| name | molecular-ecology |
| description | Use when targeting Molecular Ecology (Mol Ecol) or deciding whether a manuscript applying molecular approaches to ecological, evolutionary, or conservation questions fits this venue. Encodes the journal's fit, framing, method-and-evidence bar, house style, official-submission re-check, and desk-reject heuristics. |
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.
Scope & topic fit
- Population genomics and landscape genetics: structure, gene flow, demographic history, and adaptation across landscapes inferred from genome-wide data.
- Phylogeography: the geographic distribution of genealogical lineages and the historical processes — refugia, colonization, vicariance — that produced them.
- Molecular adaptation and selection: genome scans, environmental-association analyses, and functional links between genotype, phenotype, and environment.
- Environmental DNA, metabarcoding, and community molecular ecology: biodiversity assessment, species detection, and community composition from molecular data with ecological inference.
- Host-microbe and symbiosis ecology: microbiome structure and function analyzed in an ecological or evolutionary framework.
- Conservation genomics: effective population size, inbreeding, hybridization, units of conservation, and adaptive capacity informing management.
Method & evidence bar
- The ecological or evolutionary question must drive the study; molecular data are evidence toward a hypothesis, not the result in themselves.
- Sampling design must support the inference: population/site replication, sample sizes, and geographic or temporal coverage adequate for the claims.
- Genomic analyses must be current and appropriate — suitable marker density or sequencing depth, correct population-genetic models, and attention to confounders such as population structure, linkage, and ascertainment bias.
- Statistical support is expected: model comparison, demographic-inference validation, simulation or resampling where relevant, and honest treatment of uncertainty.
- Bioinformatic pipelines must be reproducible: software versions, parameters, and filtering steps reported; custom code deposited.
- Raw sequence data and genotype/processed datasets must be archived in appropriate public repositories (e.g., NCBI SRA/GenBank, Dryad/Zenodo) per current policy.
Structure & house style
- Molecular Ecology publishes full-length research articles; re-check current article types, length, and figure limits on the live site.
- The Introduction must establish the ecological/evolutionary question and hypotheses before the molecular approach; Methods document sampling, lab/sequencing, and bioinformatics in reproducible detail.
- Results should integrate genetic patterns with biological interpretation rather than presenting genotype summaries in isolation; the Discussion must return to the opening question.
- Figures favor informative population-genetic visualizations — structure plots, ordinations, maps, demographic models — each carrying a clear inference.
- Extensive bioinformatic detail, parameter tables, and supplementary analyses belong in Supporting Information; the main text stays focused on the question.
- A clear data-accessibility statement with all repository accessions is a standard required element; confirm the current format.
Official-submission checklist
- Before giving submission-ready advice, read
../../resources/source-basis.md and ../../resources/official-source-map.md; start from the official source anchors for this journal family, then cite the current journal-specific page you checked.
- Search the live site for "Molecular Ecology author guidelines" and follow the current Wiley version.
- Re-check current article types, length and figure limits, and any distinction between full articles and shorter formats.
- Re-check the data-accessibility policy: required repositories for raw sequence data, genotypes, and code, plus the data-accessibility-statement format.
- Re-check competing-interests, funding, ethics/permits (sampling, CITES), and AI-use disclosure requirements; confirm preprint policy (bioRxiv/EcoEvoRxiv generally compatible).
- If the live official instructions conflict with this skill, the official instructions win.
Pre-submission self-check
Common desk-reject triggers
- A marker-development, primer, or genotyping-protocol note without an ecological or evolutionary question.
- Descriptive population genotyping that reports structure or diversity statistics without testing a hypothesis or drawing ecological inference.
- A study whose sampling design (too few populations, too few individuals) cannot support its demographic or selection claims.
- A microbiome or eDNA dataset presented as a species/taxa list without ecological or evolutionary interpretation.
- A genomics-heavy paper whose biological question is generic, post hoc, or weakly connected to the molecular results.
Re-routing decision
- Molecular-evolutionary or phylogenetic methodology and molecular-evolution theory at the core: Molecular Biology and Evolution (
molecular-biology-and-evolution).
- A conceptually broad eco-evolutionary advance of general significance beyond the molecular-ecology community: Nature Ecology & Evolution (
nature-ecology-and-evolution).
- A concise conceptual advance integrating theory and data: Ecology Letters (
ecology-letters).
- A primarily bioinformatic method or software tool: a methods venue (e.g., Methods in Ecology and Evolution, Molecular Ecology Resources).
Output format
[Fit] High / Medium / Low (one-line reason)
[Target] Molecular Ecology
[Topic tags] <2–3 closest topics>
[Method/evidence] <does a sharp ecological/evolutionary question drive molecular data with adequate sampling, current analyses, and reproducible pipelines?>
[Top risk] <the single most likely reason for rejection>
[Official items to re-check] <article types/limits / data-accessibility repositories / permits-ethics / disclosure / preprint policy>
[Re-route suggestion] <if not a fit, a better-matched venue>
