Earth System Dynamics
Earth System Dynamics
ESD

Aims and scope

Earth System Dynamics (ESD) is a not-for-profit international scientific journal dedicated to the publication and public discussion of studies that take an interdisciplinary perspective of the functioning of the whole Earth system and global change. The overall behaviour of the Earth system is strongly shaped by the interactions among its various component systems, such as the atmosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere, oceans, pedosphere, lithosphere, and the inner Earth, but also by life and human activity. ESD solicits contributions that investigate these various interactions and the underlying mechanisms, ways how these can be conceptualized, modelled, and quantified, predictions of the overall system behaviour to global changes, and the impacts for its habitability, humanity, and future Earth system management by human decision making.

The scope of the journal is focused on investigations in four subject areas:

  1. Dynamics of the Earth system: contributions may include novel concepts and theories and their application to better understand the nature of the Earth as a complex, coupled system; experimental work of dynamic self regulating systems relevant to Earth system functioning; historical and philosophical perspectives of Earth system theory; models to describe and predict the dynamics of the whole Earth system; and studies on the importance of interactions between component systems.
  2. Earth system change: contributions may include theoretical studies of interactions, feedbacks and change; scenarios of future climatic change (e.g. due to elevated concentrations of greenhouse gases); and climate predictions.
  3. Earth system interactions with the biosphere: contributions may include mechanisms of ecosystem–Earth system interactions; conceptual models of life–Earth co-evolution; simulation of biogeochemical cycles within an Earth system context.
  4. Management of the Earth system: contributions may include studies on carbon sequestration and management; effects of land cover change on climate and associated impacts and feedbacks; engineering responses to mitigate climatic change; integrated assessment of Earth system change; sustainability studies; quantification and impacts of renewable energy use; food security and water resources within an Earth system context.

Getting published in Earth System Dynamics

Earth System Dynamics accepts research articles, review articles, short communications, and commentaries after an innovative open-access peer-review process. The peer-review process takes place in two stages involving the public discussion of preprints on EGUsphere, EGU's preprint repository, or in the scientific discussion forum Earth System Dynamics Discussions (ESDD). This form of peer review has been designed in order to do the following:

  • foster scientific discussion;
  • maximize the effectiveness and transparency of scientific quality assurance;
  • enable rapid publication;
  • make scientific publications freely accessible.

In the first stage, manuscripts that pass a rapid access review by the editorial board are immediately posted as preprints on EGUsphere or in ESDD. They are then subject to interactive public discussion, during which the referees' comments (anonymous or attributed), additional comments by other members of the scientific community (attributed), and the authors' replies are also posted alongside the preprints.

In the second stage, the peer-review process is completed; if accepted, the final revised papers are published in ESD.

To ensure publication precedence for authors, and to provide a lasting record of scientific discussion, EGUsphere, ESDD, and ESD are ISSN-registered, permanently archived, and fully citable.