Award | Announcing the 2026 JAB Review Award competition
Photo: Michi Tobler
We are happy to announce the third open competition for the JAB Review Award.
The JAB review award is given to early-career research scientists who have an exceptional mini-review manuscript accepted for publication in JAB.
The review should focus on new developments and/or emerging concepts in the areas of avian research that fall within the scope of the journal. If the award is given for a paper with multiple authors (the lead and corresponding author(s) must be early-career) those meeting the early-career research criteria at the time of publication will share the monetary prize.
The winner of the JAB review award will receive a 1000€ honorarium and the runner-up will receive 500€. All accepted papers that are entered in the competition will appear together in a virtual issue in Journal of Avian Biology. To increase visibility and readership, we will actively promote JAB review award papers on social media, and we will help authors to write blog posts and create video abstracts.
To be considered for the JAB review award, authors must submit their manuscript before 30 April.
At the submission stage, authors should state in the cover letter that they wish to enter their manuscript in the competition for the JAB review award. We particularly encourage submissions coming from underrepresented geographic areas and historically underrepresented groups.
These mini-reviews do not need to cover an entire research area, and in fact should be concise summaries (about 6000 words including references) of subject areas in avian biology that merit coverage and/or present novel ideas for moving a field forward. Mini-reviews can (but don’t need to) synthesize exciting findings in rapidly progressing fields. For examples, see the award issues of the first competition (2023 award) and second competition (2025 award).
Manuscripts that meet the basic criteria for a JAB review award paper will go through the normal peer review process. However, as much as possible, mini-reviews considered for the JAB review award will be reviewed by members of the editorial board to reduce review time.
Accepted submissions will be reassessed by an award-decision committee that will choose the winner and runner-up of the JAB review award. All submissions, whether or not they win a prize, will appear in Journal of Avian Biology if they meet the journal’s standards.
Author criteria
The winner must have finished her/his PhD within 8 years prior to the deadline (MSc students and PhD students are also eligible). Journal of Avian Biology realizes that life intervenes occasionally, so this cut-off is meant to be a suggestion and not a hard requirement. However, applicants should provide an explanation if they are requesting an exception (e.g. absence due to family leave, dramatic shifts in research area, etc.). For support with Open Access fees see below.
Evaluation criteria
Evaluation criteria are detailed in our editorial for the first JAB review award.
Award-decision committee
Staffan Bensch, Theresa Burg, Jan-Åke Nilsson, Dominique Potvin
Open Access
As Journal of Avian Biology is a full Open Access journal, we charge an Article Processing Charge (APC) for all accepted papers. However, the APC should not be a barrier for early career researchers to participate in the review award competition. As part of the Nordic Society Oikos' (NSO) committment to increase equity in scientific publishing we offer alternative routes to cover APCs so that early career researchers from all parts of the globe can publish their research in JAB.
In many cases where OA publishing mandates for authors exist, APCs will be covered by the funder or institution mandating open access and corresponding authors must pursue this route of APC funding. More and more funders/institutions/universities have unique agreements with our publisher Wiley, where the full or part of the APC is covered. See a list of the current agreements. Wiley also offers automatic waivers and discounts to corresponding authors based in low and lower middle-income countries in partnership with research4life (a list of countries with automatic waivers and discounts). The lists with agreements and waivers are updated annually and corresponding authors intending to submit to the journal are advised to check the list prior to submission.
The NSO recognizes that in some cases, work suitable to be submitted to JAB by early career researchers was not externally funded or that national or institutional/departmental support may not be available to corresponding authors to cover the APC. In such cases, the NSO is able to grant a number of society-funded waivers every year. These waivers are given on a first come, first served basis and must be requested before submission of the manuscript. Society-funded waivers can be requested by any early career researcher but priority will be given to submissions coming from underrepresented geographic areas and historically underrepresented groups. You can read more about how to request society-funded waivers.
For questions about the award or waivers please contact the editorial office: jab@oikosoffice.lu.se.
Journal of Avian Biology—who are we?
JOURNAL of AVIAN BIOLOGY: Empirical and Theoretical Research in Ornithology is an Open Access journal owned by the Nordic Society Oikos.
We are a journal for innovative, hypothesis-driven research on the biology of birds, with a particular emphasis on ecological, evolutionary and behavioural studies. We welcome submissions that study avian biology across all levels of ecological organization, from organisms and populations to communities and ecosystems. The journal also welcomes studies that report negative results, provided they are conducted rigorously and are scientifically informative. As a Nordic Society Oikos journal, we advocate research that is fair, openly accessible and reproducible.
Thinking about publishing with us?
Journal of Avian Biology offers a Review Award for early-career researchers.
We value ethical standards in science (EDI, Open Access, waivers, accessible data and code, CRediT)
Check out JAB’s journal metrics and see our Author Guidelines
Our journals, our society—join us!
The Nordic Society Oikos engages the global scientific community through five international journals…
…and supports the national ecological societies of the five Nordic countries. Anyone worldwide can join the Nordic Society Oikos.
NSO is a home for ecologists, a nexus for knowledge, and a guiding light for ecology worldwide. We are an active network of ecologists in the Nordic region and around the globe.
Why join NSO? Membership benefits include:
Connections across a global community of ecologists and five national societies
NSO newsletters with member-only updates about Nordic ecology and society activities
Ongoing opportunities for promotion on NSO’s digital platforms and social media channels
Discounted registration for NSO’s biennial conference
Eligibility to apply for NSO Grants
Each member receives additional benefits from one of our five national societies:
When you join NSO, you also become a member of one of our national societies. Which one? That’s up to you! Each national society provides its own benefits, including discounts to national conferences. Learn more about us at nordicsocietyoikos.org.
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