The journal, Coral Reefs, is intended to be a focal point for multidisciplinary literature across the broad fields of reef studies. It publishes analytical and theoretical papers on both modern and ancient reefs, and encourages the search for theories about reef structure and dynamics, and the use of experimentation, modelling, quantification and the applied sciences.

Some of the subject areas covered by the journal include:

• population dynamics
• community ecology of reef organisms
• energy and nutrient flows
• biogeochemical cycles
• physiology of calcification
• reef responses to natural and anthropogenic influences
• stress markers in reef organisms
• behavioural ecology
• sedimentology
• diagenesis
• reef structure and morphology
• evolutionary ecology of the reef biota
• palaeoceanography of coral reefs and coral islands
• science which underpins reef management
• coral molecular biology and genetics
• aetiology of disease in reef-related organisms
• reef responses to global change

The journal accepts full length papers (Reports) and short papers (Notes). Review articles are also welcomed but authors should consult the Editor in Chief about the proposed subject and length before submission.