Systematic Botany, the flagship journal of the American Society of Plant Taxonomists, is pleased to announce a new article format: Clades in Focus. These expert-authored review papers will provide authoritative and engaging overviews of plant clades at any phylogenetic scale—from genera to families, orders, or broader lineages.

Clades in Focus aims to synthesize the current state of knowledge surrounding a clade, integrating past foundational work with contemporary advances and offering insights into future research directions. More than a summary of literature, each review should serve as a forum for conceptual synthesis, highlighting key taxonomic, phylogenetic, biogeographic, morphological, and evolutionary developments within the group.

In the spirit of engaged scientific discourse, we encourage authors to offer professional perspectives and thought-provoking commentary, while maintaining scholarly balance. Contributions should be accessible to a broad audience of botanists and evolutionary biologists, fostering cross-disciplinary dialogue and catalyzing new research.

Ideal Clades in Focus articles will include all or some of the following:

Provide a critical synthesis of past and current research on the clade
Identify major gaps in knowledge and promising avenues for future study
Discuss taxonomic and nomenclatural stability or challenges
Highlight methodological advances and their impact on clade understanding
Offer a compelling narrative that reflects the authors’ expertise and vision

We invite colleagues with expertise in a particular clade and an interest in sharing their overview of the clade and potentially shaping the future of systematic botany to contribute.

Let’s put clades in focus—illuminating the branches of the tree of life through expert synthesis and forward-looking ideas.