For editors
Editor Guidelines
What an editor of Journal of Zoological Research does with a manuscript, from the moment it is assigned to the decision that closes it.
- Single-blind by default
- Decisions independent of fees
- ISSN 2694-2275
First reading
Assessing scope
A manuscript is within scope when it addresses a substantive question about animal biology or develops or evaluates a method for zoological research.
Scope is a question about the subject of the study, not about how strong its evidence is. A descriptive, observational, taxonomic, methodological, comparative or replication study is in scope on the same terms as mechanistic and experimental work, and its evidence is then weighed against what its own design can support. A manuscript from an adjacent field belongs here when animals, or a biological process in animals, form a substantive part of what it investigates.
The full statement is on aims and scope. Where a manuscript sits at the edge, consult the Editor-in-Chief rather than deciding alone.
Handling
Taking a manuscript through review
- 01Check the assignment. Accept a manuscript only where your own field covers its subject and its methods well enough to read the evidence. Where it does not, return it to the editorial office so it can be reassigned.
- 02Check your own position. An editor with a competing interest in a manuscript steps aside, and it is handled by another editor. That includes authorship, a shared institution, a recent collaboration, and any financial or personal interest in the outcome.
- 03Screen. All submissions undergo initial editorial screening. Manuscripts that meet the journal's scope and minimum requirements proceed to independent peer review. Screening covers scope, completeness, ethical declarations and the similarity report.
- 04Select reviewers. Choose reviewers whose published work covers the manuscript's subject and its methods, and who have no competing interest with the authors. 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.
- 05Read the reviews as evidence. Weigh each review on the reasoning it gives, not on the recommendation it carries. Where reviewers disagree, read the manuscript against both readings and, where the disagreement is substantive, seek a further opinion.
- 06Decide, and explain. Editorial decisions are based on scope, scientific quality, methodological rigor, ethical compliance, reporting quality, and relevance to the journal. The decision letter sets out the reasoning and says what a revision would need to address.
Independence
What must not enter a decision
Editorial decisions are independent of article processing charges, membership, editorial or reviewer roles, and any paid service. An editor works from the manuscript's scope, method, ethics and reporting, and from those alone.
An editor's own submissions are handled independently of that editor, and holding a role on the board confers no advantage in the review or acceptance of their work.
Manuscripts under consideration are confidential. Their content, and the fact of their submission, are discussed only with the reviewers, the editorial office and, where an integrity question arises, the people needed to resolve it.
When double-blind review is requested, editors must ensure that author-identifying information is not shared with reviewers.
Zoological specifics
What to check in a zoological manuscript
- Animal ethics
- Where live animals were studied, confirm that the manuscript reports the institutional or national approval, the permit numbers, and the housing, handling and humane-endpoint provisions applied.
- Permits and sensitive localities
- Confirm that collection, sampling, export and import permissions are reported. Where precise localities could put a population at risk, agree with the authors how to generalize them before publication.
- Specimens and sequences
- Confirm that voucher specimens carry a repository and catalog number, and that sequences carry accession numbers from a recognized database.
- Reporting standards
- Match the checklist to the design: ARRIVE for research involving animals, PRISMA for systematic reviews, STROBE for observational studies, CONSORT for randomized trials. A study fitting none of these is assessed against what its own design requires.
- Data and images
- Confirm the data-availability statement, and raise any figure where adjustment appears to have obscured, removed or introduced a feature, or where panels appear to be grouped without dividing lines.
When something is wrong
Integrity concerns, appeals and corrections
Integrity concerns. Where a concern arises about fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, duplicate publication, image manipulation or undisclosed competing interests, ask the corresponding author for an explanation and refer the matter to the Editor-in-Chief and the editorial office, who carry the investigation forward. The manuscript stays confidential while a question is open.
Appeals. An appeal against a decision is considered by an editor who was not responsible for that decision. An editor whose decision is under appeal takes no part in considering it.
Corrections and retractions. Where an error affects part of a published record but the findings stand, a correction notice is published. Where the findings are unreliable, a retraction is published and the article remains available and clearly marked. Where an investigation is unresolved, an expression of concern is published.
Artificial intelligence and files. Editors obtain journal permission before using AI to assist with editorial assessment, disclose any permitted use, and keep confidential manuscript content out of any service where confidentiality cannot be assured. Manuscript files are deleted once the editorial work on them is finished.
Reference
The pages an editor works from
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The rules in full, including ethics, data and corrections.
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The remit a manuscript is assessed against.
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What reviewers are asked to provide.
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What authors were asked to supply.
Questions about a manuscript in hand go to the editorial office at [email protected].