molecular-ecology
Molecular Ecology (molecular-ecology)
Journal positioning
Molecular Ecology is a Wiley journal and the flagship venue for work that uses molecular tools to answer ecological, evolutionary, and conservation questions. Its defining character is the integration of molecular data with a genuine ecological or evolutionary question: the molecular method is the means, not the end. The journal rewards population genomics, phylogeography, landscape genetics, molecular adaptation, eDNA and metabarcoding, host-microbe and community molecular ecology, and conservation genomics — provided the study is hypothesis-driven and the biological interpretation is as strong as the genetic analysis. It is not a venue for marker-development notes, methods without a biological question, or descriptive genotyping without ecological inference. Readership spans molecular ecologists, evolutionary geneticists, and conservation biologists. This skill is a fit / venue-selection / re-framing tool. It does not replace the journal's current official guidelines. Before submitting, re-check the live author instructions on the Molecular Ecology Wiley site.
When to trigger
- The author names Molecular Ecology as the target for a study applying molecular or genomic data to an ecological, evolutionary, or conservation question.
- A population-genomics, phylogeography, eDNA, or landscape-genetics manuscript is choosing between Molecular Ecology, Molecular Biology and Evolution, and Nature Ecology & Evolution.
- A study has strong molecular data but the author needs to confirm the ecological/evolutionary question is framed sharply enough for this venue.
- The author needs Molecular Ecology's data-archiving, reproducibility, and scope conventions, plus desk-reject criteria, before submission.