caption. Each table must be referred to in the text. Tables must be in editable Word or Excel format (NOT embedded in picture format). Data must not be presented in both tabular and graphical form. The number of tables and figures for Commentaries and Letters is limited to two.

12. Figure legends
Figure legends should be listed one after the other, as part of the text document, separate from the figure files. Do not include legends below the figures. Enough detail should be given so that the figure can be understood without reference to the text. In the full-text online edition of the journal, figure legends may be truncated in abbreviated links to the full screen version. Therefore, the first 100 characters of any legend should inform the reader of key aspects of the figure. If you wish to publish figures in color online and grayscale in print, figure legends should be appropriate for both color and grayscale versions; do not refer to colors in the figure.

13. Figures
All figures should be uploaded as separate files, with the figure number incorporated in the file name. Graphics/figures of accepted manuscripts must be 300dpi or above and in pdf, tiff or eps format. Figures should be cropped or scaled to the size intended for publication. Most figures should fit within a single (80 mm) or double column width (169 mm). Figure panels should be labeled with lower case, bold letters in parentheses (e.g. (a), (b)) and referred to in the text in the form Fig. 1a, Fig. 1a,b.

Figures may be published (1) in color both in the online journal and in the printed journal, (2) in color online and grayscale in print, or (3) in grayscale both in the online journal and in the printed journal. Online color is free; authors will be charged for color in print (currently £150 for the first figure, £50 thereafter). The Color Work Agreement Form should be completed in all instances where authors require color, whether in print or online. The form is not required for color figures that are part of online Supporting Information. If you wish to publish figures in color online and grayscale in print, you are responsible for ensuring that color figures are understandable when converted to grayscale and that text references and captions and figure legends are appropriate for both online and print versions.

Diagrams and graphs should appear on a white background, with black axis lines 0.25 mm thick enclosing the graph. Axes should be clearly marked with units in parentheses after the axis title. Scale/tick marks on graphs should be inside the axes. Only 5-7 ticks should be labeled per axis. Font should be black, Times, Times New Roman, Arial or Helvetica type, and 8-11 pt when scaled to print size.

The preferred symbols are open and closed circles, squares, triangles. Symbols should be 3 mm across. Data lines should be 0.5 mm thick. The same symbol and color should be used for the same entity in different figures. Legends may be used and should be overlayed on the graph when possible. The legend should have a white background and no outline. Please consult the submission checklist (http://blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/GCB_Submission_Checklist.pdf)or Wiley-Blackwell's Illustration Guidelines (http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/illustration.asp) for more information.

14. Supporting information
Appendicies will not be published in print, but may be submitted as Supporting Information to be published in the online version of the article. These files are not included in the typeset manuscript, but are downloadable and fully searchable from the HTML version of the article. This material should be submitted with the original manuscript in order that it can be included in the review process. Supporting information will be made available in exactly the same form as originally provided; it will not be copyedited or typeset. All supporting information must be referred to in the manuscript with a leading capital S (e.g., fig. S2 for the second supporting information figure). Authors should include a Supporting Information section after the references in the main article. This section consists of short captions for each supporting information file. Full captions should be included within the online supporting information file. Please see Wiley-Blackwell's Supporting Information Guidelines for more information.

15. Candidate cover image
Images suitable for the cover of the journal are particularly welcomed and should be accompanied by a suggested caption and photocredit (when appropriate). See Wiley-Blackwell's Graphics Resources for Authors for guidelines and tips.

Offprints

Free access to the final PDF offprint of your article will be available via author services only. Please therefore sign up for author services if you would like to access your article PDF offprint and enjoy the many other benefits the service offers.

Printed copies can be obtained at additional cost to the author. Please click on the following link, http://offprint.cosprinters.com/blackwell to order online. Fill in the necessary details and ensure that you type information in all of the required fields. If you have queries about offprints, please email offprint@cosprinters.com for details.

Colour Work Agreement

If you have submitted a manuscript that contains colour figures, it is the policy of the journal for authors to meet the full cost of colour reproduction (please see form for more details). Once completed, please return the form (hard copy with original signature) to Sheelagh Rogers via regular mail to the address below:

Sheelagh Rogers
Colour Works Agreements
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
9600 Garsington Road
Oxford, OX4 2DQ
UK

OnlineOpen

OnlineOpen is available to authors of primary research articles who wish to make their article available to non-subscribers on publication, or whose funding agency requires grantees to archive the final version of their article. With OnlineOpen the author, the author's funding agency, or the author's institution pays a fee to ensure that the article is made available to non-subscribers upon publication via Wiley Online Library, as well as deposited in the funding agency's preferred archive. For the full list of terms and conditions, see http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/onlineopen#OnlineOpen_Terms.

“If your paper is accepted, the author identified as the formal corresponding author for the paper will receive an email prompting them to login into Author Services; where via the Wiley Author Licensing Service (WALS) they will be able to complete the license agreement on behalf of all authors on the paper.

For authors signing the copyright transfer agreement

If the OnlineOpen option is not selected the corresponding author will be presented with the copyright transfer agreement (CTA) to sign. The terms and conditions of the CTA can be previewed in the samples associated with the Copyright FAQs below:

CTA Terms and Conditions http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/faqs_copyright.asp

For authors choosing OnlineOpen

If the OnlineOpen option is selected the corresponding author will have a choice of the following Creative Commons License Open Access Agreements (OAA):

Creative Commons Attribution License OAA

Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License OAA

Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial -NoDerivs License OAA

To preview the terms and conditions of these open access agreements please visit the Copyright FAQs hosted on Wiley Author Services http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/faqs_copyright.asp and visit http://www.wileyopenaccess.com/details/content/12f25db4c87/Copyright--License.html.

If you select the OnlineOpen option and your research is funded by The Wellcome Trust and members of the Research Councils UK (RCUK) you will be given the opportunity to publish your article under a CC-BY license supporting you in complying with Wellcome Trust and Research Councils UK requirements. For more information on this policy and the Journal’s compliant self-archiving policy pleasevisit: http://www.wiley.com/go/funderstatement.”

Online production tracking is now available for your article through Wiley-Blackwell's Author Services at http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/. Author services enables authors to track their article - once it has been accepted - through the production process to publication online and in print. Authors can check the status of their articles online and choose to receive automated e-mails at key stages of production. The author will receive an e-mail with a unique link that enables them to register and have their title automatically added to the system.

Referrals to the Open Access Journal "Ecology and Evolution"

This journal works together with Wiley’s Open Access Journal, Ecology and Evolution, to enable rapid publication of quality research that is unable to be accepted for publication by Global Change Biology. Authors will be offered the option of having the paper, along with any related reviews, automatically transferred for consideration by the Editor of Ecology and Evolution. Authors will not need to reformat or rewrite their manuscript at this stage, and publication decisions will be made a short time after the transfer takes place. The Editor of Ecology and Evolution will accept submissions that report well-conducted research which reaches the standard acceptance for publication. Accepted papers can be published rapidly, typically within 15 days of acceptance. Ecology and Evolution is a Wiley Open Access journal and article publication fees apply. More information can be found here.

Special issues

Our page budget does not allow for the publication of special issues. However, we will consider sponsored special issues with costs of publication covered by third party sponsors. All submissions to sponsored issues will undergo peer review and the final publication decision will be made by appropriate members of the editorial board. If you are interested in publishing a sponsored special issue please contact the Editorial Office.