Editorial 2026

Molecular Ecology (MEC) remains one of the most prominent and influential journals in ecology and evolution. In 2024, the journal published 341 citable items, placing it third among 53 journals in Clarivate's Evolutionary Biology category. Citation patterns show a similar trend: MEC received 37,985 citations, ranking fourth in the field. Google Scholar metrics also reflect the journal's influence, with an h5-index of 71—again positioning MEC fourth among evolution-focused journals. Despite these strengths, MEC, like other evolutionary biology journals (Figure 1), continues to experience a decline in impact factor, which fell to 3.9 in 2024. Although the journal still holds the eighth-highest impact factor in this category, this drop has been discouraging, particularly given recent efforts to increase the number of reviews and special issues published in the journal. The downward trend partly reflects changes in impact factor calculations as well as intensifying competition for high-impact submissions. This decline has motivated some of the proposed changes in the editorial board structure at MEC, which are described below. Implementing changes to the editorial board structure of Molecular Ecology has been a topic of considerable discussion in recent years. During this time, the external publishing landscape has evolved considerably and has begun to exert new pressures on the journal. One example of this is the growing competition for high-quality articles from new journals in the field, including journals dedicated to fast-moving topics such as Environmental DNA. We are also seeing a growing volume of submissions to the journal, placing strain on the capacity of our current organisation and creating delays, which can cause authors to look at alternate journals in the future. Other pressures include navigating the opportunities and threats presented by revolutionary technologies such as AI and being resolute in the face of the growing concern of fraudulent submissions from paper mills. In response, we are pleased to announce the following changes which we are making to ensure the journal can continue to publish works of consequential interest to the molecular ecology community, whilst also delivering timely and robust peer review. Many of our most distinguished editors have served on the Senior Editor Board (SEB) of Molecular Ecology for many years. Starting in January 2026, we are delighted that the SEB will be growing with the addition of five new editors. We wish to congratulate current Associate Editors Carla Martins Lopes, Sean Rogers and Mitch Cruzan on their promotion to the SEB, and we welcome prominent molecular ecologists Shawn Narum (Columbia Inter-Tribal Fish Commission) and Jing Wang (Sichuan University). The new appointments will join current members Michael Hansen, Tatiana Giraud, Joanna Freeland, David Coltman and Rosemary Gillespie to form the new SEB of Molecular Ecology. In addition to the expanded team, the focus of the SEB will shift to a more strategic role, developing special issues on topics of emerging and high interest to our readers, as well as advising the Editors-in-Chief on new initiatives and the future direction of the journal. Furthermore, the growing number of Senior Editors means we can place greater resources on the initial screening of new submissions to ensure manuscripts that do not meet the requirements for peer review are returned in a timely but fair manner. Whilst we are excited to onboard new members of the SEB, we regret to report that Senior Editor, Victoria Sork, has decided to retire from the journal. Victoria has been one of the journal's most esteemed and longest-serving editors. A former winner of the Molecular Ecology prize (https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.15772), Victoria has shown unwavering commitment to the success of the journal, and we thank her for her outstanding service. We are grateful to the growing number of authors who are entrusting their research to the journal—Molecular Ecology has seen a surge in submissions of over 17% this year alone. However, handling this volume of papers in a timely manner while maintaining quality standards brings with it its own set of challenges. To ensure we meet these growing demands, we will be adding professional editors to the editorial team of Molecular Ecology. These editors, all of whom are experienced at peer review and have PhDs in related fields, will work under the strategic direction of the Editors-in-Chief and will manage and oversee the peer review of assigned manuscripts. While we recognise the need for this change, Molecular Ecology strongly values the role of academic editors in the publishing process. We are therefore pleased that many of our current associate editors will continue in their roles and will work alongside our professional editors to ensure manuscripts receive rigorous, timely and professional peer review. We also take this opportunity to express our enormous gratitude to members of the current Associate Editor Board who will be stepping down at the end of 2025. By dedicating their valuable time and expertise to Molecular Ecology, our departing Associate Editors have been instrumental to the success of the journal over many years, and we sincerely thank them for their service. Molecular Ecology and Molecular Ecology Resources acknowledge the importance of a strong social media presence. With this in mind, we are pleased to share that Angel G. Rivera-Colón has been appointed Social Media Editor for both journals. Angel has previously been a key member of the journal's Junior Editor Board and will now spearhead our efforts to engage with the community and highlight the excellent research published in the journals. We congratulate Angel on this appointment. In 2022, Molecular Ecology and Molecular Ecology Resources introduced a policy encouraging authors to report non-monetary benefit-sharing with the countries or communities that provided the genetic resources or traditional knowledge used in their research. This initiative was motivated in part by the widespread adoption of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS), which made benefit-sharing a legal obligation for some studies published in our journals. We also recognised that non-monetary benefit sharing was already a common practice among many biodiversity researchers, yet remained largely invisible to the public, policymakers and other stakeholders (Marden et al. 2020). Finally, we hoped that this policy would prompt authors to reflect on—and potentially expand—the ways they engage in meaningful benefit-sharing practices. We recently surveyed research articles published in Molecular Ecology from 2023–2025 to determine the kinds of non-monetary benefits reported in the journal (Yu et al. 2025). We found that nearly 40% of papers now report some form of benefit-sharing. Benefit-sharing is most frequently expressed through collaboration and co-authorship, as well as data sharing, while capacity building, local economic contributions and ABS permitting are reported less frequently. Reporting varies by country and taxon (it is most common in studies on seed plants), and appears influenced more by researcher awareness than by whether the researcher's country is a Party to the Nagoya Protocol. While we urge greater attention to ABS permitting, including the citation of an Internationally Recognised Certificate of Compliance (IRCC), our survey suggests that studies conducted under ABS permits represent only a small fraction of non-monetary benefit-sharing in biodiversity research. As a result, estimates based solely on ABS-related studies are likely to significantly undervalue the extent of non-monetary benefit-sharing that underpins most biodiversity research efforts. Invited reviews continue to make important contributions to the literature by summarising up-to-date information and identifying knowledge gaps on a wide range of topics. This year our Invited Reviews discussed the population genomics of adaptive radiations (Combrink et al. 2025); how fitness surfaces can help link conservation breeding programmes to the recovery of wild populations (Sauve et al. 2025); differences in how plant and animal genomes evolve and how this affects speciation (Wang et al. 2025); a novel approach for identifying microbial species from genetic data (Narechania et al. 2025); and the degree to which genes are re-used during parallel adaptation (Chaturvedi et al. 2025). In addition, the special issue ‘Ecology of Gene Expression’ (MEC 34: 15) included five Invited Reviews that discussed gene expression in the context of invasive species, hybrids, temperature responses and evolution. We also published one synthesis that identified an anthropogenically driven reduction in the genetic diversity of marine fishes (Karachaliou et al. 2025), and another that demonstrated the importance of considering the dynamic nature of molecular responses when investigating organismal responses to stress (Molinari et al. 2025). Additionally, the AquaEcOmics Meeting Report summarised multiple ongoing investigations that are using omics to study and manage aquatic environments (Rimet et al. 2025). The new category of ‘Mini Review’ has become a popular option for topics that do not necessarily need a full review. In 2025, Mini Review topics included runs of homozygosity in wild populations (Shafer and Kardos 2025); errors in GenBank databases (Carné et al. 2025); geographic and taxonomic biases in plant DNA barcodes (Kartzinel et al. 2025 and Early View); and salmonid genomics (May et al. 2025). We are delighted that Mini Reviews are providing an accessible option for concise reports of new insights. We are aware of the workload involved with all types of reviews and syntheses, and are grateful to the authors who provide informative summaries of topics that increasingly incorporate complex molecular data and analyses. Suggestions for review topics are always welcome; please contact the reviews editor ([email protected]) if you have ideas for future reviews. Molecular Ecology includes dedicated sections for Comments and Opinion articles designed to foster scientific dialogue within the community. Opinion papers offer points of view that are relevant—and sometimes deliberately provocative—to the field of molecular ecology, aiming to spark discussion and explore speculative ideas. Comments, in contrast, are brief manuscripts that critique or further discuss previously published work, primarily within Molecular Ecology. The 2025 Opinion articles reflected a wide range of topics. Two papers examined the challenges of describing global species diversity and explored how DNA barcoding (Emerson 2025) and community science (Corrales et al. 2025) could advance this goal. Another article highlighted the potential of broadening eRNA research beyond mRNA to encompass additional RNA types and biological processes (Ahi and Schenekar 2025). A final Opinion piece demonstrated how overlooking sex-specific genomic differentiation can lead to inaccurate or misleading conclusions and highlighted the importance of sex-aware study designs (Chen et al. 2025). There were also two Comments. Kardos and Waples (2024) argued that vonHoldt et al.'s (2023) conclusions about declining heterozygosity and effective population size in U.S. wolf populations were likely distorted by low-coverage sequencing and a sampling strategy that mixed genetically distinct groups across multiple generations. In the second Comment, Long and Rieseberg (2025) highlighted an analysis pipeline developed by Wang et al. (2021), which offers an efficient means for documenting homoploid hybrid speciation. Molecular Ecology also publishes special issues, which offer a means for showcasing emerging areas of molecular ecology or rapidly moving research areas. Two special issues were published in 2025. The first of these, ‘The Ecology of Gene Expression’ (MEC 34:15), brings together 43 papers that explore transcriptional variation in ecological processes, investigate gene expression responses to environmental gradients and stressors, and discuss how transcriptional variation influences other traits, including fitness. More broadly, the issue highlights rapid methodological progress that continues to deepen our understanding of this complex molecular phenotype. A second special issue, ‘Conservation Genomics—Making a Difference’, h published in the second-to-last issue of 2025 (MEC 34:23). It includes 37 papers that collectively evaluate the contributions of genomic data to conservation science and management. Papers in the Special Issue illustrate how genomic approaches are now being used to define management units, measure inbreeding, assess inbreeding depression, detect adaptive variation, predict genomic vulnerability to climate change and inform strategies such as genetic rescue and assisted migration. Several other Special Issues are largely complete and will be published in 2026, including ‘Domestication Genomics’, ‘Genomics of Speciation’ and the ‘Ecology and Evolution of Wildlife Parasites: Novel Insights from Natural Populations’. In addition, Special Issues on ‘Agricultural Landscape Genomics’ and ‘Evolutionary Genomics: Understanding and Adapting to Climate Change’ remain open to contributed papers (deadlines 31 January 2026 and 28 February 2026, respectively). Special issues are open to all interested authors via calls on the Journal Home Page (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/1365294x), the Molecular Ecology blog, Spotlight (https://molecularecologyblog.com) and via the journal's X account (@molecology). Please contact Co-Editor-in-Chief Ben Sibbett if you are interested in developing a Special Issue. Both MEC and MER have remained active on social media in 2025. As of November 2025, the journals' official X (formerly Twitter) account, https://x.com/molecology, has 7302 followers from over 35 countries. This is a reduction of around 600 followers when compared to the previous year; however, this reduction is expected given the changing trends in the social media landscape, particularly the transition out of X to other social media platforms among academics of various fields (Ng and Ray 2025; Radivojevic et al. 2025; Bisbee and Munger 2025). Throughout the year, the account has made 122 posts, including 76 original posts and 46 re-posts, averaging 11 posts per month or about three posts per week. Twenty-seven of these posts focused on new publications in MEC and MER, and were made working alongside the authors of the work. Our original posts in 2025 amassed 297 likes and 98 retweets, averaging 3.9 and 1.3 likes and retweets per post, respectively. While these numbers show a substantial reduction in engagement when compared to last year, they are in accordance with the changes in social media usage previously mentioned, yet still show a robust presence on the X platform. We want to continue serving our authors and readers by providing a direct source of information about new publications, award opportunities and calls for special issues in MEC and MER. One of our goals in 2026 is to better address these changes in the social media landscape by finding new ways to continue engaging with and reaching out to the molecular ecology community. The Molecular Ecology Prize Committee is pleased to announce that the 2025 Molecular Ecology Prize has been awarded to Dr. Rosemary G. Gillespie, who is an evolutionary biologist and professor of Environmental Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Professor Gillespie has profoundly shaped the field of molecular ecology through her pioneering research, visionary leadership and dedicated mentorship. Her interdisciplinary work bridges evolutionary biology, island biogeography, community ecology and molecular genetics, addressing fundamental questions about biodiversity and adaptation. She has illuminated key mechanisms of species diversification and ecological community assembly, particularly in arthropods. Her seminal 2004 Science paper on Hawaiian spiders used molecular phylogenetics to demonstrate that adaptive radiation can structure ecological communities through in situ diversification—an influential contribution that now stands as a cornerstone of community and evolutionary ecology. Through decades of work in the Hawaiian archipelago, Dr. Gillespie's research has set a benchmark for applying molecular tools to unravel complex ecological and evolutionary processes. Beyond her scholarship, she has been a dedicated leader and advocate for the molecular ecology community, notably through her long-standing editorial service to the journal Molecular Ecology. The Molecular Ecology Prize Committee was comprised of Kay Hodgins (chair), Mike Whitlock, Maren Wellenreuther, Clarisse Palma da Silva and Jianquan Liu. The Harry Smith Prize recognises the best paper published in Molecular Ecology or Molecular Ecology Resources in the previous year by graduate students or early career scholars with no more than 5 years of postdoctoral or fellowship experience. The prize is named after Professor Harry Smith FRS, who founded the journal and served as both its Chief and Managing Editor during the journal's critical early years. He continued as the journal's Managing Editor until 2008 and went out of his way to encourage early career scholars. The 2025 Harry Smith Prize was awarded to Óscar Romero-Báez and his co-authors for their paper titled ‘Environmental and anthropogenic factors mediating the functional connectivity of the mesquite lizard along the eastern Trans-Mexican Volcanic’ Molecular Ecology, 33, e17469 (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mec.17469). The Harry Smith Prize Committee included previous Harry Smith Prize winners or runners-up: Antonino Malacrinò, Angel G. Rivera-Colón and Jana Wold. Romero-Báez et al. investigated how human-altered landscapes affect the functional connectivity of a widely distributed lizard, Sceloporus grammicus, in Mexico's eastern Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. Using genomic data and landscape analysis, the study found significant genetic differentiation across the region but also evidence of gene flow over long distances, despite the species' low mobility. Key environmental factors influencing connectivity included air and substrate temperature, humidity and aspect. Agricultural areas surprisingly supported connectivity, while forest cover and roads had mixed effects depending on scale. More broadly, the authors' rigorous of and ecological data a new for landscape in and offers important for biodiversity conservation in Óscar Romero-Báez is a at the of Ecology at the We thank the number of who have contributed to the field of molecular ecology as readers, and editors, and we welcome on how to the journal. 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