Focus and Scope

An scientific peer-reviewed online journal, published in Russia 4 times in a year. The articles are published in the English and Russian languages after the obligatory review.  The journal’s subject area includes problems of structure and functioning of ground and water ecosystems; ecosystem dynamics; estimation of biodiversity and its importance in structural and functional organization of ecosystems; historical ecology; ecology and environmental protection, ecosystem nature management, modelling in ecology.

Characteristic features of the journal: free online access to articles, free and quick publication for authors, possibility to publish articles of various kinds – reviews, original research articles, theoretical works, methodology, discussions, brief reports, information about  past conferences, comments, study materials, research reports on expeditions and field trips, descriptions and analysis of experiments in the renewal processes of biodiversity, conclusions on research results in nature conservation areas.  It is the journal’s great advantage that it can publish articles of great sizes, include a large number of color illustrations and links to various media files. Priority is given to reviews, theoretical works, discussions, original cross-disciplinary articles in ecology of ecosystems, historical ecology, ecology of environmental and nature management.

The editorial staff is composed of experts on synecology in ground and water ecosystems, autecology and demecology of plants and animals, botany, zoology, pedology, mycology, hydrobiology, biogeography, phytocenology, landscape ecology, historical ecology, paleoecology, mathematical modelling, environmental management and conservation.

Many editorial staff members have conducted longtime complex studies both in the best preserved fragments of the ecosystem layer, and in human-transformed ecosystems in different regions.

Reasons behind the Journal Establishment

Current science and politics declare great interest in natural ecosystems, in the realization of their necessary functions for human society. Among these functions are optimization of climate and hydrological regime, support of land fertility, maximal biodiversity, high producing capacity and others. At the same time, the majority of modern research is focused on some specific issues of autecology, demecology, or synecology.

The editorial staff sees the aim of the journal in presenting works from different fields of ecology that will help to change the existing principles of interaction between man and nature. In our view, the establishment of the journal, guiding the scientific community to integrated studies of ecosystem organization of life on the Earth, is of paramount importance, both for the integrated development of the synecology, and for successful solution of practical problems of nature protection and sustainable management of natural resources.

Journal  Aim and tasks

The aim of the journal is to develop an open platform for discussion on key issues of interaction between man and nature, making decisions on the basis of synthesis of the theoretical concepts and the achievements of the synecology and the historical ecology, using the existing experience in protection of nature and modern environmental management.

The journal will contribute to:

1) the dissemination of modern ideas, approaches and techniques of synecology and historical ecology through reviews, discussions, and publication of the latest techniques and the results of their application;

2) the development of complex evaluation of the current state, directions and pace of the development of ecosystems and their complexes on the basis of synthesis of research results in synecology, historical ecology, traditional and contemporary environmental management and the experience of nature reserves creation;

3) the use of modern methods of synecology and historical ecology to preserve and/or restore original features of nature conservation areas and to organize the natural resource management, oriented towards the full realization of the ecosystem functions of the biosphere;

4) the implementation of modern concepts of synecology and historical ecology in secondary and higher education so as to develop responsible attitude among the young towards the problems of conservation and restoration of the natural features of the Earth’s biosphere as a prerequisite of human sustainable existence.

Open Access Policy

This is an open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or their institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access, recommended by DOAJ.

The publication conducts the policy of maximal availability of the published materials for researchers. All the articles of archival and current journal issues are under free access on the journal’s web site, as well as on the portals of Russian and foreign e-libraries and online databases.

Users can use, reuse and build upon the material published in the journal but only for non-commercial purposes.

Manuscript Processing Charges

The publisher is bears all expenses for journal production and publication. Publication of papers is free of charge for the authors. Peer review is not paid.

A policy of screening for plagiarism

All the articles provided for review have their original text tested for the level of uniqueness determined by using the appropriate software that shows the uniqueness of the article, sources used and coincidence of the text by means of Antiplagiat systems.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in a reviewer’s own research without the written consent of the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.

Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

Privacy Statement

Specified when registering the names and addresses will be used solely for technical purposes of a contact with the Author or reviewers (editors) when preparing the article for publication. Private data will not be shared with other individuals and organizations.

Copyright Notice

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License CC-BY 4.0. that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work’s authorship and initial publication in this journal.

2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal’s published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.

Archiving

  • Russian State Library (RSL)
  • Russian Book Chamber