Journal of Pest Science covers all aspects of pest control providing it with a broad thematic standing (Traugott and Gross 2008; Traugott 2010). Nevertheless, the team of editors is always keen to shape the journal’s profile, and therefore we have modified the aims and scope to carve out a clear profile for Journal of Pest Science. Our current aims and scope are to publish high-quality papers on all aspects of pest science in agriculture, horticulture (including viticulture), forestry, urban pests, and stored products research, including health and safety issues.

Journal of Pest Science reports on advances in control of pests and vectors of diseases, the biology, ethology and ecology of pests and their antagonists, and the use of other beneficial organisms in pest control. The journal covers all noxious or damaging organisms, including arthropods, nematodes, molluscs, vertebrates, plant pathogens, and weeds.

Journal of Pest Science devotes special attention to emerging and innovative pest control strategies, including the side effects of such approaches on non-target organisms, for example natural enemies and pollinators, and the implementation of these strategies in integrated pest management.

Journal of Pest Science also publishes papers on the management of agro- and forest ecosystems where this is relevant to pest control. Papers on technical developments relevant for pest control will be considered as well.

Moreover, the journal welcomes commentaries on pressing topics in pest control, as for example the current spread of invasive pests (e.g., Desneux et al. 2011). These articles will be fast-tracked, to rapidly provide scientists, and pest control practitioners with the latest information.

Themes where submissions are encouraged include the following:

  • Pests and natural enemies of importance across wide regions or globally such as aphids, whiteflies, or wireworms (e.g., Noronha et al. 2008)

  • Biology and management of major invasive pests (e.g., Suckling and Brockerhoff 2010), including non-arthropod groups such as vertebrates and weeds (e.g., Benvenuti 2007)

  • Determination of damage and economic thresholds, as they may vary across crops, commodities, cultivars, and cultural practices as well as host plant resistance (e.g., Crowder et al. 2006)

  • Works that investigate pest and natural enemy biology and ecology as well as pest management in a landscape context (e.g., Petrovan et al. 2011)

  • Novel tactics or strategies of pest management, their application, advantages and disadvantages, for example pollinator-mediated dispersal of biocontrols (e.g., Mommaerts et al. 2011) or cultural practices encouraging biological control

  • Applications of pheromones and other semiochemicals to pest management (e.g., Witzgall et al. 2008)

  • Integrated pest management (IPM) including biological, physical, chemical, and other methods of control, preferably applied in combination (e.g., Athanassiou et al. 2011). The journal would also welcome wider studies dealing with approaches and incentives for effective, environmentally and economically sound implementation of IPM (for review see Brewer and Goodell 2012)

  • Phytochemicals and botanical pesticides (for review see Regnault-Roger et al. 2012) which are increasingly important for pest management (e.g., Sik et al. 2011)

  • Studies utilizing new techniques or advances in pest and natural enemy sampling, detection, monitoring, and forecasting as well as for studying species interactions (e.g., Hoddle et al. 2011)

  • Impacts of pest management on the environment and its biodiversity, side effects of pesticides on natural enemies, and other beneficial organisms such as pollinators (e.g., Brittain et al. 2010) that are key for biocontrol and pollination services (for review see Desneux et al. 2007), including the opportunities and limitations for use of genetically modified organisms in pest management (e.g., Chen et al. 2011)

  • Impact of climate change on all aspects of pest control (e.g., Kocmankova et al. 2010)

  • Decision making and modelling in pest management (e.g., Wesseler and Fall 2010)

  • Review papers on current topics of pest control strategies as well as on pest and natural enemy biology and ecology (e.g., Daane and Johnson 2010; Desneux et al. 2010; Ragsdale et al. 2011)

In contrast to the topics outlined above, we will not publish preliminary works or studies which are primarily of confirmatory nature. Simple laboratory bioassay data of chemical or biological agents will only be considered if the work is novel and/or shows unexpected effects, if it compares susceptibility of life stages or species, or compares efficacy delivered by different formulations tested in parallel. In addition, we might consider works which provide a comprehensive analysis of the efficacy of multiple pathogens against multiple target pests.

We strongly advise non-English speakers to have their manuscripts edited by a native English speaker for fluency and grammar before submission, as manuscripts which have shortcomings in language will not be considered for peer-review.

We invite prospective authors to clearly explain why the work is novel and how it advances knowledge of pests and their management. Moreover, the general implications of the work for the broader subject area should be explained. The objectives and the hypotheses of the work must be clearly stated and put into context. All experimental work needs to be properly designed to test the questions posed, and to contain proper statistical analysis of the data. Within the “Discussion” section, the results should again be put into context with current knowledge, and the implications for pest management presented. We advise authors to evaluate management practice at more than one location and for more than 1 year to achieve meaningful results.

We hope that these guidelines will be helpful to our future authors and to further increase the quality and reputation of Journal of Pest Science as a prime outlet for pest management research.