JES upholds rigorous editorial policies to protect research integrity and ensure reliable evolutionary scholarship. We follow international publishing standards for ethics, transparency, and peer review.

• Compliance with human and animal research ethics
• Disclosure of conflicts of interest and funding sources
• Data integrity and reproducibility expectations
• Plagiarism screening and originality checks

JES uses single blind peer review. Reviewers evaluate methodology, data quality, and interpretability. Editors ensure feedback is constructive and aligned with journal scope.

• Corrections issued for factual or metadata errors
• Retractions for serious integrity concerns
• Editorial expressions of concern when needed
• Versioning for data or code updates

Authors should disclose AI assisted analysis or writing tools and describe how outputs were validated. Automated outputs must be checked for accuracy, bias, and reproducibility.

• Confirm compliance with COPE guidelines and ethical review standards.
• Disclose conflicts of interest and funding transparency requirements.
• State data sharing expectations and field collection permissions.
• Outline authorship criteria and contributor role documentation.
• Specify plagiarism screening and similarity check procedures.
• Describe corrections, retractions, and expression of concern workflows.
• Clarify preprint and prior publication policies.
• Document peer review model and reviewer confidentiality expectations.
• Provide guidance on field ethics and biodiversity regulations.
• Describe image integrity checks and manipulation policies.
• Specify requirements for data availability statements.
• Clarify policies on AI assisted writing or analysis disclosures.
• Outline appeal processes for editorial decisions.
• State expectations for reporting sensitive location data responsibly.
• Describe policies for specimen provenance and repository deposits.
• Provide guidance on protocol deviations and amendments.
• State policy on dual submission to other journals.
• Describe procedures for handling whistleblower reports.
• Clarify expectations for data availability on request.
• Outline responsibilities for corresponding author verification.
• Define policy on image duplication or manipulation screening.
• Describe corrections for metadata or authorship updates.
• Specify requirements for data citation and repository acknowledgement.
• Clarify policy on data citation and repository acknowledgement.
• State policy for reviewer anonymity and confidentiality.
• Provide guidance on reporting protocol deviations.
• Describe policy for handling data errors or misidentified specimens.
• State requirements for reporting evolutionary model assumptions.
• Define policy for data integrity checks and audit trails.
• Clarify expectations for permits and CITES compliance when relevant.
• Outline expectations for reporting animal welfare or sampling ethics.
• State guidance for inclusive language and respectful reporting.
• Document policy for handling dataset corrections post publication.
• Specify expectations for reporting model selection and uncertainty.
• Clarify policy for reporting multisite data harmonization.

JES is committed to rigorous, transparent publishing in evolutionary science. We emphasize reproducible phylogenetic and population genetic analyses, clear reporting of model assumptions, and ethical compliance in field and laboratory research.

The editorial office supports authors, editors, and reviewers with clear guidance and responsive communication. For questions about scope or workflow, contact [email protected].

We encourage open data, code sharing, and careful documentation of specimens and sequences to support replication and long-term reuse across the evolutionary biology community.