Scope statement
Aims and Scope
Journal of Zoological Research publishes peer-reviewed studies that advance understanding of animal biology: how animals are built, how they work, how they develop, behave and evolve, how they live alongside other organisms and their environments, and how their health is maintained.
- ISSN 2694-2275
- DOI prefix 10.14302
- CC BY 4.0
- Published since 2018
Aims
What the journal sets out to do
Zoology is one discipline held together by its subject rather than by a single technique or a single scale. The journal is edited on that understanding, and its remit follows its name.
A description of a species, a measurement of metabolic rate, an experiment on development, a survey of a population and an analysis of a genome are different kinds of work that answer to the same question: what animals are, and how they work. Each is zoology, and each is read here on its own terms.
The journal therefore sets out to do three things. To publish sound zoological research across that whole range, from the molecular to the ecological. To make each study findable, citable and permanently available under an open license. And to assess every manuscript on what it investigates and on how well its evidence supports what it claims.
A manuscript is within scope when it addresses a substantive question about animal biology or develops or evaluates a method for zoological research.
The following examples illustrate that connection, which is established by the study's aims and analyses.
- 01The animal is the subject of the study, through its structure, function, development, behavior or genetics.
- 02The animal is the population under study, through its numbers, distribution, ecology or conservation.
- 03The animal is the host or patient, through infection, parasitism, immunity, nutrition or welfare.
- 04The animal is the experimental system in which a general biological process is examined.
- 05The study develops or tests a method that zoological work depends on.
Taxonomic reach
The animals the journal covers
The scope follows the animal kingdom rather than a chosen taxon. Vertebrates and invertebrates are read on the same terms.
- Amphibians
- Mammals
- Birds
- Fishes
- Insects
- Mollusks
These six groups indicate the range of the scope and mark its direction rather than its limit: reptiles, crustaceans, arachnids, annelids, cnidarians, echinoderms, nematodes and the remaining animal phyla belong to the same remit.
Subject areas
The research the journal publishes
Seven areas describe the journal's working remit. They overlap, and a manuscript that sits across two of them is welcome in either.
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01
Physiology and development
Whole-animal and organ-level function: metabolism, respiration, circulation, osmoregulation, endocrinology, reproduction, growth, metamorphosis, thermal biology and the response to physiological stress. Developmental studies from embryology to life-history transitions, and experimental and pharmacological work in which a physiological response is measured.
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02
Morphology, anatomy and systematics
Comparative, functional and descriptive morphology; histology and ultrastructure; species descriptions and taxonomic revisions; phylogenetics, biogeography and evolutionary relationships; and research grounded in museum, preserved and voucher collections.
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03
Behavior and ecology
Behavioral mechanisms and their development; foraging, communication, social organization, mating and parental care; movement, migration and habitat use; population and community ecology; and conservation biology, including the ecology of species and habitats at risk.
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04
Genetics, cell and molecular biology
Animal genomes, gene expression and regulation; molecular markers, population genetics and phylogenomics; and cell, tissue and biochemical studies where the question asked is about an animal or about a process in animals.
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05
Animal health, parasitology and welfare
Infection, parasitism, immune response and disease processes in wild, captive, domestic and laboratory animals; the biology and ecology of the infections animals carry; and the science of housing, handling, enrichment and welfare assessment.
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06
Nutrition and feeding biology
Digestive physiology and gut function; feed intake, digestibility and nutritional requirements; the nutritional basis of growth and reproduction; and feeding ecology in wild, managed and production populations.
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07
Methods, instrumentation and analysis
Field and laboratory protocols, preparation, staining and imaging techniques, biologging and sensing, morphometric and sequence analysis, statistical and computational approaches, and the experimental methods that zoological work depends on, where the contribution is to how a zoological question is answered.
Scale and setting
Where a zoological question can be asked
Levels of organization
- Molecule and gene
- Cell
- Tissue and organ
- Whole organism
- Population
- Community and ecosystem
A study of gene expression in one tissue and a study of a population across a landscape are both zoology. The journal publishes at every level, and reads a manuscript at the level it set out to work on.
Study systems
- Wild populations, studied in the field
- Captive animals and zoological collections
- Domestic and production animals
- Laboratory and established model organisms
- Museum, preserved and archival material
- Existing data, compared or reanalyzed
Each setting supports a different range of inference, and a manuscript is assessed against what its own setting allows. Laboratory and collection-based work carries the same standing here as fieldwork.
Two separate questions
Scope and evidence are judged apart
Whether a manuscript belongs in this journal is a question about what it investigates. What the manuscript can conclude is a question about its design, sampling, controls and analysis, and is settled in review.
Fundamental and applied research, including descriptive, observational, taxonomic, methodological, comparative, replication, theoretical and synthesis studies, is within scope on the same terms as mechanistic and experimental work.
Scope follows the subject of the study; claims are matched to the evidence the study provides. A descriptive or methodological contribution is judged on the strength of its description or its method, as a mechanistic study is judged on the strength of its mechanism. Each is asked for the evidence its own design can supply.
At the edge
Manuscripts that sit between fields
Zoology meets human medicine, agronomy, chemistry, engineering and environmental science, and valuable work is done in each of those overlaps.
A manuscript from that ground is within scope when animals, or a biological process in animals, form a substantive part of what the study investigates. The editors read the aims and the design to make that judgment, and two studies already in the journal show how it falls: an aqueous seed extract tested in rats, with renal function measured, is a study of animal physiology; a forage trial in which intake and digestibility are measured in guinea pigs is a study of animal nutrition. In both, the animal is what is being learned about.
Authors who would like the question settled before they prepare a submission are welcome to write to the editorial office with the title, abstract and keywords and ask whether the work fits.
Supporting evidence
Work already in the journal
These studies show the range the journal has published. They illustrate the remit rather than define it: the seven areas above are the journal's working scope, and each is open to submissions on the same terms.
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Development2024
Reaction vessel surface area, examined against mortality in bullfrog larvae during chemically induced metamorphosis.
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Immune response2023
Study of Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Black Cumin (Nigella Sativa) and Honey on Mice (Mus Musculus)
Black cumin and honey administered to mice, with the inflammatory response followed.
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Animal health2020
Potential pathogenic bacteria isolated from domestic dog stool sampled across the Port Harcourt metropolis, Niger Delta.
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Physiology2020
An aqueous seed extract examined against chemically induced nephrotoxicity in male albino rats.
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Nutrition2019
Graded levels of spirulina in the diet of guinea pigs, with feed intake and digestibility followed.
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Feeding biology2018
Two forages compared in guinea pigs, with the physiological features of consumption recorded.
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Editorial2018
Experimental Zoology. Advancements, Problems and Future Prospects
The journal's own editorial on the advancements, problems and future prospects of experimental zoology.
The complete publication record is in the archives.
In practice
How fit is established
All submissions undergo initial editorial screening. Manuscripts that meet the journal's scope and minimum requirements proceed to independent peer review.
Single-blind by default; double-blind review is available on request. Manuscripts that proceed to external peer review are normally evaluated by at least two independent subject-matter experts.
Editorial decisions are based on scope, scientific quality, methodological rigor, ethical compliance, reporting quality, and relevance to the journal.
The journal's published record comprises original research articles, short communications and editorial content. The instructions for authors provide manuscript preparation and submission guidance.
Research involving animals is expected to report the ethical approvals, permits and welfare provisions that apply to the work and to its jurisdiction. The editorial policies and the instructions for authors set out what to include.
Next step
Bringing work to the journal
Manuscripts in any of the areas above are welcome throughout the year.
- Primary route ManuscriptZone
- Alternative route Simple manuscript submission form, which opens with Journal of Zoological Research selected.
- Assisted route The editorial office, at [email protected].
Authors must use only one submission route for the same manuscript.