Updates & Tips From the ESA Publications Department
The ESA publications staff are handling a high volume of materials, with nearly 1,000 active submissions under consideration. Handling times may be delayed due to this volume. There are two factors that often arise as challenges and can result in handling delays:
Figures That Use Images From Other Sources
We strongly discourage using extraneous illustrations in figures. A label that consists of words conveys meaning more clearly than a stock picture. Any illustration that is used must allow licensing under the least restrictive license available for the journal publication (Open Access, including for commercial reuse). The journal publication licenses do not permit sublicensing of materials in the paper. If using images, documentation of the image’s source and license must be provided with the submission and confirmed by ESA staff. The use of public domain images is encouraged if images are necessary, and source and license information for these images must be provided for confirmation. More information is available in our author guidelines for each journal.
Data and Code Availability
At the initial submission and revised version stages, ESA’s open research policy requires that authors disclose their data and code availability plans. New code strings created by authors of the submission must be provided for peer review. Data must be provided on an approved data repository if the paper is accepted, with limited exceptions for sensitive species and human data. Data and code necessary to replicate the paper’s tables, figures and conclusions must be published when the paper is accepted (before the paper’s publication). Please review this policy and ensure compliance with the requirements for each submission stage.
Relatedly, we are pleased to announce that we have expanded our partnership with the Dryad data repository. Authors that publish in ESA journals can deposit their associated data and code packages in Dryad at no cost (up to 10 GB; materials must be curated by Dryad after January 1, 2026 to qualify for fee coverage under ESA sponsorship). Using Dryad will ensure compliance with ESA’s open research policies, and all datasets are curated by Dryad to ensure they are Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR). We encourage you to explore Dryad’s services and consider this option for data and code archiving purposes.