Author Instructions

Scope of the Journal
Streamlined Submission
Basic Formatting Guide
Supplementary Material
Language Editing Pre-Submission
Journal Policies
Open Access

Scope of the journal

Journal of Urban Ecology covers all aspects of urban environments. This includes the biology of the organisms that inhabit urban areas, human social issues encountered within urban landscapes, and the diversity of ecosystem services.  

The journal covers, but is not limited to, urban climate, urban sustainability, soils, vegetation, animals, ecosystems, green spaces, parks, people’s use of the environment, planning, management and policy making.  The journal covers the ecology in cities and the ecology of cities, in both developed and developing countries. These subjects include basic ecological questions in urban areas, such as how ecological patterns and processes differ in cities compared to other environments and what effect urbanisation has on the ecology of organisms, as well as topics on the interactions between ecological and social systems in the urban setting. Journal of Urban Ecology also publishes research on green architecture, smart growth, progressive planning, water conservation and efficiency, and environmentally friendly infrastructure.

Article types

Research Article: Report on important original research relevant to the scope of Journal of Urban Ecology, not normally more than 10,000 words.

Review Article: Provide an introduction to, and update on, recent progress in a particular field, which is accessible to a researcher not directly working in that discipline.

Commentaries: Short articles, not normally exceeding 7,000 words, presenting researchers opinions and viewpoints on scientific theories and topics, methodologies used in current research and interpretation of current research.

Short Notes: Articles, not normally exceeding 7,000 words which report on practical projects that have been undertaken in the field and the results of those projects.

The suggested maximum word counts exclude the Abstract and References.

Streamlined submission

Journal of Urban Ecology has a streamlined submission process designed to avoid unnecessary work. Please submit your manuscript to the journals online submission system. To contact the editorial office, please email [email protected].   

Crossref Funding Data Registry

In order to meet your funding requirements authors are required to name their funding sources, or state if there are none, during the submission process. For further information on this process or to find out more about CHORUS, visit the CHORUS initiative.

Manuscripts can be submitted in any common document format that can be easily opened and read by others. A single PDF file is usually reliable. When formatting your submission it is helpful to ask: Would I enjoy reading and reviewing a manuscript formatted in this way? Some reviewers find it easier to assess manuscripts that use double line spacing. A basic formatting guide is given below.

Basic formatting guide

1. On the first page please include the title of paper, author names, and the address (including email) of the corresponding author. If there are multiple corresponding authors then nominate one for communication with the editorial office.
2. We suggest a maximum length of 250 words for the Abstract. Avoid reference citations and abbreviations in the Abstract
3. In the cover letter please list the three most important outcomes of your work
4. Tables and figures can be placed wherever the authors think is best, but should be large enough to be readable and include a title. Figures should be accompanied by a legend. Footnotes can be added to tables where appropriate. Try to avoid overcrowding in tables and unnecessary clutter in figures. Please use a common image format for figures (e.g. pdf, eps, gif, tif, jpg). The initial submission can have figures inline in the text rather provided as separate files. Maximum of 6 figures per paper. If you feel more than 6 figures are essential to your paper please contact the editorial office ([email protected]).
5. Videos can be published in the online article, with a still image of the video appearing in the print version. Please submit videos in MP4 format. Still images to be used in the print version should attempt to represent the main subject of the video. Any supplementary videos that you do not want to be included in the article itself can be uploaded as supplementary data. All videos should have an accompanying legend.
6. References and citations can be formatted in any readable style at submission, although authors are responsible for their accuracy.
7. Acknowledgements and details of funding sources should be included at the end of the text. Please refer to your funding organisations for the correct way to acknowledge their support.
8. Authors are encouraged to include a statement of data availability after the acknowledgement section of their article; see our data availability policy. Authors are encouraged to submit other relevant data files to Dryad or other similar repositories that provide permanent URLs or accession numbers. Please cite the relevant link in your article.
9. Please include at submission all files containing supplementary material. Supplementary text, figures and tables can be compiled into a single PDF for submission. Supplementary data files should be included separately.

Please also define non-standard abbreviations at the first occurrence and number figures and tables consecutively.

Upon revision papers should be submitted in an editable file format (i.e. not PDF) and figures should be submitted as separate, high-resolution, files.

Figure accessibility and alt text

Incorporating alt text (alternative text) when submitting your paper helps to foster inclusivity and accessibility. Good alt text ensures that individuals with visual impairments or those using screen readers can comprehend the content and context of your figures. The aim of alt text is to provide concise and informative descriptions of your figure so that all readers have access to the same level of information and understanding, and that all can engage with and benefit from the visual elements integral to scholarly content. Including alt text demonstrates a commitment to accessibility and enhances the overall impact and reach of your work.  

Alt text is applicable to all images, figures, illustrations, and photographs. 

Alt text is only accessible via e-reader and so it won’t appear as part of the typeset article. 

Detailed guidance on how to draft and submit alt text. 

Supplementary material

Supporting material that is not essential for inclusion in the full text of the manuscript, but would nevertheless benefit the reader, will be placed online by the journal, and linked to the manuscript. The material should not be essential to understanding the conclusions of the paper, but should contain data that is additional or complementary and directly relevant to the article content. Such information might include more detailed methods, extended data sets/data analysis, or additional figures.

We strongly encourage authors to deposit data in a subject-based repository that gives a permanent URL or accession number rather than uploading datasets as supplementary data.

All material to be considered as supplementary data must be submitted at the same time as the main manuscript for peer review. It cannot be altered or replaced after the paper has been accepted for publication, and will not be edited. Please make sure this material is checked carefully. Please indicate clearly all material intended as supplementary data upon submission and name the files e.g. 'Supplementary Figure 1', 'Supplementary Data', etc. Also ensure that the supplementary data is referred to in the main manuscript where necessary, for example as '(see Supplementary data)' or '(see Supplementary Figure 1)'.

Language Editing Pre-Submission

You may wish to use a language-editing service before submitting to ensure that editors and reviewers understand your manuscript. Our publisher, Oxford University Press, partners with Enago, a leading provider of author services. Prospective authors are entitled to a discount of 30% for editing services at Enago, through the OUP-Enago partner page.

Enago is an independent service provider, who will handle all aspects of this service, including payment. As an author you are under no obligation to take up this offer. Language editing is optional and does not guarantee that your manuscript will be accepted. Edited manuscripts will undergo the regular review process of the Journal.

Open Access

Journal of Urban Ecology is a fully open access journal and all articles are published in the journal under an open access licence immediately upon publication. You will need to pay an open access charge to publish under an open access licence.

Details of the open access licences and open access charges.

CC BY, CC BY-NC licence - $1,413

Corresponding authors based in countries and regions, that are part of the developing countries initiative are eligible for a full waiver of publishing fees in our fully open access journals. For further details, please see our APC Waiver Policy.

OUP has a growing number of Read and Publish agreements with institutions and consortia which provide funding for open access publishing. This means authors from participating institutions can publish open access, and the institution may pay the charge. Find out if your institution is participating.