Today, we are celebrating the fact that Nature Ecology & Evolution has published its first four articles. But wait a minute, didn’t you say you were launching in 2017? Well, yes, we are still formally launching in January. That is when you will be able to read our first full issue, complete with both primary research articles and other content such as Reviews, Comments, News & Views and Editorials. However, over the next two months, we will publish a few research articles that will give a preview of what to expect. The main reason for doing so is that these articles are ready for publication, so we don’t want to impose unnecessary delays on either authors or readers. While these early papers are not specifically chosen to represent all the topics the journal will cover, they will give some illustration of the fact that we are interested in ecology and evolution in the broadest sense – from fossils to genes, from across the entire Tree of Life, from both marine and terrestrial environments, and including both fundamental science and applications to questions ranging from conservation to agriculture to health to culture.

This also seems like a good opportunity to say thank you to everyone who has made the launch of the journal possible: all of you who have submitted manuscripts to us, many of which we are looking forward to publishing in the coming months; the hugely important work of our peer reviewers; those of you who have taken the time to talk to us about ecology and evolution when we’ve been out on the road at conferences and visiting institutions; those of you who have interacted with us on social media; conference organisers who have worked with our sponsorship team; those of you who have signed up for our e-alerts or recommended us to your librarian; and our colleagues on other Springer Nature journals who have helped authors find a home for their work with Nature Ecology & Evolution.

So, what is this Community that is associated with the journal? The Community is where we get to engage with authors and readers in a more informal and immediate way than in the journal itself. It’s free and easy to join, and anyone can post new blog posts, images or videos, or comment on content posted by others. We encourage you all to get involved in discussions, be they about specific papers, more general topics in ecology and evolution, or just something entirely light-hearted. The types of content can include: posts from the authors of papers (published in any journal) giving the story behind their work; research highlights covering recent papers and perhaps instigating a journal club discussion; reports from conferences and field sites; comments on news stories about ecology and evolution; news about relevant books, arts or museum exhibitions; interesting anniversaries and historical recollections; and just about anything else you would like to post.

So, welcome to both the Community and the journal. Please explore, enjoy and engage!

Patrick