Ten years of Methods in Ecology and Evolution

Abstract

The start of 2020 marks the end of the first decade of Methods in Ecology and Evolution. When we launched the journal in 2010, we did so because of feedback from the community that there was a need for a journal that promoted the publication of new methods. In Issue 1, the launch issue, we published an editorial to summarize the aims and ambitions for the journal; the need for the new journal was outlined, as well as some of our objectives and strategies for developing it. We noted that much of the recent progress in ecology and evolutionary biology had been enabled or driven by methodological developments in statistics, computing, molecular and genetic techniques. Given this, it seemed a logical development to propose a journal that concentrated on methodological development. The beginning of Methods in Ecology and Evolution’s second decade is a good time to review whether we have fulfilled that need. In outlining the rationale for the (then) new journal, our editorial had three main sections, ‘Why do we need a new journal?’, ‘What is the scope of the journal?’ and ‘Supporting users’. We will now briefly review our progress under these headings.