Journal profile · BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION
Conservation Letters
ISSN 1755-263X · John Wiley & Sons Inc. · ENGLAND
Conservation Letters: CAS Zone 1 · Environmental Science & Ecology (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 5.4; fully open access; APC about USD 3,900; median 202 days to acceptance (94 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 27% (journal website); 104 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Conservation Letters is published by John Wiley & Sons Inc. and is in Zone 1 of Environmental Science & Ecology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management, Wildlife Ecology and Conservation and Species Distribution and Climate Change, together about 32.9% of its articles. Its main subfields are Global and Planetary Change. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Conservation Letters is a scientific journal publishing empirical and theoretical research with significant implications for the conservation of biological diversity. The journal welcomes submissions across the biological and social sciences - especially interdisciplinary submissions – that advance pragmatic conservation goals as well as scientific understanding. Manuscripts will be published on a rapid communications schedule and therefore should be current and topical. Research articles should clearly articulate the significance of their findings for conservation policy and practice. Three types of article are published in Conservation Letters: Letters: novel findings with high relevance for practice or policy Reviews: overviews of emerging subjects that merit urgent coverage or succinct syntheses of important topics that are rarely encountered in the mainstream literature Policy Perspectives: brief essays for a general audience on issues related to conservation and society Conservation Letters welcomes manuscripts in all biomes (marine, terrestrial, and freshwater), ecosystems, and cultural settings, and will strive for balanced coverage of each.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION
Editor-in-chief Graeme CummingPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 2 in mainland China (about 3%); most named United States 19, Australia 10, United Kingdom 5, Germany 4, South Africa 3 (58 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource ManagementEnvironmental Science12.6%
- Wildlife Ecology and ConservationEnvironmental Science11.7%
- Species Distribution and Climate ChangeEnvironmental Science8.6%
- Economic and Environmental ValuationEconomics, Econometrics and Finance7.8%
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics StudiesEnvironmental Science6.3%
- Coral and Marine Ecosystems StudiesEnvironmental Science6.3%
- Forest Management and PolicyEnvironmental Science5.9%
- Marine and fisheries researchEnvironmental Science4.7%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Biodiversity Conservation | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Biodiversity Conservation | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Biodiversity Conservation | Zone 1 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
CAB AbstractsPublisher website
Other: EBSCO
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
- 5.4LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 5.5Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 5.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 10.6LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 10.6Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 10.6Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 2.27LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 2.16LetPub ·
- h-index
- 62LetPub ·
- h-index
- 154OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 998OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 5.27OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 1.8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 83LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2,022Publisher website ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 90Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 783,998Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,557 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 86 | 86 | 55 |
| 2025 | 104 | 104 | 444 |
| 2024 | 85 | 85 | 951 |
| 2023 | 68 | 68 | 930 |
| 2022 | 84 | 84 | 2,225 |
| 2021 | 75 | 75 | 3,088 |
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 Crossref · to
202 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 146 days – 293 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 30 days (94 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 244 days
- Sample
- 94 articles with submission and acceptance dates (199 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)
- over 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 27%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 27%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 28 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 28 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 191 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 31 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 4 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Unspecified 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 | USD 3,900 / GBP 2,220 / EUR 2,920 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | USD 3,550 / EUR 2,660 / GBP 2,220 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 3,080 / GBP 1,930 / EUR 2,310 | Yes | — |
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)
What to prepare3 items from the author guidelines
- Reference style
- Author–date
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Required
Article types accepted8, with length limits
- correspondenceCorrespondence articles provide readers an opportunity to raise substantive issues related to articles previously published in the journal.Length not stated
- letterry studies are particularly encouraged. Letters should be no more than 3000 words in length (excluding references, table and figure legends,main text ≤ 3,000 words
- lettersLetters detail novel findings of cutting-edge research covering topics of global importance with high and direct relevance for conservation practice and/or poli…Length not stated
- perspectiveightforward prose and avoiding jargon). Perspectives may be up to 3000 words in length and should contain no more than 5 figures and/ormain text ≤ 3,000 words
- perspectivesPerspectives provide a forum for authors to discuss recent developments or ideas with broad and significant policy relevance to conservation.Length not stated
- reviewy encountered in mainstream literature. Reviews may be up to 5000 words in length and may contain up to 80 references. Themes shoulmain text ≤ 5,000 words
- reviewsReviews provide synthetic overviews of emerging subjects that merit urgent attention or succinct syntheses of important topics that are rarely encountered in ma…Length not stated
- viewpointand research relevant to conservation. Viewpoint articles are limited to 1000 words, no abstract, and are typically single authored with very fmain text ≤ 1,000 words
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Preprints
- Authorship Authorship
The list of authors should include all those who have made substantial contributions to the work according to the following criteria:
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflict of Interest
The journal requires that all authors disclose any potential sources of conflict of interest. Any interest or relationship, financial or otherwise that might be perceived as influencing an author's objectivity is considered a potential source of conflict of interest. These must be disclosed when directly relevant or directly related to the work that the authors describe in their manuscript. Potent…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data Sharing and Data Accessibility
Data archiving expected. Model summary
Conservation Letters expects that data supporting the results in the paper will be archived in an appropriate public repository. This must be done before the paper is published online. Whenever possible, the scripts and other artefacts used to generate the analyses presented in the paper should also be publicly archived. Exceptions may be granted at the discretion of the editor for sensitive infor…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Publication Ethics
Member of COPE. Model summary
This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Note this journal uses iThenticate’s CrossCheck software to detect instances of overlapping and similar text in submitted manuscripts. Read Wiley’s Top 10 Publishing Ethics Tips for Authors here. Wiley’s Publication Ethics Guidelines can be found here.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access Agreement
Conservation Letters is an Open Access journal: all papers are published under a Creative Commons license. With Creative Commons licenses, the author retains copyright and the public is allowed to reuse the content. The author grants Wiley a license to publish the article and identify as the original publisher.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Review Process
All manuscripts are assessed initially by a Senior Editor (the Editor-in-Chief or a Senior Associate Editor). If the Senior Editor determines the manuscript topic is appropriate for the journal and meets standards of content and presentation, then they assign the manuscript to an Associate Editor with expertise in the manuscript’s topic. If the Associate Editor deems the manuscript is of sufficien…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism
Plagiarism detection system employed. Model summary
Conservation Letters employs a plagiarism detection system.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints and preprint servers
Preprints considered. Model summary
Conservation Letters will consider for review articles previously available as preprints on non-commercial servers such as ArXiv, bioRxiv, psyArXiv, SocArXiv, engrXiv, etc. Authors are requested to update any pre-publication versions with a link to the final published article. Authors may also post the final published version of the article immediately after publication.
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
- John Wiley & Sons Inc.
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1755-263X
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 19, Issue 5 (October 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- 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 Conservation Letters
What CAS zone is Conservation Letters in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Conservation Letters is in Zone 1 of Environmental Science & Ecology, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Biodiversity Conservation; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Environmental Science & Ecology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Conservation Letters?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 5.4; CiteScore 10.6, h-index 154.
How long does peer review take at Conservation Letters?
Based on the dates recorded on 94 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 202 days (interquartile range 146–293 days); authors report an average review time of over 12 weeks; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 27% (2025). 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 are the manuscript requirements of Conservation Letters?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Reference style: Author–date; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Required. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Where are the editorial board members of Conservation Letters based?
Of the 58 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 2 (about 3%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (19), Australia (10) and United Kingdom (5). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Conservation Letters?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Conservation Letters is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists CAB Abstracts; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Conservation Letters open access, and what is the APC?
Conservation Letters is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,900.
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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .