March 20, 2014

Anderson named editor for biology journal

by Tim Crosby

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- A zoology researcher at Southern Illinois University Carbondale will lead an international biology journal as its new editor-in-chief. 

Frank E. “Andy” Anderson, associate professor in the Department of Zoology in the College of Science, recently was named to the position for “Systematic Biology,” a top, primary research journal in evolutionary biology as ranked by the Science Citation Index. The Oxford University Press publishes the research journal. 

Systematic Biology is the bimonthly journal of the Society of Systematic Biologists.

The journal accepts papers that are original contributions in the areas of theory, principles, and methods of systematics as well as phylogeny, evolution, morphology, biogeography, paleontology, genetics, and the classification of all living things. It also includes a forum for discussion, along with book reviews and announcements of general interest. 

Elected to the position in 2012, Anderson recently finished a year as editor-elect, handling new submissions to the journal. He will serve as editor-in-chief through 2016, and will make the final decisions on which manuscripts to publish. 

Last year, the journal received 285 new, regular article submissions and publishes about 80 such articles each year.