Journal profile · Environmental Science-Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Conservation Physiology
ISSN 2051-1434 · Oxford University Press · ENGLAND
Conservation Physiology: CAS Zone 3 · Environmental Science & Ecology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.48; fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 150 days to acceptance (83 articles, last 24 months); 95 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Conservation Physiology is published by Oxford University Press and is in Zone 3 of Environmental Science & Ecology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Physiological and biochemical adaptations, Fish Ecology and Management Studies and Marine animal studies overview, together about 33.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Ecology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
What is conservation physiology? Conservation physiology is the application of knowledge, tools, and principles concerning how organisms function to address and resolve conservation issues. Does your research align with this discipline? Keep reading to learn more about our journal. Read the introduction to this essential field of study, by past Editor-in-Chief Steven Cooke. Conservation Physiology is an online only, fully open access journal published on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology. Biodiversity across the globe faces a growing number of threats associated with human activities. Conservation Physiology publishes research on all taxa (plants, animals and other organisms) focused on understanding and predicting how organisms, populations, ecosystems and natural resources respond to environmental change and stressors. Physiology is considered in the broadest possible terms to include functional and mechanistic responses at all scales. We also welcome research that applies physiological concepts or tools towards developing and refining strategies to rebuild populations, restore ecosystems, inform conservation policy, and manage living resources. We welcome the submission of replication studies and negative results that fit the journal’s scope. We define conservation physiology broadly and encourage potential authors to contact the editorial team if they have any questions regarding the remit of the journal. Key topics covered by the journal include: Understanding the influence of anthropogenic disturbance, and of variation in habitat quality, on organism condition, health and survival Providing a mechanistic/functional understanding of the effect of anthropogenic environmental change on organisms; the use of physiological knowledge to develop mechanistic models for species distributions Evaluating stress responsiveness and environmental tolerances relative to environmental change (including global warming and ocean acidification) Understanding the adaptation of physiological processes to environmental variation (e.g. studies on thermal adaptation among populations) Understanding the optimal environmental conditions for ex-situ preservation of endangered species (captive breeding, seed bank protocols for storage and regeneration, tissue culture for plant species or genotypes that are difficult to regenerate from seeds) Understanding the ecology and evolution of physiological diversity and its relevance to conservation Exploiting knowledge on
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Environmental Science-Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Editor-in-chief Andrea FullerPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 2 in mainland China (about 4%); most named Canada 16, Australia 9, South Africa 6, United States 3, Mainland China 2 (50 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Physiological and biochemical adaptationsEnvironmental Science15%
- Fish Ecology and Management StudiesEnvironmental Science11.6%
- Marine animal studies overviewEnvironmental Science6.6%
- Animal Behavior and ReproductionAgricultural and Biological Sciences6.3%
- Wildlife Ecology and ConservationEnvironmental Science5.6%
- Animal Behavior and Welfare StudiesVeterinary5.2%
- Amphibian and Reptile BiologyEnvironmental Science4.6%
- Marine and fisheries researchEnvironmental Science4.1%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Physiology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Biodiversity Conservation | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Environmental Sciences | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Biodiversity Conservation | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Environmental Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Physiology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Biodiversity Conservation | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Environmental Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Physiology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
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
- 2.48LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.2LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.73LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.04LetPub ·
- h-index
- 25LetPub ·
- h-index
- 74OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 677OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.97OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 12%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.65%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 84LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,242 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 72 | 72 | 24 |
| 2025 | 95 | 95 | 232 |
| 2024 | 97 | 97 | 527 |
| 2023 | 108 | 108 | 898 |
| 2022 | 81 | 81 | 954 |
| 2021 | 100 | 100 | 1,561 |
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
150 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 112 days – 205 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 28 days (84 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 187 days
- Sample
- 83 articles with submission and acceptance dates (194 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 publication (journal-reported)
- about 11 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 | GBP 1,919 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | GBP 2,073 | — | — | |
| LetPub | GBP 1,919 | 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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websitePublication ethics
- Publication ethics Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)
This journal is a member of and subscribes to the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) publicationethics.org
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
- Oxford University Press
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2051-1434
- Society / sponsor
- Society for Experimental Biology
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 14, Issue 1 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- 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 Conservation Physiology
What CAS zone is Conservation Physiology in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Conservation Physiology is in Zone 3 of Environmental Science & Ecology, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Physiology / Biodiversity Conservation / Ecology / Environmental Sciences. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Environmental Science & Ecology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Conservation Physiology?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.48; CiteScore 4.2, h-index 74.
How long does peer review take at Conservation Physiology?
Based on the dates recorded on 83 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 150 days (interquartile range 112–205 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Conservation Physiology based?
Of the 50 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 2 (about 4%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Canada (16), Australia (9) and South Africa (6). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Conservation Physiology?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Conservation Physiology is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Conservation Physiology open access, and what is the APC?
Conservation Physiology is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, DOAJ, Publisher website; 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: .