New Special Collection on classification and diversity of European forests and forest fringes launched by VCS

We welcome both original research papers and review papers at any spatial scale, from local to continental.

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The European Vegetation Survey and the IAVS’ gold open access journal Vegetation Classification and Survey are proud to launch a joint Special Collection dedicated to the classification and diversity of European forests and forest fringes.

Editors: Idoia Biurrun (Spain), Pavel Novák (Czech Republic) & Wolfgang Willner (Austria)

This is the call for the submission of manuscripts for a Special Collection in the journal Vegetation Classification and Survey, dedicated to papers dealing with the classification and diversity of European forests and forest fringes. We welcome both original research papers and review papers at any spatial scale, from local to continental. Presenters at the 31st conference of the European Vegetation Survey in Rome are especially welcome to submit papers related to their presentations, but the Special Collection is open to any paper fitting its scope. The publication of the SC is scheduled for issue 5 of VCS, along 2024, but papers with longer peer-review process might be published in VCS issue 6, in 2025.

Vegetation Classification and Survey is an international, peer-reviewed, online journal on plant community ecology published on behalf of the International Association for Vegetation Science (IAVS) together with its sister journals, Journal of Vegetation Science (JVS) and Applied Vegetation Science (AVS). It is devoted to vegetation survey and classification at any organizational and spatial scale and without restriction to certain methodological approaches. It is a specially attractive venue for vegetation survey papers, as long articles are welcome, and offers free reproduction of color figures. Vegetation Classification and Survey is indexed in the Scopus database, and it is expected that if will be included in the Web of Science soon.

Image by Dalibor Ballian under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Since the journal was launched in 2020, five thematic Special Collections have been published or are in preparation: Neotropical vegetation, Grasslands of Asia, African vegetation studies, The “International Vegetation Classification” initiative: case studies, syntheses, and perspectives on ecosystem diversity around the globe, and Classification of grasslands and other open vegetation types in the Palaearctic. Therefore, this would be the sixth thematic Special Collection, and the first one focused on European forests.

Image by Sarah Marchildon under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license

Procedure and deadlines

  • Until 15 October 2023: Please submit your abstract to Idoia Biurrun (idoia.biurrun@ehu.eus). The abstract must follow the VCS Author Guidelines
  • Until 31 October 2023: Authors will be notified whether their planned work is eligible for submission
  • Until 31 December 2023: Submission of invited papers. Non-invited manuscripts might also be considered on a one-by-one basis
  • Manuscripts will undergo a double-blind peer review process and be published on a one-by-one basis once accepted
  • We anticipate that we will conclude the whole Special Collection at the end of 2024

For detailed author guidelines please consult the earlier issues of the Journal or contact one of the editors of the Special Collection directly: Idoia Biurrun (idoia.biurrun@ehu.eus), Pavel Novák (Pavenow@seznam.cz) and Wolfgang Willner (wolfgang.willner@univie.ac.at). In case we receive many abstracts with promising potential articles, we are open to inviting more guest editors.

Please note that Vegetation Classification and Survey is a gold open access journal, which normally requests Article Processing Charges (APCs) from authors. Thanks to the generous support by IAVS, contributions first-authored by an IAVS member and submitted until 31 December 2023 are exempt from article processing charges, except those authors based on institutions or countries providing specific funding for APCs. 

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