Publishing the best original research in animal ecology: looking forward from 2013

In a world where impact factors and journal rankings are pored over by prospective authors and publishers alike, 2012 was an excellent year for the Journal of Animal Ecology as our impact factor rose to 4937. However, maximizing a journal’s impact factor should not be the only focus of editors. The primary role of the Journal of Animal Ecology is to publish papers that animal ecologists will find novel and thought-provoking and which advance the broader field of animal ecology. Over the last 81 years, the journal has published some of the most influential research in animal ecology, and we remain dedicated to publishing papers that challenge current ideas and shape the field. This is certainly evident in the articles we have published over the last year; whether it has been unravelling the ecology of wildlife diseases, tracing the movements and mapping space use of animals or disentangling the myriad interactions that shape animal communities and ecosystems, topical, cutting-edge research has occupied space in every issue. This coming year will be no exception, and we hope to continue receiving such high-quality work. As ever, the journal’s focus and emphasis is on work using data and analyses to quantitatively test theory or to develop new ideas. Reports of advances in both the way data are collected and the way they are analysed continue to provide exciting research avenues for the future that we wish to include in the pages of this publication. And that is true for all areas of animal ecology research; we welcome submissions ranging from molecular to macroecological studies. This range is reflected in the breadth of expertise on our Editorial Board. Our Associate Editors, along with the many kind reviewers who freely gave their time to assess the manuscripts submitted to the journal, did a fantastic job in making 2012 the success it was. We look forward to another prosperous year ahead. During 2012, we saw various personnel changes within the journal’s editorial office. Jenny Guthrie, our Managing Editor for 10 years, left the employ of the British Ecological Society following a restructure of the Society’s publications team. Jenny played a critical role in developing the journal over the last decade, and much of its current success is due to her eye for detail and hard work. The restructure has seen the appointment of Peter Livermore as the journal’s Assistant Editor and Liz Baker take over as