NZJZ Call for Papers: Special issue on ‘The Unseen Majority: Soil and Litter Invertebrates’

Invertebrates in soil and litter are fundamental to ecosystem health, driving essential processes such as organic matter decomposition, nutrient cycling, and soil structure formation. Despite their ecological significance, these often cryptic and understudied organisms remain largely absent from mainstream biodiversity and conservation discourse. We welcome submissions that address various aspects of soil and litter invertebrate research, including empirical studies, review papers and short communications. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

• Ecology: including species interactions, community dynamics, functional roles, behaviors and responses to environmental change;
• Conservation: assessing threats such as habitat loss, invasive species, climate change, and developing strategies for protection and management;
• Taxonomy, Systematics and Checklists: with an emphasis on uncovering and describing the often-overlooked diversity in soil and litter habitats, especially in underexplored regions;
• Genetics and Genomics: leveraging molecular tools to reveal cryptic diversity, population structure, and evolutionary history.

We invite researchers working across disciplines to contribute to this special issue, which aims to highlight the urgent need for greater scientific attention and conservation action focused on soil and litter invertebrates. Whilst the scope of the New Zealand Journal of Zoology is primarily New Zealand and the Southern Hemisphere, we are happy to receive quality submissions from outside these regions for this Special Issue.

Guest Editors

Dr Frank Ashwood (University of Canterbury), Dr Carlos Barreto (Algoma University), Dr Andrew Barnes (University of Waikato)

Submission information

Please send a preliminary title, list of authors and a short descriptive paragraph outlining the scope of your proposed manuscript to the Lead Guest Editor, Dr Frank Ashwood at francis.ashwood@canterbury.ac.nz, by 30 November 2025.

The guest editorial team will then decide which manuscripts to invite to the Special Issue, with authors notified of the decision by 20 December 2025.

The anticipated manuscript submission deadline is 30 June 2026 with the aim of formally compiling the Special Issue collection in early 2027. Accepted papers will be published online individually with final citation details ahead of their inclusion in the Special Issue collection.

Note that an invitation to submit does not guarantee acceptance for publication, which will depend on the outcome of the usual peer-review process and authors meeting critical time schedules. Manuscripts should be prepared according to the Author Guidelines of the New Zealand Journal of Zoology and submitted online via the journal’s submission system. Authors should select the relevant special issue title during the submission process.

If the corresponding author is affiliated with a growing range of global institutions covered by a transformative agreement with Wiley, they may be eligible to publish their articles Open Access at no cost. Otherwise, publishing under the traditional subscription model is completely free.

Please direct any queries to Dr Frank Ashwood or the Publishing Team of Royal Society Te Apārangi at publish@royalsociety.org.nz.