Journal profile · Agricultural and Biological Sciences-Animal Science and Zoology
Animals
ISSN 2076-2615 · MDPI (Basel, Switzerland) · Switzerland · Founded 2011
Animals: CAS Zone 2 · Agricultural & Forestry Sciences (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.14; JCR Q1 (journal website); fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 41 days to acceptance (199 articles, last 24 months); 3,701 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Animals is published by MDPI (Basel, Switzerland) and is in Zone 2 of Agricultural & Forestry Sciences in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Animal Nutrition and Physiology, Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies and Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock, together about 29.4% of its articles. Its main subfields are Animal Science and Zoology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
AimsAnimals (ISSN 2076-2615) is an international and interdisciplinary scholarly open access journal. It publishes original research articles, reviews and communications that offer substantial new insight into any field of study that involves animals, including zoology, ethnozoology, animal science, animal ethics and animal welfare. However, preference will be given to those articles that provide an understanding of animals within a larger context (i.e., the animals' interactions with the outside world, including humans). Animals has no restriction on the maximum length of the papers. Our aim is to encourage scientists to publish their experimental and theoretical research in as much detail as possible. Full experimental details and/or method of study, must be provided for research articles. Articles submitted that involve subjecting animals to unnecessary pain or suffering will not be accepted, and all articles must be submitted with the necessary ethical approval (please refer to the Ethical Guidelines for more information). Animals does not publish articles describing the use of animals solely to provide information of relevance to humans, e.g. for development of human medicines.Animals does not publish the results of tests of commercial products that do not provide any fundamental scientific advances.Subject AreasZoology: Physiology and physical structure of animals (e.g., breeding mechanisms, nutritional needs, development etc.) and its relevance to the ecosystem in which they live Evolution, phylogeny, genetics taxonomy and biodiversity of animals Ecology and conservation: Protection and restoration of endangered and threatened species Abundance and distribution of animals and the relevance to sustainability of the ecosystem Predator-prey dynamics and interactions between animals in ecological communities Animal management and welfare science: Animal behavioral and psychological responses to human activity and the environment Management of captive and domesticated animals Rehabilitation of animals into the wild Animals and society: Animal ethics and the morality of their use in human society Pest management Animal derived food Animal diseases and public health Ethnobiological and cross-cultural perspectives on animals Preference will be given to those articles that incorporate interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary research to provide an integrated understanding of animals and their relationships with humans. Standards and guidelines related to anima
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Agricultural and Biological Sciences-Animal Science and Zoology
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Animal Nutrition and PhysiologyAgricultural and Biological Sciences11.3%
- Animal Behavior and Welfare StudiesVeterinary10.8%
- Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestockBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology7.3%
- Ruminant Nutrition and Digestive PhysiologyAgricultural and Biological Sciences6.6%
- Human-Animal Interaction StudiesBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology6.4%
- Effects of Environmental Stressors on LivestockAgricultural and Biological Sciences6.1%
- Reproductive Physiology in LivestockAgricultural and Biological Sciences5.7%
- Meat and Animal Product QualityAgricultural and Biological Sciences5.6%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Agricultural & Forestry Sciences Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Agricultural & Forestry Sciences | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Veterinary Sciences | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Agricultural & Forestry Sciences Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Agricultural & Forestry Sciences | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Veterinary Sciences | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Agricultural & Forestry Sciences Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Agricultural & Forestry Sciences | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Veterinary Sciences | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- JCR Q1 · Veterinary Sciences
- CiteScore Q1 · General Veterinary
Publisher-reported: JCR figures are Clarivate's and CiteScore figures Scopus's to confirm; both are a different system from the CAS zones.Publisher website
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of SciencePMCPubMedEmbaseCAB AbstractsPublisher website
As the journal's website lists them, not checked against each database; for Web of Science editions the records above apply.
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor
- 3.14LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.2Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.5LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 5.5Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.72LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.17LetPub ·
- h-index
- 23LetPub ·
- h-index
- 140OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 10,014OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.34OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 12.5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.94%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 3,724LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 25,901 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2,951 | 2,951 | 967 |
| 2025 | 3,701 | 3,701 | 10,468 |
| 2024 | 3,647 | 3,647 | 22,980 |
| 2023 | 3,867 | 3,867 | 40,438 |
| 2022 | 3,667 | 3,667 | 50,939 |
| 2021 | 3,645 | 3,645 | 74,761 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
Review time from article dates manuscript dates registered with PubMed · to
41 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 30 days – 53 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 3 days (199 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 47 days
- Sample
- 199 articles with submission and acceptance dates (7,478 in the window); the latest was accepted on
Only articles that were accepted and published are counted, not the time spent on rejected manuscripts, so this usually runs longer than a publisher's "time to first decision".
Other sources
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 11 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 15.7 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 2.6 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 6 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer reviewDOAJ
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Fully open accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | CHF 2,400 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | CHF 2,400 | — | — | |
| LetPub | CHF 2,400 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
Article types accepted20
- articleArticle: Original research manuscripts.Length not stated
- book reviewAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- brief communicationAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- brief reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- case reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- commentaryAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- communicationCommunication: Communications are short articles that present groundbreaking preliminary results or significant findings that are part of a larger study over mu…Length not stated
- conference reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- editorialAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- hypothesisAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- letterAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- opinionAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- perspectiveAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- protocolAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- registered reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- reviewAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- systematic reviewAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- technical noteAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- tutorialAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- viewpointAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- Authorship Authorship
MDPI follows the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines which state that, in order to qualify for authorship of a manuscript, the following criteria should be observed: Make substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; Draft the work or review it critically for important intel…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflicts of Interest
According to The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, “Authors should avoid entering into agreements with study sponsors, both for-profit and non-profit, that interfere with authors’ access to all of the study’s data or that interfere with their ability to analyze and interpret the data and to prepare and publish manuscripts independently when and where they choose.” All authors mus…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability statements
Data availability statements are required for all articles published with MDPI. During the peer review and editorial decision process, authors can be asked to share existing datasets or raw data that have been analyzed in the manuscript, and whether they will be made available to other researchers following publication. Authors will also be asked for the details of any existing datasets that have …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Publication Ethics Statement
Animals is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). We fully adhere to its Code of Conduct and to its Best Practice Guidelines. The editors of this journal enforce a rigorous peer review process together with strict ethical policies and standards to ensure to add high quality scientific works to the field of scholarly publication. Unfortunately, cases of plagiarism, data falsificati…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright / Open Access
Articles published in Animals will be Open-Access articles distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The copyright is retained by the author(s). MDPI will insert the following note at the end of the published text: © 2026 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and co…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publication fees
If you transfer your manuscript to another open access (OA) journal, you will be charged an Article Processing Charge (APC) if your article is accepted for publication. The APC for each journal can be found on the individual journal’s website. For more information about APCs, please see here.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Editorial Process and Peer Review
All submissions are thoroughly peer-reviewed by experts within the field and undergo a structured editorial workflow designed to ensure quality, transparency, and scientific integrity. The full editorial procedure is available on the Editorial Process page and is also provided below. Pre-check Pre-check consists of a technical pre-check performed by the Editorial Office and an editorial pre-check …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints and Conference Papers
No dual submission Model summary
Animals accepts submissions that have previously been made available as preprints provided that they have not undergone peer review. A preprint is a draft version of a paper made available online before submission to a journal. MDPI operates Preprints, a preprint server to which submitted papers can be uploaded directly after completing journal submission. Note that Preprints operates independentl…
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- MDPI (Basel, Switzerland)
- Country or region
- Switzerland
- Language
- English
- Founded
- 2011
- ISSN
- 2076-2615
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 16 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Animals
What CAS zone is Animals in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Animals is in Zone 2 of Agricultural & Forestry Sciences, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science / Veterinary Sciences. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Agricultural & Forestry Sciences. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Animals?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.14; CiteScore 5.5, h-index 140.
How long does peer review take at Animals?
Based on the dates recorded on 199 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 41 days (interquartile range 30–53 days); authors report an average review time of about 11 weeks. Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
What JCR quartile is Animals in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q1; by category, Veterinary Sciences Q1. JCR quartiles are Clarivate's to confirm and a different system from the CAS zones; in the CAS ranking the journal is in Zone 2 of Agricultural & Forestry Sciences.
Which databases index Animals?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Animals is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science, PMC, PubMed, Embase and CAB Abstracts; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Animals open access, and what is the APC?
Animals is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, DOAJ; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-26). Last updated: .