Guide for Authors
Applied Soil Ecology addresses the role of soil organisms and their interactions in relation to: agricultural productivity, nutrient cycling and other soil processes, the maintenance of soil structure and fertility, the impact of human activities and xenobiotics on soil ecosystems and bio(techno)logical control of soil-inhabiting pests, diseases and weeds. Such issues are the basis of sustainable agricultural and forestry systems and the long-term conservation of soils in both the temperate and tropical regions.
The disciplines covered include the following, and preference will be given to articles which are interdisciplinary and integrate two or more of these disciplines:
• soil microbiology and microbial ecology
• soil invertebrate zoology and ecology
• root and rhizosphere ecology
• soil science
• soil biotechnology
• ecotoxicology
• nematology
• entomology
• plant pathology
• agronomy and sustainable agriculture • nutrient cycling • ecosystem modelling and food webs
Types of paper
1. Original research papers (Regular Papers)
2. Review articles
3. Short Communications
4. Applied Field Research Article
5. Viewpoints
6. Letters to the Editor
7. Editorials
8. Book Reviews
9. Announcements
Original research papers should report the results of original research. The material should not have been previously published elsewhere, except in a preliminary form.
Review articles should cover a subject of active current interest. They may be submitted or invited.
A Short Communication is a concise, but complete, description of a limited investigation, which will not be included in a later paper. Short Communications should be as completely documented, both by reference to the literature and description of the experimental procedures employed, as a regular paper. They should not occupy more than 6 printed pages (about 12 manuscript pages, including figures, etc.).
An Applied Field Research article is a paper presenting field work. Soil research needs to begin with an important phase of field work, meaning opening a soil profile and collecting information directly in the field. It is generally given as well-established and known. However, this is frequently not the case. In addition, this particular and often mandatory phase of soil research knows a recent technical development. The large use of photographs and new field tools (chemical, physical, biological field analyses) allow a better description of soil profiles and biogenic structures. Applied Field Research articles allow sharing classical and new field techniques of investigation, necessary for the standardization of collected data at planetary level. Applied Field Research articles clearly illustrate old and new field processes of data record, or data collection in particular unusual but interesting circumstances. The aim of the articles is to help people in soil data collection and classification. Applied Field Research articles accompany the development of the field investigation phases of soil applied research. A series of Applied Field Research articles can be diffused in a Special Applied Field Research issue dealing with a given aspect of field work.
The Viewpoint is an opportunity to publish a short opinion piece in the journal. Contributions to this section should not be more 2500 words, 10 references and may include one figure or table. A Viewpoint can be a commentary or critique on new or emerging topics, controversies, research methods, or other issues related to soil microbial and faunal ecology.
Letters to the Editor commenting on published articles in the journal are welcomed by the Editors and are published at an Editor's discretion. Contributions to this section should not exceed 1,500 words and 5 references with one figure or table allowed. The "letter" offers comment or useful critique on material previously published in Applied Soil Ecology. Comments/responses may be solicited from authors if the letter refers to a particular article in the journal. Both the "letter" and the author rebuttal will be evaluated by the Editors and may go out for peer review.
Authors wishing to submit a Letter to the Editor or an Editorial should contact one of the Editors-in-Chief to discuss this.
Ethics in publishing
Please see our information on Ethics in publishing.
Declaration of competing interest
All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. Authors should complete the declaration of competing interest statement using this template and upload to the submission system at the Attach/Upload Files step. Note: Please do not convert the .docx template to another file type. Author signatures are not required. If there are no interests to declare, please choose the first option in the template. More information.
Submission declaration and verification
Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract, a published lecture or academic thesis, see 'Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication' for more information), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright-holder. To verify originality, your article may be checked by the originality detection service Crossref Similarity Check.
Preprints
Please note that preprints can be shared anywhere at any time, in line with Elsevier's sharing policy. Sharing your preprints e.g. on a preprint server will not count as prior publication (see 'Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication' for more information).
Use of inclusive language
Inclusive language acknowledges diversity, conveys respect to all people, is sensitive to differences, and promotes equal opportunities. Content should make no assumptions about the beliefs or commitments of any reader; contain nothing which might imply that one individual is superior to another on the grounds of age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health condition; and use inclusive language throughout. Authors should ensure that writing is free from bias, stereotypes, slang, reference to dominant culture and/or cultural assumptions. We advise to seek gender neutrality by using plural nouns ("clinicians, patients/clients") as default/wherever possible to avoid using "he, she," or "he/she." We recommend avoiding the use of descriptors that refer to personal attributes such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health condition unless they are relevant and valid. These guidelines are meant as a point of reference to help identify appropriate language but are by no means exhaustive or definitive.
Changes to authorship
Authors are expected to consider carefully the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Any addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should be made only before the manuscript has been accepted and only if approved by the journal Editor. To request such a change, the Editor must receive the following from the corresponding author: (a) the reason for the change in author list and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed.
Only in exceptional circumstances will the Editor consider the addition, deletion or rearrangement of authors after the manuscript has been accepted. While the Editor considers the request, publication of the manuscript will be suspended. If the manuscript has already been published in an online issue, any requests approved by the Editor will result in a corrigendum.
Article Transfer Service
This journal is part of our Article Transfer Service. This means that if the Editor feels your article is more suitable for another journal, you may be asked to consider transferring your article to the alternative journal of your choice. If you agree, your article will be transferred automatically on your behalf with no need to reformat. More information about this can be found here: https://www.elsevier.com/authors/article-transfer-service.
Copyright
Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' (see more information on this). An e-mail will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript together with a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' form or a link to the online version of this agreement.
Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal circulation within their institutions. Permission of the Publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution and for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations. If excerpts from other copyrighted works are included, the author(s) must obtain written permission from the copyright owners and credit the source(s) in the article. Elsevier has preprinted forms for use by authors in these cases.
For gold open access articles: Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'License Agreement' (more information). Permitted third party reuse of gold open access articles is determined by the author's choice of user license.
Author rights
As an author you (or your employer or institution) have certain rights to reuse your work. More information.
Elsevier supports responsible sharing
Find out how you can share your research published in Elsevier journals.
Role of the funding source
You are requested to identify who provided financial support for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the article and to briefly describe the role of the sponsor(s), if any, in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication. If the funding source(s) had no such involvement then this should be stated.
Open access
Please visit our Open Access page for more information.
Elsevier Researcher Academy
Researcher Academy is a free e-learning platform designed to support early and mid-career researchers throughout their research journey. The "Learn" environment at Researcher Academy offers several interactive modules, webinars, downloadable guides and resources to guide you through the process of writing for research and going through peer review. Feel free to use these free resources to improve your submission and navigate the publication process with ease.
Language (usage and editing services)
Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these). Authors who feel their English language manuscript may require editing to eliminate possible grammatical or spelling errors and to conform to correct scientific English may wish to use the English Language Editing service available from Elsevier's Author Services.
Submission
Our online submission system guides you stepwise through the process of entering your article details and uploading your files. The system converts your article files to a single PDF file used in the peer-review process. Editable files (e.g., Word, LaTeX) are required to typeset your article for final publication. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, is sent by e-mail.
Submit your article
Please submit your article via https://www.editorialmanager.com/APSOIL/default.aspx
Referees
Please submit, with the manuscript, the names, addresses and e-mail addresses of three potential referees. The referees must not have a conflict of interest with any of the authors or the content of the manuscript. For this reason, do not submit referees who are part of your or your co-authors' institutions, or referees you or your co-authors have collaborated with in the past three years. Ideally referees from several different countries are invited. Potential referees should be experts in the field of your research, having published peer-reviewed papers on the subject.
Note that the editor retains the sole right to decide whether or not the suggested reviewers are used.
Peer review
This journal operates a single anonymized review process. All contributions will be initially assessed by the editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then typically sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The Editor is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. The Editor's decision is final. Editors are not involved in decisions about papers which they have written themselves or have been written by family members or colleagues or which relate to products or services in which the editor has an interest. Any such submission is subject to all of the journal's usual procedures, with peer review handled independently of the relevant editor and their research groups. More information on types of peer review.
English and presentation standards
It is essential that your manuscript be written clearly, succinctly, and be grammatically perfect. If the manuscript is written poorly it will be sent back without a scientific review. Beyond this, one does not want to have marginally acceptable English and/or delivery of the information. Poorly written manuscripts gets you off on a bad start with the reviewer. If the English or lack of clarity gets in the way of the science, it will be very difficult for the reviewer to have a favorable evaluation of the manuscript, no matter how good the data is. Organize each section in a logical progression or order and it is a good idea to use subheadings judiciously to enable the reader to easily navigate the paper. However, a subheading should have at least two paragraphs. Avoid run on sentences - if a sentence is more than 3 lines long, please re-evaluate the sentence to either shorten or break into separate sentences. Carefully review each paragraph that it contains only one theme or topic and that it has transition sentences to start and end the paragraph. These are important to carry the reader from one paragraph or idea to the next. Normal paragraphs should not be longer than a third of a page - if you find longer paragraphs in your manuscript, carefully edit them to see if they can be shortened and that they follow the criteria outlined above. It is always a good practice to have a colleague not involved as a co-author to edit your paper. Ideally this be should somebody who knows the discipline, has published extensively and has a thorough knowledge of English. Additionally you can have an agency edit the manuscript. Upon request, Elsevier will direct authors to an agent who can check and improve the English of their paper (before submission). Please visit our customer support site at https://service.elsevier.com for more information.
Manuscripts should be prepared with numbered lines, with wide margins and double line spacing throughout, i.e. also for abstracts, footnotes and references. Every page of the manuscript, including the title page, references, tables, etc. should be numbered. However, in the text no reference should be made to page numbers; if necessary, one may refer to sections.
Article structure
Subdivision - numbered sections
Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections. Subsections should be numbered 1.1 (then 1.1.1, 1.1.2, ...), 1.2, etc. (the abstract is not included in section numbering). Use this numbering also for internal cross-referencing: do not just refer to 'the text'. Any subsection may be given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own separate line.
Introduction
The Introduction should start broadly followed by an abbreviated review of the key literature related to your research. This is followed by a short presentation of the rationale and the information gaps that the research is filling. Additional justification can be that the research further develops or challenges the findings of others. This leads to clearly stated objective(s) for doing the research. Summaries of experiments, methods or results should not be included in the Introduction and please avoid a detailed literature survey.
Material and methods
This section should give enough detail to allow a competent scientist to repeat the experiments. This should be presented in a paragraph and full sentence format - typically not in an outline or numbered format. The arrangement of Materials and Methods section can proceed chronologically, but normally starts with site description, followed by statistical experimental design (including number of replications) and layout, treatments, analytical methods and statistical/data analysis. For the experimental design statement please make a clear statement on the design and the number of replications which for example could start this way - "The experiment had a completely randomized block design with four replications that had the following treatments....." Then go on and describe the treatments in detail.
Sometimes it may be appropriate to include tables, flow diagrams, or figures to assist with the description of the research procedures, but this should be done only when absolutely necessary. Maps should NOT be used to show research locations (rather describe nearest city, the state/province, country, and longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates in the text). Maps could be used when needed to describe something in the experimental design (e.g. sampling schemes on the landscape) that can not be easily described in the text. The site description should generally include the climate, soil(s), vegetation, and any other pertinent information about the research site condition/situation. Identify soils by Great Group name at least, and preferably by soil series name and. This should either be the FAO World Reference Base (WRB) for Soil Resources or the UDSDA soil classification systems. Information for the WRB system can be found at: http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/y1899e/y1899e02.htm#TopOfPage
For the USDA system, as an example in the text of the Materials and Methods, the text can read as follows - "The soil was a Malabon silty clay loam (Pachic Ultic Argixerolls) (Soil Survey Staff, 2010). Then cited in the Reference Section as follows:
Soil Survey Staff, 2010. Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 11th ed. USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Washington, DC.
For the description of the analytical methods - If the techniques are widely familiar, use only their names and give the citation that describes the method. However, any significant modification to a method should be described. For a completely new method it is important that all the details are provided. Not all materials need to be identified by brand name and manufacturer. The criteria for inclusion of a particular product by brand name are based on whether it is essential to the outcome of the research, and the availability (e.g. common to several vendors). When a product must be identified by trade name, add the name of the manufacturer or a major distributor and the city of their sales headquarters, parenthetically after the first mention of the product. For specially procured or proprietary materials, give the relevant chemical and physical properties (e.g., purity, pH, concentration) (see Nomenclature and Units section below for more details). Plants and other organisms, including viruses, insects, bacteria, and pathogens should be identified accurately at first mention by scientific name (with authority for plants) and cultivar name if applicable. All units must be in be formatted according the SI system (see Nomenclature and Units section below for more details).
Results
The Results section explains the data and major outcomes using tables, graphs, and other illustrations as appropriate. This section to provides a clear understanding of representative data from the experiments. Highlight major findings and special features (e.g., one quantity is greater than another, one result is linear across a range, or a particular value is optimum). Avoid the repeating the details that are already clear from an examination of the graphics or tables.
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