Marina Rafajlovic guest editor of the world's oldest scientific journal

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In March 2021, the Center for Marine Evolutionary Biology, CeMEB, organized a digital conference on how climate change affects the distribution of animals and plants. The conference gathered almost 200 participants who discussed and took part in various presentations on the subject. In connection with the conference, researchers were invited to contribute to a thematic issue of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.

"This was my first editorial role, and I am proud that it was for Philosophic Transactions of the Royal Society, the journal with a long history and also very highly ranked. But this also introduced some additional pressure for me as an editor – as well as an author – to strive to meet the standards of the journal", says Marina Rafajlovic.

Responsible procedure

The Royal Society is a long-established science society based in London. The magazine was founded as early as 1665 and mainly publishes theme issues with guest editors. Together with Kerstin Johannesson, Roger Butlin and Jake Alexander from Zurich, Marina Rafajlovic formed the guest editorial team for the Theme Issue, with the task of appointing expert reviewers and together with them assessing the quality of submitted entries, and then deciding whether they could be recommended for publication. Finally, it was the magazine's regular editorial staff that made the decision.

"I find it personally important to motivate the recommendation well. In addition, if a revision is needed, I think it is important that the handling editor summarises the most critical points that the authors need to consider in order to improve the manuscript. I hope I managed to achieve this", says Marina Rafajlovic.

Hope to inspire for new research ideas

Marina Rafajlovic is also the first author of an introductory article that provides an overview of the research area, and co-author of another article together with her PhD student Martin Eriksson.

"Rapid and severe global climate change is expected to cause major loss of biodiversity in the near future, both on regional and global geographic scales. It is, therefore, of utmost importance to collect adequate, practical knowledge on the key ecological and evolutionary factors implicated in the changes in species’ ranges and their long-term contributions to ecosystems. I hope the Theme Issue will serve as an inspiration for innovative research ideas on the topic", says Marina Rafajlovic.

Text: Susanne Liljenström