Journal of Herpetology

Journal of Herpetology is a peer-reviewed scientific periodical published by the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles that disseminates research on amphibians and reptiles. The journal covers taxonomy, systematics, ecology, behavior, physiology, conservation, and biogeography with contributions from researchers connected to institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, American Museum of Natural History, University of California, Berkeley, Harvard University, and the University of Florida. It appears in bibliographies alongside works published by entities like the Linnaean Society of London, National Geographic Society, Royal Society, California Academy of Sciences, and Nature Conservancy.

History

The journal was established in 1967 amid growth in herpetological activity spurred by gatherings at organizations such as the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles meetings, and symposia hosted by the Ecological Society of America and International Union for Conservation of Nature; early editorial boards included curators from the Field Museum of Natural History, British Museum (Natural History), and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s the journal published seminal monographs and species descriptions cited alongside works by Edward Drinker Cope, George Albert Boulenger, Owen G. Gloyd, Karl Patterson Schmidt, and contemporary researchers at the University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, and Yale University. Editorial transitions involved figures affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution and faculty from the University of Texas at Austin, University of Colorado Boulder, and University of Kansas, and the journal’s production adapted to changing technologies pioneered at presses such as the University of California Press and Oxford University Press. In the 1990s and 2000s the journal responded to global conservation crises highlighted by the Convention on Biological Diversity, IUCN Red List, and reports from the World Wildlife Fund, publishing work intersecting with initiatives from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and regional programs at the University of São Paulo and Australian National University.

Scope and Content

Articles regularly include original research on taxonomy and systematics that reference methods developed in labs at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, American Museum of Natural History, and Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, alongside phylogenetic analyses using datasets comparable to those employed by teams at the Max Planck Society, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and the Broad Institute. Field studies reported in the journal draw on biogeographic frameworks used in publications from the Royal Geographical Society, National Geographic Society, and Conservation International, and often involve collaborators from universities such as the University of Florida, University of British Columbia, and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Conservation-oriented papers engage with policy instruments and programs like the Endangered Species Act, CITES, and regional conservation efforts coordinated by the World Wildlife Fund, The Nature Conservancy, and the IUCN Amphibian Specialist Group. Behavioral and physiological studies cite laboratory techniques and comparative approaches developed at institutions such as Harvard University, University of California, San Diego, and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

Publication and Editorial Practices

The journal operates under a peer-review model with editorial oversight provided by editors and associate editors drawn from institutions including the University of Arizona, Cornell University, Texas A&M University, University of Michigan, and University of Wisconsin–Madison. Manuscript handling follows standards similar to those promoted by organizations like the Committee on Publication Ethics and editorial practices paralleled at journals issued by the Royal Society, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Science. Submission categories include original articles, short communications, reviews, and species descriptions, and the journal has implemented policies on data availability and specimen deposition consistent with requirements from the National Science Foundation, Smithsonian Institution, and major natural history collections such as the American Museum of Natural History and Natural History Museum, London. Special issues and symposia have been produced in collaboration with societies and institutions such as the Herpetologists' League, Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, and university research centers at the University of Georgia and University of Notre Dame.

Abstracting and Indexing

The journal is indexed in bibliographic services and databases used by researchers at institutions like the National Institutes of Health, United States Geological Survey, and academic libraries at the Library of Congress; major indexing services include listings parallel to those in Web of Science, Scopus, Biological Abstracts, and disciplinary aggregators employed by the Biodiversity Heritage Library and national catalogs such as the British Library and Biblioteca Nacional de España. Coverage ensures discoverability for users of platforms maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, the Digital Public Library of America, and university consortia at the California Digital Library and HathiTrust Digital Library.

Impact and Reception

The journal is cited in conservation assessments and taxonomic revisions alongside works from the IUCN Red List, CITES Appendices, and reports by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre; its articles inform management decisions by agencies including the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and research programs at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Impact metrics are compared with specialty journals published by organizations such as the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, Herpetologists' League, and multidisciplinary publishers like Springer Nature and Elsevier. The journal’s contributions to species descriptions and range extensions have been recognized in academic syntheses produced by the Encyclopaedia Britannica, regional faunal accounts from the Australian Museum, and checklists compiled by the Fauna & Flora International and national museums.

Category:Herpetology journals