The ICES Journal of Marine Science (ICES JMS) strives to advance marine science by making judicious use of themed article sets (TASs). TASs are series of coordinated contributions – introduced by a synthetic overview – on a selected topic. Both individually and collectively, TASs are instrumental in focusing attention, triggering opinions and stimulating ideas, discussion and activity in specific research fields.
“Ocean acidification” (OA), driven by rapid increases in CO2 taken up by the oceans from the atmosphere, has been the most-studied single topic in marine science in recent times. The vast majority of the literature on the topic reports and predicts negative effects of OA on organisms and ecosystems. Studies that report no effect are typically more difficult to publish and seem to appear in lower-ranking journals. Further, many critical aspects of the mechanisms underlying the biological and ecological effects of OA have received little attention (see below).
You are invited to participate in a themed article set on “Towards a broader perspective on ocean acidification research – jumping off the bandwagon”.
Contributions are welcome on, for example:
*Publication bias in the OA literature (i.e., against studies showing no effect of OA); *Studies showing no statistically discernible effect of OA; *Studies that emphasize the variability of responses to OA, including individuals that are not affected by the OA treatment, and how selection might act on that variability; *Multiple stressor experiments in which the effect of OA is assessed relative to and/or in combination with other drivers; *Assessments of the limits of using acute experiments to make inferences/conclusions about a chronic driver that will change slowly over decades; *Mechanisms of action of low pH and/or high CO2 that take into consideration realistic timescales for changes in the driver; *Acclimation, carry-over and epigenetic effects that take into consideration realistic timescales for changes in the driver; *Evolutionary effects (e.g. resistance).
Contributions can take the form of an original research article, a review, a “Food for Thought” essay in which you present a thought-provoking or controversial issue, or a “Quo Vadimus” essay in which you describe what you see as the future of the research area. You are welcome to invite colleagues to co-author your contribution and you are encouraged to circulate this invitation to anyone who you think would be interested in contributing.
Manuscripts should be prepared following the technical guidelines that can be found on the ICES JMS web site and should be submitted following the standard procedure. Please state in your cover letter that the article is intended for inclusion in this TAS.
Manuscripts will be subjected to the standard ICES JMS review process, overseen and coordinated by the Journal’s editors. TS articles will normally appear online within 5-6 weeks of their acceptance in final form. Articles are assigned their final digitial object identifier (DOI) when they first appear online, so that they are trackable, and citable, from that point onward. This also means that publication of the first article accepted will not be delayed by the last article accepted. Some articles may be made available as open access documents at no cost to the authors – this will be at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief, ICES and the publisher, Oxford University Press.
Submissions will be accepted at any time until 12 January 2015, but we would appreciate receiving an indication of your interest in contributing at your earliest convenience.
Contact person:
Howard Browman, Editor-in-Chief Institute of Marine Research
Marine Ecosystem Acoustics Group
Austevoll Research Station
N-5392 Storebø, Norway
Email: howard.browman@imr.no<mailto:howard.browman@imr.no>
Tel. +47 98 86 07 78
