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This guide was developed by ICB. We asked ICB editors to name a Perspective paper that was highly influential in their career and explain briefly why they picked it. From these explanations emerged this list with six main characteristics. A strong Perspective paper should meet multiple of those characteristics and their criteria.
Perspective articles
Perspectives are an article format well suited to discussing emerging questions and ideas.
ICB invites articles arising from symposia, awards, panel discussions, and workshops that identified emergent topics, new research directions, and areas of action. Invited Perspectives typically arise from events at SICB annual meetings and their symposia.
Topics that fall within this scope are, for example, open questions at the cutting edge of a research area, disciplinary discussions of core concepts or best practices, intersectionality of equity and inclusions issues, research ethics, educational case studies.
Characteristics of a strong Perspective article
Characteristics of a strong Perspective article
Integrative
connects multiple organizational levels
integrates across sub-disciplines
Forward looking
outlines concrete ideas how to move forward
identifies existing and future challenges
Strong conceptual foundation
lays bare the underlying framework
makes complex issues transparent
finds new connections among established ideas
provides clear definitions
bundles diverse topics into a few clear themes
introduces a new perspective
Effective introduction to topic
good historical overview
can be understood by newcomers to the field
providing examples from a range of study systems helps many readers connect with their prior knowledge
effective use of analogies
New approach
ushers in new approaches or methods
Clear communication
uses well-chosen examples from multiple sub-disciplines
well written
demonstrates ideas using concrete examples and/or actual data
contains strong visuals, such as visual abstracts and concept maps (Making Figures)
Example Perspectives
Example Perspectives
from our journal
from our journal
Del Giudice, M., Buck, C. L., Chaby, L. E., Gormally, B. M., Taff, C. C., Thawley, C. J., ... & Wada, H. (2018). What is stress? A systems perspective. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 58(6), 1019-1032. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icy114
Rico-Guevara, A., Hurme, K. J., Elting, R., & Russell, A. L. (2021). Bene “fit” assessment in pollination coevolution: mechanistic perspectives on hummingbird bill–flower matching. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 61(2), 681-695. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icab111
Somjee, U., Shankar, A., & Falk, J. J. (2022). Can sex-specific metabolic rates provide insight into patterns of metabolic scaling?. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 62(5), 1460-1470. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icac135
from other journals
from other journals
Dickinson MH, Farley CT, Full RJ, Koehl MA, Kram R, Lehman S. How animals move: an integrative view. Science. 2000 Apr 7;288(5463):100-6.
Ricklefs, Robert E., and Martin Wikelski. "The physiology/life-history nexus." Trends in Ecology & Evolution 17.10 (2002): 462-468.
Dingemanse et al. (2009). Behavioural reaction norms: animal personality meets individual plasticity. TREE 25: 81-89.
Sheldon, B. C., and S. Verhulst. 1996. Ecological immunology: Costly parasite defenses and trade-offs in evolutionary ecology. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 11:317-321.
Helmuth et al. 2014. Beyond long-term averages: making biological sense of a rapidly changing world. Climate Change Responses 1:6
Romero, M. (2004). Physiological stress in ecology: lessons from biomedical research. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 19: 249-255
Heisenberg, M. Mushroom body memoir: from maps to models. Nat Rev Neurosci 4, 266–275 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1074
Examples articles with strong conceptual figures
Examples articles with strong conceptual figures
Figure 1 "A network view of biological systems. ...." published in:
Bogdan, P., Caetano-Anollés, G., Jolles, A., Kim, H., Morris, J., Murphy, C. A., ... & Strausfeld, N. (2021). Biological networks across scales—the theoretical and empirical foundations for time-varying complex networks that connect structure and function across levels of biological organization. Integrative and comparative biology, 61(6), 1991-2010. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icab069
Figure 2 "Five practices for decoloniality in ecology." published in:
Trisos, C. H., Auerbach, J., & Katti, M. (2021). Decoloniality and anti-oppressive practices for a more ethical ecology. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 5(9), 1205-1212. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01460-w
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