Conference Collection and PeerJ Awards at 18IMCO/Meioscool

PeerJ is delighted to announce that we will be partnering with the 18th International Meiofauna Conference (18IMCO) – and the related Meioscool summer school, aimed at younger scientists and scientists in training – to launch a PeerJ Life & Environment Conference Collection based on the research presented at these events. PeerJ will also sponsor two awards at 18IMCO for Best Presentation and Best Poster, as given by a students or early career researchers.

Credit: Brandão, S.N.; Karanovic, I. (2021). World Ostracoda Database. (marinespecies.org/ostracoda). doi:10.14284/364; Martin Sorensen, NHM Denmark; Hidetaka Nomaki, JAMSTEC; Jisu Yeom, Hanyang University; Daniel Leduc, NIWA.

The 18th International Meiofauna Conference

The International Meiofauna Conference has been bringing together meiofauna researchers and students working in marine and freshwater ecosystems every three years since 1969. Due to covid disruptions, the conference is being held virtually for the first time. Although not able to take place in person, the conference will provide an opportunity for researchers and students to connect after what has been a challenging period, and share the latest findings from their meiofaunal research.

18IMCO will be held in conjunction with MeioScool, a week-long summer school for students and researchers wanting to obtain better knowledge of meiofauna sampling, identification and exological applications under the guidance of international experts.

Conference Collection

A Conference Collection based on the scope of 18IMCO will be published in the Open Access journal PeerJ Life & Environment. Manuscripts focussed on a topic relevant to the conference can be submitted to this collection by any researcher that presented at or attended 18IMCO.

18IMCO aims to be inclusive of all meiofauna-related research/issues, regardless of environment, taxon, or topic. Research topics include – but are not limited to – Systematics and evolution, Biogeography and community dynamics in space and time, Interactions between meiofauna and other components of the benthos, Role of meiofauna in ecosystem processes and functions, Anthropogenic impacts on meiofauna and Developing and testing new methodologies and conceptual frameworks.

Please see the Conference Collection Homepage (https://peerj.com/special-issues/110-18imco) for further information.

Submissions to the 18IMCO Conference Collection will open towards the end of 2022, however should you wish to have a manuscript considered before the submission window, please contact communities@peerj.com.

PeerJ Awards
In addition to the Conference Collection, PeerJ are also sponsoring two awards at 18IMCO for Best Presentation and Best Poster, as given by a students or early career researchers. Each winner will receive a free publication in any PeerJ journal (subject to peer review) and a feature on our blog to discuss their research.

******

Are you organising a conference in the future? If so, a free PeerJ Conference Collection could be a great way to promote your meeting and preserve the research presented. Email communities@peerj.com for more information.