A Call for Mini-Reviews: An Effective but Underutilized Method of Synthesizing Knowledge to Inform and Direct Fisheries Management, Policy, and Research

Remaining current on emerging research in fisheries science is challenging. While review articles are often a go-to resource for managers and researchers alike, reviews in certain fisheries science subdisciplines are either dated or simply do not exist. Although there are a number of journals that publish lengthy reviews on topics relevant to fisheries, these are not always accessible and may not be read by managers, policymakers, and legislators. To address these concerns, there is a need for direct, concise, and timely review articles that tackle emerging issues (i.e., mini-reviews). Reviews of this type are rarely published in American Fisheries Society journals or fisheries journals in general, despite the fact that they have been widely successful and influential (in terms of both academic measures of research oimpacto and in affecting change in management and policy) in ecological and conservation journals. We provide suggestions for developing high-quality mini-reviews and propose that Fisheries is an ideal outlet for these short and timely articles aimed at reaching a broad, multidisciplinary audience, including scientists, managers, policymakers, legislators, and other stakeholders.