Methods in ecology and evolution editorial on animal and plant ethics in research

Since its launch in 2010, Methods in Ecology and Evolution has promoted methodological innovation while remaining attentive to the evolving philosophical foundations of research ethics in ecology and evolutionary biology. From the beginning, there has been an expectation that new methods meet ethical standards in place at the time the methods were developed and tested. As ethical standards, expectations and policies continue to develop, the research community faces new questions not only about compliance but also about fundamental values: What constitutes harm? Who or what deserves moral consideration? These are not merely regulatory or procedural issues but rather are deeply philosophical questions that animate on-going debates such as the extension of ethical review to previously overlooked taxa (e.g. invertebrates) and the ethical integration of traditional and Indigenous knowledge (Contador et al., 2023; Epstein et al., 2023; Reid et al., 2024; Rozzi, 2019). Moreover, as new technologies alter the scope and practice of research, the ethical landscape shifts, raising questions of unintended consequences (Schad & Fischer, 2023; Young et al., 2022). Evolving standards thus can lead to confusion and misunderstanding about what the journal expects from authors when they report in their manuscript how ethical concerns with their work were addressed and, if need be, mitigated.