The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is the definitive US professional society for ecologists, founded in 1915 and headquartered in Washington, DC. It publishes seven journals spanning the whole of ecology - from the century-old flagship Ecology to the broad-scope Gold open-access journal Ecosphere and the newest title, Earth Stewardship (launched 2023). Since 2016 the journals have been produced and hosted in partnership with John Wiley & Sons, so submission, licensing, and open-access payment all run through Wiley's infrastructure while editorial control stays with the Society.

This guide covers how to pick the right ESA journal, what each one publishes, the fee structure (page charges vs APCs), peer review, and how to submit.

Seven journals, all in ecology and environmental science:

• Ecology - basic ecological research across all subdisciplines; also publishes peer-reviewed Data Papers.
• Ecological Monographs - long-form integrative papers and major advances.
• Ecological Applications - ecological science applied to environmental problems and policy.
• Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment - syntheses, reviews, and cutting-edge topics for a broad readership.
• Ecosphere - Gold OA, broad-scope, rapid publication.
• Earth Stewardship - Gold OA, transdisciplinary sustainability science.
• Bulletin of the ESA - the Society's quarterly member publication (est. 1917), free to read and free to publish in.

ESA runs a mixed model through Wiley. Three routes:

All OA articles are published under a CC BY license with authors retaining copyright. Green self-archiving is permitted - ESA allows authors to post the final published PDF to institutional repositories. ESA members without grant or institutional funding can apply for Society publication grants (up to 21 pages per calendar year), and Wiley's Research4Life waiver policy covers authors in eligible low- and middle-income countries. ESA journals are also included in Wiley's Read & Publish transformative agreements, so check whether your institution's Wiley deal covers your APC before paying out of pocket.

ESA journals use single-anonymized peer review: reviewers know author identities, authors do not know reviewers. Ecology and Ecological Monographs are selective, field-flagship venues; Ecosphere reviews for scientific soundness across a broad scope, which generally means faster decisions. Expect roughly 2-4 months to first decision depending on the journal - check recent turnaround statistics on each journal's homepage.

1. Pick the journal using the decision table above, and read the title-specific author guidelines on the ESA hub at Wiley.
2. Prepare your manuscript in ESA's author-year citation style. SciSpace hosts formatted templates for each ESA journal.
3. Submit via ScholarOne - Ecology, Ecological Applications, Ecological Monographs, Ecosphere, Frontiers, and the Bulletin all use ScholarOne Manuscripts. Earth Stewardship switched to Wiley's Research Exchange platform in October 2024.
4. Choose your license and fees after acceptance - Wiley Author Services handles OA payment, funder linking, and any institutional agreement coverage.

ESA is a COPE member and follows COPE guidance on authorship disputes, corrections, and retractions; as the publishing partner, Wiley (a member of COPE, OASPA, and STM) applies its integrity screening across the portfolio. Ecology's long-standing Data Papers format and ESA's open-research policies encourage archiving data in public repositories with citation.