Instructions for authors
Instructions for Authors
What Journal of Zoological Research asks for in a manuscript, how to prepare it, and how to send it.
- Abstract 250 words
- Keywords 5–8
- ISSN 2694-2275
Contents
What this page covers
-
Checking scope, and what scope does not decide.
-
The formats the journal records, and their word limits.
-
File format, structure, abstract, keywords and title page.
Methods, specimens and sequences
What a zoological methods section is expected to record.
Ethics, permits and reporting standards
Approvals and checklists, matched to the study design.
-
Resolution, formats, deposition and availability.
-
The citation style and worked examples.
-
Authorship, funding, competing interests and AI use.
Preparing for double-blind review
What to move out of the reviewer file.
Submitting, revising and proofs
The routes, and what happens after submission.
Before you prepare
Checking that the journal is the right place
A manuscript is within scope when it addresses a substantive question about animal biology or develops or evaluates a method for zoological research.
Scope and evidence are judged apart. Whether a manuscript belongs here is a question about what it investigates; what it can conclude is a question about its design, sampling, controls and analysis, and is settled in review. Descriptive, observational, taxonomic, methodological, comparative and replication studies are prepared and assessed on the same terms as mechanistic and experimental work.
The full statement, with the boundary and the subject areas, is on aims and scope. Authors who would like the question settled first are welcome to write to the editorial office with the title, abstract and keywords.
Formats and length
The formats the journal records, and their limits
The word limits below count the main text, and exclude the abstract, references, tables, figure legends and supplementary material.
| Format | What it carries | Main text |
|---|---|---|
| Original research article | A complete study with its methods, results and interpretation | Up to 6,000 words |
| Systematic review or meta-analysis | A protocol-driven synthesis of the published evidence | Up to 8,000 words |
| Review article | A critical synthesis of a subject area | Up to 7,000 words |
| Methods and protocols | A field, laboratory or analytical method, with its validation | Up to 4,000 words |
| Taxonomic description | A formal description or revision, with type material | Up to 5,000 words |
| Conservation application | An intervention, assessment or management outcome | Up to 5,000 words |
| Perspective or synthesis | An argument that integrates existing knowledge | Up to 4,000 words |
| Case report | A detailed examination of a population, system or intervention | Up to 4,000 words |
| Data paper | A dataset described with its metadata and access terms | Up to 3,000 words |
| Short communication | A self-contained finding or observation | Up to 2,500 words |
| Rapid communication | A time-sensitive finding | Up to 2,000 words |
| Mini-review | A concise overview of a focused topic | Up to 2,500 words |
| Opinion piece | A reasoned position on a question in the field | Up to 2,000 words |
| Letter to the editor | A comment on work the journal has published | Up to 1,000 words |
| Book review | An assessment of a recent book in the field | Up to 1,200 words |
| Editorial | Commentary invited by the editors | Up to 1,500 words |
The journal's published record to date comprises original research articles, short communications and editorial content; the archives show what has appeared.
Preparation
Preparing the manuscript
- File format
- Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) or LaTeX. Use a standard face such as Times New Roman or Arial at 12 point, double spaced, with all pages numbered consecutively including the references and figure legends.
- Structure
- Title page, abstract, keywords, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, acknowledgments, references, and figure and table legends. Reviews, perspectives and taxonomic descriptions follow the structure their subject requires; a taxonomic description carries its diagnosis, description, type material and remarks.
- Title page
- A descriptive title without abbreviations, the complete names and affiliations of every author, the corresponding author's contact address and email, and a running title of up to 60 characters.
- Abstract
- Up to 250 words, covering the background, the objectives, the methods, the findings and what the authors conclude from them. Keep citations and undefined abbreviations out of the abstract.
- Keywords
- Five to eight terms. Include the taxon studied, and where a study concerns one species, give the binomial.
- Names and terminology
- Give the full binomial with its authority at first mention, then the abbreviated genus. Follow the relevant code of nomenclature, and give units in SI.
Methods
Methods, specimens and sequences
A methods section is expected to let another zoologist repeat the work.
- Study system and design
- Describe the study site or laboratory setting, the sampling or experimental design, the period of study, and the animals: species, number, sex, age or life stage, source, and housing or field conditions as applicable.
- Procedures
- Give collection, capture, marking, husbandry, laboratory and analytical procedures in enough detail to be repeated. Cite established methods and describe any modification.
- Voucher specimens
- Report the repository institution and catalog numbers, and confirm that specimens are permanently deposited in a recognized scientific collection that is accessible to other researchers.
- Sequences
- Deposit genetic sequences in GenBank, EMBL or DDBJ before acceptance and give the accession numbers in the methods.
- Statistics
- Name the tests, the software and version, the significance threshold, and how the assumptions of each test were checked. Report effect sizes with their measures of uncertainty alongside test statistics, and state the unit of replication.
Ethics and reporting
Ethics, permits and reporting standards
Requirements follow the study. Report the approvals and checklists that apply to what the work actually did.
- Animal research
- Work involving live animals gives the institutional or national ethics approval and the permit numbers in the methods, together with the housing, handling and humane-endpoint provisions applied.
- Permits
- Include collection permits for wildlife sampling, the permissions of landowners and protected areas, and export and import documentation where these applied.
- Sensitive species
- Where precise localities could put a population at risk, consult the editorial office about generalizing coordinates before submitting.
- Human participants
- Studies involving human participants or identifiable human data report ethical approval and consent. Interventional clinical trials must be registered in an accepted public trial registry at or before the first participant provides consent for enrollment. The registry name, registration number, and registration date must be reported in the manuscript.
Reporting checklists, matched to the design
- ARRIVE 2.0
- Research involving live animals.
- PRISMA
- Systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
- STROBE
- Observational studies.
- CONSORT
- Randomized controlled trials.
A checklist is supplied where the design calls for it; a study that fits none of them is assessed against the reporting its own design requires.
Figures, tables and data
Figures, tables and data
- Figures
- Place figures in the manuscript for review, and upload them separately at 300 dpi or better for photographs and 600 dpi for line art. Keep formatting consistent across every graphical element, and include a scale bar on any image of a specimen or structure.
- Image integrity
- Adjustments to brightness, contrast or color apply to the whole image and must not obscure, remove or introduce a feature. Indicate any grouping of images from different fields or specimens with clear dividing lines, and retain the original files.
- Tables
- Supply tables as editable text rather than images, with clear headers and the units stated.
- Data availability
- Every empirical research manuscript must include a data-availability statement. Archive large datasets in Dryad, Zenodo or a discipline-appropriate repository, and supply supplementary data in formats readable without specialized software.
- Permissions
- Material reproduced from another source carries evidence of an appropriate license, an applicable exception, public-domain status or the rights holder's permission, and is credited where it appears.
References
Citation style
References are cited by number rather than by author and date, numbered consecutively in order of appearance. List the first 3 authors, then "et al." for additional authors. Authors are responsible for reference accuracy.
- Journal article
- Miégoué E, Tendonkeng F, Mweugang Ngouopo N, et al. Physiological features of Pennisetum purpureum or Panicum maximum consumption in guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus). Journal of Zoological Research. 2018;1(1):5–19. doi:10.14302/issn.2694-2275.jzr-18-2474
- Book
- Author AA, Author BB. Title of the Book. 2nd ed. Place of publication: Publisher; year.
- Chapter in a book
- Author AA. Title of the chapter. In: Editor CC, editor. Title of the Book. Place of publication: Publisher; year. p. 101–120.
- Dataset
- Author AA. Title of the dataset [dataset]. Repository; year. doi:10.0000/zenodo.000000
- Sequence record
- Author AA. Species name voucher ABC123 cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene. GenBank accession MN000000; year.
- Preprint
- Author AA, Author BB. Title of the preprint [preprint]. bioRxiv; year. doi:10.1101/000000
- Webpage
- Organization name. Title of the page. Year [cited 2026 Sep 15]. Available from: https://example.org/page
- Trial registration
- Registry name. Registration number. Registered year month day. Available from: https://example.org/registry/number
Declarations
What to declare
Authorship. Every listed author has contributed substantially to the work, has approved the version submitted, and is answerable for its accuracy and integrity. The corresponding author confirms that all authors have agreed to the submission.
Funding. Name every source of funding and any grant number, and say what role, if any, the funder had in the design, analysis or reporting of the work.
Competing interests. Declare financial and non-financial interests that a reader might consider relevant: employment, consultancies, patents, and personal or institutional relationships with the subject of the study.
Artificial intelligence. Disclose the use of generative artificial intelligence in preparing the manuscript, naming the tool and what it was used for. Authorship rests with people, who can be held answerable for the work, so a tool is credited as a tool.
Acknowledgments. Recognize contributors whose role falls short of authorship, and permit holders and collection staff where appropriate, with their permission.
Double-blind review
Preparing a manuscript for double-blind review
Single-blind by default; double-blind review is available on request.
For double-blind review, remove author names, affiliations, acknowledgments, funding details, institution names, and other identifying information from the reviewer manuscript. Provide identifying information separately in the title-page file or submission form.
Where a permit number, a collection accession or a field station would identify the authors, cite it in a form that allows the editor to verify it while the reviewer file stays anonymous, and supply the full detail on the title page.
Submitting
Sending the manuscript, and what follows
Manuscripts are welcome throughout the year, by any of the routes below.
- 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.
Revision
A revised manuscript is returned with a point-by-point response to every reviewer comment, saying how each was addressed or giving the reasoning where the authors disagree.
Proofs
Proofs are sent to the corresponding author for checking. Corrections at proof are for errors introduced in production and for factual slips, not for new material.
After publication
Authors who become aware of an error tell the editorial office, so the record can be corrected. The procedure is in the editorial policies.
Charges
The article processing charge is USD 1,200, invoiced only after acceptance. The terms are on article processing charges.