Editorial and retrospective 2008.

We are pleased to report that Molecular Ecology continues to expand in size and impact. When we wrote this editorial, we were on track to publish 5300 pages in 2007, which represents a greater than 10% increase over the last year and a greater than 50% increase over the past 5 years. This increase in page numbers has been accompanied by an expansion in the number of issues from 12 to 24, as well as an increase in impact factor from 3.01 in 2002 to 4.83 in 2006 (Fig. 1). Molecular Ecology now ranks sixth in impact factor among the 114 journals listed in ISI’s Ecology category in 2006, and second among ecology journals that publish primary research results. Despite changes in our editorial and production staff, publication times at Molecular Ecology continue to be excellent. The time from manuscript receipt to an editorial decision averages 49 days. Our production staff moves accepted manuscripts to Online Early publication in 39– 40 days, with the print version appearing approximately 20 days later. We thank journal secretaries, Elinor Smith and Simmoné Fellowes, and production editor, Gillian Carmichael, for their efforts in ensuring that manuscripts are efficiently processed, reviewed, and published.