Summary
Journal papers contain evidence that can inform management decisions. However, this evidence often does not reach decision-makers in useful formats and time frames.
EcoEvidEx (the Ecological Evidence Exchange) seeks to provide this evidence in a format that can quickly reach decision-makers.
Authors can enter their research into EcoEvidEx as part of the final submission process.
More Information
The journal Freshwater Science is the first to allow authors to enter their evidence into EcoEvidEx as a part of the paper publication process. Authors submitting final accepted manuscripts to Freshwater Science will be directed to an online form that captures relevant research results, which will then be entered into a publicly available evidence database.
Journal papers contain evidence that can inform management decisions. However, this evidence often does not reach decision-makers in useful formats and time frames.
By contributing to EcoEvidEx, authors will make their key findings more readily available to environmental managers and other researchers. EcoEvidEx turns research results from published papers into evidence items that are easily accessible and interpretable by environmental managers. This increases the likelihood that managers’ decisions and their everyday management tasks are informed by available, sound science.
We will be testing the EcoEvidEx entry process for the next few weeks, prior to the release of a pilot version by Freshwater Science in the coming months.
Once EcoEvidEx is well established and linked to Freshwater Science and other journals, it will not only benefit environmental managers (and the environment) but also researchers, who should see higher citation rates for their papers.
We encourage researchers to use this test form to enter evidence from one or more of their previously published papers, either from Freshwater Science or another journal, into the form and then provide us with feedback on utility and usability.
Help files for entering evidence are available for those with questions about how to extract evidence from scientific papers or specific fields in the form:
Example Freshwater Science papers are also available that have been annotated to show how information is extracted from papers for entry into the form.
Brief background on the EcoEvidX initiative can be found in the recent edition of Freshwater Science or in summary form in a brochure.
Contact
For more information or help in filling out the trial form please contact:
EcoEvidEx@freshwater-science.org
About Us
The EcoEvidEx developers are a group of researchers and environmental managers from organisations in the USA, UK, Australia, and Europe who have been informally collaborating for the past decade to improve the accessibility of scientific evidence for use by environmental decision-makers. We maintain links with related R&D efforts, for instance in systematic reviews.
Core EcoEvidEx Developers
Sue Norton, National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC 20460 USA
Kate Schofield, National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC 20460 USA
Angus Webb, Department of Infrastructure Engineering, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 2010, Australia
Sue Nichols, Centre for Evidence Informed Policy and Practice, Australia and Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, Bruce, Australian Capital Territory, 2617, Australia
Ralph Ogden, Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, Bruce, Australian Capital Territory, 2617, Australia
Sylvia Lee, National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC 20460 USA
Caroline Ridley, National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC 20460 USA
Micah Bennett, National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC 20460 USA
Alexandra Collins, Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College, London, SW71NA, UK6