- Aims and Scope
- ISSN 2997-2248
- Open access · CC BY 4.0
Aims and Scope
The Journal of Wildlife publishes research on wild animals and their habitats: the ecology, behavior, health, genetics and management of wildlife populations, in the field and in the landscape.
Aims
What the journal sets out to do
- To publish rigorous research on the distribution, abundance, behavior, health and genetics of wild animal populations, and on how wildlife and habitats can be conserved and managed.
- To strengthen the field, analytical and monitoring methods on which wildlife science depends.
- To report evidence that informs conservation practice, management and policy in every region, including settings where resources for research are limited.
- To make this research openly available, so that researchers, managers, policymakers and educators can read and reuse it freely.
Research areas
JWL considers research on wild animals of any taxon, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes and invertebrates, in terrestrial, freshwater and marine systems. The areas below are illustrative and form part of a wider field, including but not limited to:
- Topic
- Population ecology
- Abundance, demography, distribution and range change.
- Topic
- Conservation biology
- Threatened species, protected areas, restoration and management.
- Topic
- Behavior and physiology
- Foraging, movement, reproduction and social organization.
- Topic
- Habitat and landscape
- Habitat selection, connectivity, aquatic and terrestrial systems, and land-use change.
- Topic
- Genetics and taxonomy
- Population genetics, evolutionary ecology and species description.
- Topic
- Disease ecology
- Wildlife disease, zoonoses and host-pathogen interactions in wild populations.
- Topic
- Human-wildlife interactions
- Coexistence, conflict, urban wildlife, and wildlife policy and law.
- Topic
- Monitoring methods
- Remote sensing, GIS, telemetry, acoustics, camera traps and environmental DNA.
A topic that is not named above is within scope when it addresses a question about wild animals, their populations or their habitats. Contributions from ecology, conservation biology, genetics, veterinary and environmental science, remote sensing, statistics, economics, law and the social sciences are welcome when they meet that test.
Eligibility
What makes a manuscript a fit
Manuscripts are assessed for their relevance to wild animals and their habitats, the soundness of their methods, and whether their conclusions are proportionate to the evidence. Field, laboratory, modeling and synthesis studies are all considered.
Studies of wild populations in managed settings
Work on wild animals in protected areas, agricultural land, cities and other human-modified landscapes is within scope. Research whose main subject is clinical veterinary care or the production of domestic livestock is outside the scope unless it addresses wild populations.
Case studies, perspectives and letters
Case Studies, Perspectives, Commentaries and Letters are accepted when they make a reasoned argument or report a documented case, supported by evidence and cited sources. Unsupported opinion, meaning assertion without evidence or reasoned argument, is outside the journal's scope.
Ethics and permits
Studies that handle, capture, mark, sample or otherwise manipulate animals report approval by the relevant animal ethics committee and follow the ARRIVE guidelines, where applicable. Field studies report the research, collection and access permits they relied on, where applicable. Locations of vulnerable species may be generalized.
Formats
Article types
The journal publishes the article types below. Guidance on the structure, abstract and reporting standard for each type is given in the Instructions for Authors.
- Original Research
- Review Article
- Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
- Methods
- Short Communication
- Data Note
- Case Study
- Perspective
- Commentary
- Letter
Where a manuscript sits between types, authors choose the closest type and explain the choice in the cover letter, and the editors confirm the classification. A field case series is classified as a Case Study, a scoping review as a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, and a study protocol as Methods.
Questions
Scope questions
Is my topic within scope?
A manuscript is within scope when it addresses a question about wild animals, their populations or their habitats, whatever its discipline or setting. If you are unsure, send the title and abstract to the editorial office at info@openaccesspub.org before submitting.
Does JWL consider invertebrates, birds and fishes?
Yes. The journal considers wild animals of any taxon.
Does JWL consider studies from a single site or country?
Yes. Local, national, regional and multi-country studies are all considered. Authors of single-site studies explain how their findings relate to other populations or settings.
Is a data-availability statement required?
Every empirical research manuscript must include a data-availability statement.