Article Processing Charges
Transparent and competitive fees supporting open-access publishing for zoological research worldwide, ensuring your discoveries reach the global scientific community without barriers.
Understanding Our Open-Access APC Model
The Journal of Zoological Research operates on a gold open-access model where article processing charges sustain comprehensive publication operations while ensuring universal, barrier-free access to published research. Our APCs cover the complete editorial workflow including manuscript handling, rigorous peer review coordination with expert zoologists, professional copyediting, typesetting in multiple formats, digital preservation through redundant archival systems, and ongoing hosting across global indexing platforms and biodiversity databases.
This sustainable model eliminates subscription barriers that historically restricted scientific knowledge to well-funded institutions. Conservation practitioners working in remote field stations, wildlife managers coordinating species protection efforts, educators developing curricula, and researchers at institutions with limited library budgets can all access cutting-edge zoological discoveries without costly subscriptions. Authors invest once during publication, and their research remains freely accessible in perpetuity, maximizing impact and citation potential across the scientific community.
Current Fee Structure and Article Types
Standard Research Articles
Original research manuscripts presenting novel findings in animal biology, ecology, behavior, taxonomy, or conservation. Standard processing fees cover comprehensive peer review, professional editing, high-resolution figure processing, supplementary material hosting, and permanent digital archiving with DOI assignment for reliable citation.
Review Articles and Syntheses
Comprehensive literature reviews examining current understanding within specific zoological domains. Extended length allowances accommodate thorough coverage of complex topics while maintaining competitive processing fees that reflect additional editorial handling requirements for lengthy manuscripts.
Short Communications and Notes
Brief reports documenting significant observations, methodological innovations, species range extensions, or preliminary findings warranting rapid dissemination to the zoological community. Reduced fees reflect more condensed manuscript processing requirements and expedited timelines.
Taxonomic Descriptions
Species descriptions, nomenclatural revisions, and systematic treatments following ICZN guidelines. Fees accommodate ZooBank registration support, extended figure requirements for diagnostic characters, and careful editorial review ensuring nomenclatural compliance.
Comprehensive Fee Waiver Program
We recognize that financial constraints should never prevent valuable research from reaching the scientific community. Authors from low-income and lower-middle-income countries (as defined by World Bank classifications), early-career researchers without grant support, and those facing demonstrated financial hardship may request full or partial fee waivers during manuscript submission. Our editorial team evaluates waiver requests based on scientific merit and documented need, ensuring that economic circumstances do not exclude important zoological contributions. Waiver decisions never influence editorial evaluation or peer review outcomes.
What Your Article Processing Charge Supports
Processing charges directly fund essential publication services that maintain scientific quality and maximize research visibility across global networks. Editorial staff coordinate rigorous peer review with expert zoologists worldwide, carefully matching manuscripts with reviewers possessing relevant taxonomic or methodological expertise to ensure thorough evaluation. This process maintains international standards for scientific accuracy, methodological rigor, and nomenclatural compliance with ICZN guidelines.
Professional copyeditors refine language clarity while preserving technical accuracy, particularly important for non-native English speakers. Typesetters format accepted manuscripts according to journal standards, preparing both PDF versions optimized for printing and reading, and XML versions enabling enhanced searchability, text mining, and integration with bibliographic management systems. High-resolution figures undergo quality optimization for both online display and archival preservation.
Digital preservation partnerships with LOCKSS and CLOCKSS networks ensure permanent accessibility regardless of technological evolution, protecting your research legacy indefinitely. Ongoing hosting maintains article availability through our platform and distribution to major indexing services including Google Scholar, enabling maximum discoverability by researchers worldwide.
Payment Process and Institutional Agreements
Authors receive detailed invoices following manuscript acceptance, with payment typically due before final publication. We accept major credit cards through secure processing, institutional purchase orders, and wire transfers for international payments. Extended payment plans accommodate authors requiring additional time, while institutional agreements enable streamlined processing for affiliated researchers at partner universities and research organizations.
For authors receiving funding from agencies requiring open-access compliance, our APCs satisfy major funder mandates including those from federal science agencies, private conservation foundations, and international research councils. Upon request, we provide comprehensive documentation confirming open-access publication status, CC-BY licensing terms, and permanent archival details for grant reporting requirements.
Ready to Publish Your Zoological Research?
Submit your discoveries to our globally recognized open-access platform and join thousands of zoologists advancing animal science.
Submit via ManuscriptZone Simple Submission FormTransparency and Value Commitment
We maintain complete transparency regarding how article processing charges support publication operations. Authors receive detailed invoices specifying services rendered, and our fee structure remains competitive with comparable zoological journals while supporting enhanced services including multimedia hosting, extended supplementary material storage, and integration with global biodiversity information systems. Your investment directly advances open scientific communication and wildlife conservation research dissemination worldwide.
Questions About Fees?
Contact our editorial office for personalized guidance on processing charges, waiver eligibility, and payment options.
