Journal content

Peer Review Week: Thoughts from a researcher

It is peer review week, a week in which we celebrate the review process and acknowledge the work of reviewers, and celebrate the review process that is the beating heart of science communication. There are many arguments why reviewing is necessary to do, but can it also benefit you as a reviewer? And if you review, what are your responsibilities? Below I give my vision on these aspects.

Bjorn

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Journal content

Peer review and publishing workshops from the BES

For Peer Review week, the BES Publications Team are discussing about various aspects of peer review, and how we make the process more transparent. Yesterday, methods.blog launched their new Peer Reviewer Mentoring Scheme, but the Publications Team have a number of other ways of opening up peer review and helping people get the most out of their published paper. Continue reading “Peer review and publishing workshops from the BES”

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Behind the paper

Insights: Florian Altermatt

In Insights we discover the story behind and beyond a recent publication in Functional Ecology. What inspired the authors to do the research, how did the project develop and what implications might their results have on the scientific community and on society?

This week, we talk to Florian Altermatt from Eawag (the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology) in Dübendorf, Switzerland, and the Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, and corresponding author on Leaf litter diversity and structure of microbial decomposer communities modulate litter decomposition in aquatic systems (plain language summary here.)

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Tasters

Tuesday taster: 05/09/2017

Featured in Functional Ecology this week is a paper by Yunhai Zhang and his colleagues, which describes how mowing reduces the stability of temperate grassland primary production under nitrogen addition. Very interesting read! If you are following the debate on gender equality and woman in STEM, here are some good recent reads: Why Men Don’t Believe the Data on Gender Bias in Science If there … Continue reading Tuesday taster: 05/09/2017

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Uncategorized

Insights: Sean Gleason

In Insights we discover the story behind and beyond a recent publication in Functional Ecology. What inspired the authors to do the research, how did the project develop and what implications might their results have on the scientific community and on society?

This week, Sean Gleason from the Water Management and Systems Research Unit, USDA-ARS, Fort Collins, USA will illustrate his recent paper on predicting shrub and tree growth from plant traits (read the free plain language summary here.)

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Tasters

Tuesday taster: 29/08/2017

Writing in Functional Ecology, Wang and his colleagues describe the results of a decomposition experiment focussed on standing litter. Great stuff, and I’m sure their results hold in many more ecosystems. My long-term collaborator, Vincent Jassey, has written an interesting blog post on protists and their likely importance in the ecology of tank-bromeliads in the tropics. I could not refrain in sharing this with you. … Continue reading Tuesday taster: 29/08/2017

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Behind the paper

Insights: Sasha Greenspan

In Insights we discover the story behind and beyond a recent publication in Functional Ecology. What inspired the authors to do the research, how did the project develop and what implications might their results have on the scientific community and on society?

sashagreenspanThis week, Sasha Greenspan, at the James Cook University at Townsville, Queensland, Australia, discusses her recent paper on the interaction between Spotted Treefrogs and a fungal pathogen and the role of temperature thereon (read the free plain language summary here).

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Tasters

Tuesday taster: 22/08/2017

Hi all, During my holidays, I have been reading The Angry Chef: bad science and the truth about healthy eating. It’s an absolutely great book if you want to read about food related pseudoscience and a chef’s views on it. Yesterday, I learned about a New Phytologist Tansley review that dives into the role of a healthy diet for our health– a really interesting read! … Continue reading Tuesday taster: 22/08/2017

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Tasters

Tuesday taster: 15/08/2017

Help for ECRs! The BES is running a Grant Writing Workshop for early career ecologists (26th-27th October) The workshop will include best practice and tailored support focused on converting a project idea into a grant or fellowship application For those that like their science illustrated: http://scientificillustration.tumblr.com/ Anyone that missed the recent Symposium on Insect-Plant Interactions, FE Associate Editor Alison Bennett interviewed a number of researchers … Continue reading Tuesday taster: 15/08/2017

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