Editorial 2007

The structure of the editorial board of Marine and Freshwater Research has undergone some changes to further enhance the quality of the review process of submitted manuscripts and expand the range of professional expertise associated with the journal's editorial committee. The original Editorial Advisory Committee and International Advisory Panel have been replaced by a larger pool of Associate Editors, whose expertise ranges from fisheries management and oceanography to aquatic bio-geochemistry and freshwater community ecology. This change in editorial board structure coincides with the departure of Dr Dugald McGlashan, the journal's Managing Editor for nearly 5 years. Under his guidance, the journal expanded production to 12 issues per year, with a considerable reduction in time to publication of accepted articles. For example, in 2006, mean submission time to first decision was 8.3 weeks and mean time for acceptance to publication was 12.3 weeks. The impact factor has increased substantially and the journal's international scope continues to expand, with papers submitted and refereed by scientists from over 45 countries last year.

I am delighted to introduce myself as the new Editor. I look forward to a productive association with a journal whose Editorial Advisory Committee I have served since 2000. I published my first paper in the journal in 1984, several more since then and, most recently, a paper with two of my students (Scealy et al. 2007). My own specific research interests focus on river and groundwater ecology, aquatic macroinvertebrate ecology, organic matter breakdown and the effects of human activities on aquatic ecosystems. I have co-authored two books and over 100 refereed papers on freshwater ecology and have taught research methods and aquatic ecology at several universities since 1988. I bring some 25 years of editorial service on the boards of four other aquatic journals to my new position but will always welcome suggestions and comments for improvements.

The goal of the journal will remain the publication of significant and original articles in the marine, estuarine and freshwater sciences worldwide. We will continue to seek reviews and research articles that address broad conceptual questions, have global applications and, where possible, are interdisciplinary and contribute to the successful management of our precious aquatic resources. To me, Marine and Freshwater Research fills a somewhat unique niche in the journals of the aquatic sciences because of its wide scope, both geographically and in discipline. Recent articles have ranged from papers on food webs and nutrient fluxes (e.g. Douglas et al. 2005; Ballinger and Lake 2006) and sampling issues in aquatic environments (e.g. Drummond and Connell 2005) to Bayesian hierarchical modeling of rock lobster populations (Punt et al. 2006), invasive species ecology (Gollan and Wright 2006), marine upwelling dynamics in New Caledonia (Henin and Cresswell 2005) and historical trends in mercury concentrations in mackerel in south-eastern USA (Adams and McMichael 2007).

The journal will also continue to produce Special Issues, such as the recent one on chondrichthyans (Volume 58(1), 2007), and I encourage prospective authors or guest editors to contact me with suggestions. I would also be keen to hear from groups of authors interested in submitting several related papers to the journal to be published together as a focussed series on a particular topic in the aquatic sciences. These papers would not fill an entire issue but would have the advantage of the greater impact of a collection of related works together in one place, perhaps preceded by a short summary of the key messages of the series.

Earlier this year, we awarded our first winner of the annual ‘Best Student Paper’ in Marine and Freshwater Research (O'Brien et al. 2006). This new award recognises the crucial role that postgraduate students make to high-quality research in the aquatic sciences, and we invite students submitting manuscripts to advise of their eligibility for this award each year. Details of the award can be found on the journal's home-page.

In closing, I wish to thank Professor Paul Boon and Dr Saumitra Banerjee who have managed the journal since Dugald’s departure, and to gratefully acknowledge the generosity and willingness of the new Associate Editors to support the journal. Finally, I thank Dugald for his excellent work as Managing Editor of Marine and Freshwater Research, and on behalf of the journal, wish him well in his new endeavours.

Andrew Boulton

Editor

Marine and Freshwater Research

CSIRO PUBLISHING

PO Box 1139

Collingwood

Victoria 3066

Australia

www.publish.csiro.au/journals/mfr