Biogeosciences (BG) is a not-for-profit international scientific journal dedicated to the publication and discussion of research articles, short communications, and review papers on all aspects of the interactions between the biological, chemical, and physical processes in terrestrial or extraterrestrial life with the geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere. The objective of the journal is to cut across the boundaries of established sciences and achieve an interdisciplinary view of these interactions. Experimental, conceptual, and modelling approaches are welcome.
With the above objective, Biogeosciences covers the following fields:
. biodiversity and ecosystem function;
. evolutionary ecology;
. environmental microbiology;
. biogeochemistry and global elemental cycles;
. biogeochemistry and gas exchange;
. plant–soil interactions;
. biomineralization, microbial weathering, and sedimentation;
. interactions between microbes, organic matter sediments, and rocks;
. biogeophysics;
. Earth system sciences and response to global changes;
. palaeogeobiology, including origin and evolution of life, evolution of the biosphere, . sedimentary records, and the development and use of proxies;
. astrobiology and exobiology.
Biogeosciences has an innovative two-stage publication process which involves a scientific discussion forum and exploits the full potential of the Internet to do the following:
. foster scientific discussion;
. enhance the effectiveness and transparency of scientific quality assurance;
. enable rapid publication;
. make scientific publications freely accessible.
In the first stage, papers that pass a rapid access review by one of the editors are immediately posted on the Biogeosciences Discussions (BGD) website. They are then subject to interactive public discussion, during which the referees' comments (anonymous or attributed), additional short comments by other members of the scientific community (attributed), and the authors' replies are also posted in BGD. In the second stage, the peer-review process is completed and, if accepted, the final revised papers are published in BG. To ensure publication precedence for authors, and to provide a lasting record of scientific discussion, BGD and BG are both ISSN-registered, permanently archived, and fully citable.