Journal of Ecology publishes original articles on all aspects of the ecology of plants (including algae), in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. We will publish papers concerned solely with cultivated plants and agricultural ecosystems if such articles address important ecological or evolutionary questions. Studies of plant communities, populations or individual species are accepted, as well as studies of the interactions between plants and animals, fungi or bacteria.We aim to bring important work using any ecological approach (including molecular techniques) to a wide international audience and therefore only publish papers with strong and ecological messages that advance our understanding of ecological principles. The research presented must transcend the limits of case studies. Both experimental and theoretical studies are accepted, as are descriptive or historical accounts, although these must offer insights into issues of general interest to ecologists.

《生態學雜志》發表關于水生和陸地生態系統中植物(包括藻類)生態的所有方面的原創文章。如果這些文章涉及重要的生態或進化問題，我們將發表僅與栽培植物和農業生態系統有關的論文。人們接受對植物群落、種群或單個物種的研究，以及對植物與動物、真菌或細菌之間相互作用的研究。我們的目標是將任何生態方法(包括分子技術)的重要工作帶給廣泛的國際讀者，因此只發表具有強烈生態信息的論文，以增進我們對生態原則的理解。所提出的研究必須超越個案研究的范圍。實驗研究和理論研究都被接受，描述性的或歷史性的研究也被接受，盡管這些研究必須提供生態學家普遍感興趣的問題的見解。