The official journal of the Pacific Science Association. Appearing quarterly since 1947, Pacific Science is an international, multidisciplinary journal reporting research on the biological and physical sciences of the Pacific basin. It focuses on biogeography, ecology, evolution, geology and volcanology, oceanography, paleontology, and systematics. Manuscript submissions on topics such as Pacific biodiversity, conservation, and sustainability are also encouraged. In addition to publishing original research, the journal features review articles providing a synthesis of current knowledge.

Submit your manuscript online. 

Sponsor: Pacific Science Association

CiteScore: 1.8 Scopus Ranking: 31/110

Impact Factor: 1.101
Journal Citation Reports® Rankings:
84/110 – Marine & Freshwater Biology
117/175 – Zoology

Read Online:

2001 to present

2005 to present

Back content 1947-2011

• Recent Articles

• Biology and Impacts of Pacific Island Invasive Species. 20. Rattus exulans, the Polynesian Rat (Rodentia: Muridae)
  Posted on Thursday April 09, 2026

  Biology and Impacts of Pacific Island Invasive Species. 21. Vespula germanica, V. pensylvanica, and V. vulgaris Yellowjackets (Vespidae)
  Posted on Thursday April 09, 2026

  Mixed-Stock Composition Analyses Suggest Michoacán and Revillagigedo as the Principal Sources of Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas) Foraging Grounds Populations in the Baja California Peninsula
  Posted on Thursday April 09, 2026

  Effect of Insularity on Sexual Dimorphism and Habitat Use in an Isolated Population of Sceloporus clarkii (Reptilia: Phrynosomatidae)
  Posted on Thursday April 09, 2026

  When Invasions Collide: Minimal Indirect Effects of Invasive Snakes on Rodent-Mediated Seed Predation
  Posted on Thursday April 09, 2026

  Studies on Western Pacific Gorgonians (Anthozoa: Octocorallia: Primnoidae). Part 4: Genera Callogorgia, Calyptrophora, Paracalyptrophora, and Candidella, with Descriptions of a New Genus and Ten New Species
  Posted on Thursday April 09, 2026

  Frequency of Small Indian Mongoose (Carnivora: Herpestidae) Predations on Nests of Endemic Hawaiian Waterbirds
  Posted on Thursday April 09, 2026

  Next-Generation Sequencing Explores the Complete Mitogenomic Characteristics of Rhynchoconger ectenurus (Anguilliformes, Congridae): Uncustomary Gene Arrangement and Phylogenetic Relationship
  Posted on Thursday April 09, 2026

  Words from a Departing Editor
  Posted on Thursday April 09, 2026

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  PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS – GENERAL INFORMATION

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  e-mail: [email protected]

• Author Guidelines

• Contributions to the biological and physical sciences of the Pacific area are welcomed from authors in all parts of the world. Manuscripts should be submitted online. Authors will receive a confirmation of their submission.

  Electronic Submissions
  Submit manuscript online at https://pacificscience.msubmit.net/

  General
  Editorial style conforms to specifications set forth for scientific publications in The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition (Chicago: the University of Chicago Press, 2010). Spelling, with a few exceptions, conforms to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary,11th ed. Abbreviations of periodicals listed in bibliographies should be those recommended in the BIOSIS Serial Sources. This publication maybe ordered from the following address: 2100 Arch Street, Philadelphia,PA 19103-1399, USA. Manuscripts should follow the guidelines outlined here; those that do not may be returned for revision before review.

  Manuscripts are copy edited and typeset electronically from electronic files supplied by authors (with very few exceptions). When submitting your  manuscript include files for the text, tables, and figure captions in word-processor format (MS Word compatible or Rich Text formats preferred) and high-resolution versions of your figures (at least 300 DPI).

  Format of Manuscript
  Title: Provide a running head (short title), the title(capitals and lower case), name of author(s), and footnote(s) showing professional affiliation and address. Footnote 1 is reserved for the date of manuscript acceptance and should read “Manuscript accepted___________”. Footnote 1 may also include a statement acknowledging grant support. The superscript 1 for this footnote should immediately follow the title. When the common or scientific name of an organism is used in the title, include a taxonomic identifier in parentheses [e.g.,(Polychaeta: Sabellidae)].

  Abstract: Provide an informative abstract of no more than 300 words. The abstract should be a summary of key information.

  Formatting Text: Center all headings. Use italics for Latin names. Foreign words and terms, including place names, should be spelled with appropriate diacritical marks (e.g., glottal stop, macron). Use the tab key to indent (not spacebar). Use only one space after a period or semicolon. Use an em dash (or two hyphens) for a dash (no space on either side). Include no extra space between paragraphs. Use no underlining, boldface, small caps, or other displays. Never use all caps (acronyms excepted). Do not justify the right margin. Do not use hanging indents in the text. Do not use returns within paragraphs. Do not use “soft” hyphens of hyphenation programs (avoid end-of-line breaks). Use Times New Roman font in 12 point for everything.

  Sections: For standard research papers, sections should be as follows: introduction (silent heading), Materials and Methods,Results, Discussion (or combined “Results and Discussion” only for short manuscripts), Acknowledgments, and Literature Cited. A Conclusions heading may be used at the end of the Discussion, at the discretion of the author.

  Text Citations: Cite references by author and date. For example, “moves through a forested area (Walker 1995).” Use “and” (not an ampersand) when citing references by two authors, and “et al.” for more than two authors, with no comma between author and year. When two or more references are cited together, arrange chronologically and separate by commas. Separate multiple references by one author with commas.Distinguish multiple citations by the same author in the same year by letters of the alphabet (Smith 2002a,b).

  Numbers: Spell out numbers from one through nine, except for decimals, fractions, and when used with units of measurement; use numerals for numbers 10 and above. Write out ordinal numbers (second,nineteenth century). Use a comma for four-digit numbers (e.g., 1,000). Repeat all digits and use an en dash in ranges (e.g., 257–260, not 257–69). Use the numeral “1” for one (never the letter “l”) and the numeral “0” for zero (never the letter “O”). Use capitals and periods in dates (A.D., B.C.).

  Special Characters: Use type to show italics (not underlining), subscripts and superscripts, and accented letters (letters with diacritics). If your manuscript includes special characters unavailable in your word-processing program, you may scan the hard copy and highlight them (colored ink) in the digital file. Or you may use an alphanumeric code of your own choosing (e.g., resum for resuméao for año); be sure to submit a listing of all such codes used.

  Measurements: Use metric measurements. Abbreviate unit of measurement (including time) when preceded by a quantity (e.g., 4 cm, 24yr) but do not use a period.

  Reporting Requirements for Statistical Analysis: Authors are responsible for the statistical method selected and for the accuracy of their data. All statistical methods must be described in Materials and Methods with appropriate references. To present a test statistic in the text, give the symbol, degrees of freedom, value of the statistic,and probability level (e.g., for ANOVA, report F value, df, P level; for regression, report the correlation coefficient and slope ± SEM and P level).

  Literature Cited: List references in alphabetical order by first author. List first or only author by surname, and initial(s); cite subsequent authors of the reference by initial(s) and surname. Include space between initials. Group multiple publications by same author(s) in chronological order. Use a 3-em dash instead of author(s) names for subsequent publications. Do not italicize journal titles or book titles.Examples:

  Athens, J. S. 1997. Hawaiian native lowland vegetation in prehistory. Pages 248–270 in P. V. Kirch and T. L. Hunt, eds. Historical ecology in the Pacific Islands: Prehistoric environmental and landscape change. Yale University Press, New Haven.

  Kobayashi, S. R., and M. G. Hadfield. 1996. An experimental study of growth and reproduction in the Hawaiian tree snails Achatinella mustelina and Partulina redfieldii (Achatinellinae). Pac. Sci. 50:339–354.

  Maragos, J. E. 1972. A study of the ecology of Hawaiian reef corals. Ph.D. diss., University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu.
  ———.1995. Revised checklist of extant shallow-water stony coral species from Hawai‘i (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Scleractinia). Bishop Mus. Occas. Pap.42:54–55.

  Maragos, J., and D. Gulko, eds. 2002. Coral reef ecosystems of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands: Interim results emphasizing the 2000 surveys. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources, Honolulu.

  McClanahan, T., N. Polunin, and T. Done. 2002. Ecological states and the resilience of coral reefs. Conserv. Ecol. 6 (2): 18,http://www.consecol.org/vol6/iss2/art18.

  Tables and Illustrations
  For review purposes, text, tables, figure captions, and figures can be merged into a single file. Be sure that each table is on a separate page. In the text, indicate approximate placement of tables and figures, following the paragraph where cited, as follows: <> <>

  Plan illustrations to fit the printed page size, 5-1/2 by 7-3/4 inches, including space for a caption at the bottom of the illustration.The final printed size of figures and tables is determined and limited by the format of the journal—each will be one column (2-5/8″) or two columns (5-1/2″) wide or, occasionally, will be placed broadside(7-7/8″) on a page. Number each figure and table separately in the order in which they are cited in the manuscript. Place the captions in the manuscript file, before the tables.

  If original artwork is submitted, it must be executed in black ink and must be no larger than 8-1/2″ by 11″. Crop photographs to include only essential detail. If several photographs are used for a single figure, they should be grouped to fit the page width, with identifying letters. The caption should identify each photograph that occurs in a figure. Illustrations in color will be accepted only if the author bears the costs of reproduction of such photographs. Please note that the journal does accept color images to appear in the online version of the journal. There is no additional cost to have color images in the online version of the journal but if you wish to have color images in the printed journal there is a $250 fee. Please provide both black and white / grayscale and color images once your article has been accepted for publication.

  Lettering or other detail should be large enough that when printed the smallest letters or symbols will be at least 1 mm high; lines should be thick enough and spaced widely enough so that they will not fade or run together when reduced. Use Sans Serif fonts whenever possible (e.g., Arial). Computer-generated graphics are preferred. An electronic graphic needs to be a TIFF or EPS file with a resolution of at least 300 dpi at the final size. A low-resolution JPEG is not acceptable. Fonts must be embedded or provided if an EPS file is sent.

  Provide suitable scale or legends within the illustration. Do not repeat information from the caption on the illustration or in the legend.

  Proof
  Please proofread carefully. Author’s proof should be corrected immediately and returned at once to the Journals Department, University of Hawai‘i Press. Remember that extensive changes in proofs are costly and therefore should be limited to correction of printer’s errors and errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar, and/or fact. A PDF of your article will be provided for you to indicate corrections electronically. Please mark your changes on the pdf or provide a list of corrections in an email to the production editor. Answer all queries, but do not erase queries or comments already on the proof. Make your corrections according to The Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition).

  You may also send your corrections via fax (808-988-6052) or email ([email protected]); fax only the pages that need corrections. Corrections can also be sent by mail, but please provide page number, column, paragraph, and line number with the correction. If your proof does not reach us by the deadline incicated, we will proceed with publication without your changes. In any case, a professional proofreader will have carefully proofread your article.

  Open Access Charge
  Authors may elect to have their article freely available online. If you select this option, the one time payment is $1,800 which allows us to post the article freely available in BioOne and Project MUSE and include it in the print issue of the journal.

  Color Printing Charges
  If authors wish to include color images in the print issue, there is a one time fee of $250 to cover the additional costs of color printing. Otherwise, all images are printed in black/white or grayscale.

  You may download a pdf of the Pacific Science Style Guide

• Editorial Board

• Editor

  Stephen L. Young, Department of Horticulture, Oregon State University

   

  Board of Editors

  Kelsey C. Brock, University of Wyoming 

  David R. Clements, Department of Biology, Western Trinity University, (British Columbia, Canada)

  Sheila Conant, Department of Zoology, University of Hawai‘i

  Robert H. Cowie, Center for Conservation , Research and Training, University of Hawai‘i

  Curtis C. Daehler, Department of Botany, University of Hawai‘i

  Florian Luskow, Uppsala University
   

  Aaron B. Shiels, National Wildlife Research Center, USDA/APHIS/Wildlife Services

  Celia M. Smith, Department of Botany, University of Hawai‘i

  Robert J. Toonen, Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology

  Les Watling, School of Life Sciences, University of Hawai‘i

  Edward Webb, Department of Biological Science, National University of Singapore

  Norine W. Yeung, Bishop Museum 

   

• Indexes

• Articles appearing in Pacific Science are indexed and/or abstracted in:

  Speleological Abstracts

  • Animal Behavior Abstracts (Online), Selective
  •  
  • CABI–
    AgBiotechNet
    Agricultural Economics Database
    Agroforestry Abstracts (Online)
    Animal Breeding Abstracts (Online)
    Animal Production Database
    Animal Science Database
    Biocontrol News and Information (Online)
    Biofuels Abstracts
    CAB Abstracts (Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux)
    Crop Physiology Abstracts (Online)
    Crop Science Database
    Environmental Impact
    Field Crop Abstracts (Online)
    Forest Products Abstracts (Online)
    Forest Science Database
    Forestry Abstracts (Online)
    Global Health
    Grasslands and Forage Abstract (Online)
    Helminthological Abstracts (Online)
    Horticultural Science Database
    Index Veterinarius (Online)
    InfoTree
    Irrigation and Drainage Abstract (Online)
    Leisure Tourism Database
    Nutrition and Food Sciences Database
    Organic Research Database
    Ornamental Horticulture (Online)
    Parasitology Database
    Pig News and Information (Online)
    Plant Breeding Abstracts (Online)
    Plant Genetic Resources Abstracts (Online)
    Plant Genetics and Breeding Database
    Plant Protection Database
    Postharvest Abstracts
    Poultry Abstracts (Online)
    Review of Agricultural Entomology (Online)
    Review of Aromatic and Medicinal Plants (Online)
    Review of Medical and Veterinary Entomology (Online)
    Review of Plant Pathology (Online)
    Rural Development Abstracts (Online)
    Seed Abstracts (Online)
    Soil Science Database
    Soils and Fertilizers (Online)
    TropAg & Rural
    Tropical Diseases Bulletin (Online)
    Veterinary Science Database
    VetMed Resource
    Weed Abstracts (Online)
    World Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology Abstracts (Online)
  •  
  • Clarivate Analytics–
    Biological Abstracts (Online)
    BIOSIS Previews
    Current Contents
    Science Citation Index Expanded
    Web of Science
    Zoological Record Online
  •  
  • De Gruyter Saur–
    Dietrich’s Index Philosophicus
  •  
  • EBSCOhost–
    Academic Search Alumni Edition, 1/1/2004-
    Academic Search Complete, 1/1/2004-
    Academic Search Elite, 1/1/2004-
    Academic Search Premier, 1/1/2004-
    Biological Abstracts (Online)
    Biomedical Reference Collection: Corporate Edition, 1/1/2004-
    Biotechnology Source, 1/1/2004-
    Current Abstracts, 1/1/2004-
    Environment Complete, 1/1/2004-
    Environment Index, 1/1/2004-
    GeoRef
    Russian Academy of Sciences Bibliographies
    TOC Premier (Table of Contents), 1/1/2004-
    Wildlife & Ecology Studies Worldwide, 1/1/1948-
  •  
  • Elsevier BV–
    GEOBASE
    Scopus, 1979-
  •  
  • Gale–
    Academic OneFile, 10/2000-
    Book Review Index Plus
    Environmental Studies & Policy Collection, 10/2000-
    Expanded Academic ASAP, 10/2000-
    General OneFile, 10/2000-
    GREENR (Global Reference on the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources), 10/2000-
    InfoTrac Custom, 10/2000-
    Science in Context, 10/2000-
  •  
  • International Atomic Energy Agency–
    INIS Collection Search (International Nuclear Information System)
  •  
  • OCLC–
    ArticleFirst, vol.44, no.1, 1990-vol.61, no.2, 2007
    Electronic Collections Online, vol.55, no.1, 2001-vol.61, no.2, 2007
  • Ovid–
    GeoRef
  •  
  • ProQuest–
    Agricultural & Environmental Science Database, 4/1/2007-
    Algology Mycology and Protozoology Abstracts (Microbiology C), Selective
    ASFA Aquatic Sciences & Fisheries Abstracts (Aquatic Sciences & Fisheries Abstracts), Core
    ASFA1: Biological Sciences & Living Resources (Online) (Aquatic Sciences & Fisheries Abstracts), Selective
    ASFA2: Ocean Technology, Policy & Non-Living Resources (Online) (Aquatic Sciences & Fisheries Abstracts), Core
    ASFA3: Aquatic Pollution & Environmental Quality (Online) (Aquatic Sciences & Fisheries Abstracts), Selective
    Bacteriology Abstracts (Microbiology B), Selective
    Biological Science Database, 4/1/2007-
    Biological Sciences, Selective
    Earth, Atmospheric, & Aquatic Science Database, 4/1/2007-
    Ecology Abstracts (Online), Selective
    Engineering Research Database, Selective – Indexing Ceased
    Entomology Abstracts (Online), Selective
    Environment Abstracts, Selective
    Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management, Selective
    GeoRef
    Meteorological and Geoastrophysical Abstracts (Online), Selective
    Natural Science Collection, 4/1/2007-
    Oceanic Abstracts (Online), Selective
    Professional ProQuest Central, 04/01/2007-
    ProQuest 5000, 04/01/2007-
    ProQuest 5000 International, 04/01/2007-
    ProQuest Aquatic Science Collection, 04/01/2007-
    ProQuest Central, 4/1/2007-
    ProQuest Pharma Collection, 4/1/2007-
    ProQuest Science Journals, 04/01/2007-
    ProQuest SciTech Collection, 4/1/2007-
    Research Library, 04/01/2007-
    SciTech Premium Collection, 4/1/2007-
    STEM Database, 4/1/2007-
    Sustainability Science Abstracts, Selective
    Technology Research Database, Selective – Indexing Ceased
    Water Resources Abstracts (Online), Selective
  •  
  • NISC World Wildlife
  •  
  • Ocean AbstractsPlant Breeding AbstractsPollution AbstractsReview of Applied EntomologyReview of Plant PathologySciSearch®Selected Abstracts in Water ResourcesSouth Pacific Periodical Index, Zoological Record
  •  
  •