Journal profile · BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION
Conservation Science and Practice
ISSN 2578-4854 · WILEY · UNITED STATES
Conservation Science and Practice: CAS Zone 3 · Environmental Science & Ecology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.83; fully open access; APC about USD 2,240; median 299 days to acceptance (101 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 36% (journal website); 268 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Conservation Science and Practice is published by WILEY 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 Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Species Distribution and Climate Change and Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management, together about 38.9% of its articles. Its main subfields are Ecology and Global and Planetary Change. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Conservation Science and Practice publishes papers that address the policy, planning, and practice of conserving biological diversity. The journal publishes papers that expand conservation knowledge ranging from practical experience to advances in theory. The journal places special emphasis on studies that connect findings to conservation outcomes to address which strategies work as well as which strategies fail. Studies with implications for biodiversity conservation applications that rely on established methods on specific case studies are welcome, including those that do not transcend species, ecosystem, or situation.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION
Editor-in-chief Mark A. BurgmanPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 4 in mainland China (about 5%); most named United States 30, Canada 9, United Kingdom 5, Australia 5, Mainland China 4 (78 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Wildlife Ecology and ConservationEnvironmental Science18.9%
- Species Distribution and Climate ChangeEnvironmental Science12.5%
- Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource ManagementEnvironmental Science7.5%
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics StudiesEnvironmental Science6.6%
- Economic and Environmental ValuationEconomics, Econometrics and Finance4.3%
- Animal and Plant Science EducationPsychology3.8%
- Forest Management and PolicyEnvironmental Science3.6%
- Wildlife-Road Interactions and ConservationEnvironmental Science3.4%
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 | Biodiversity Conservation | 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 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Biodiversity Conservation | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of ScienceCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest, Astrophysics Data System
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
- 2.83LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2.9Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.6LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 5.6Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 5.6Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.08LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.23LetPub ·
- h-index
- 55OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 628OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.19OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 6.9%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 236LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 243Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 893,032Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,836 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 206 | 206 | 42 |
| 2025 | 268 | 268 | 492 |
| 2024 | 233 | 233 | 1,011 |
| 2023 | 205 | 205 | 1,788 |
| 2022 | 279 | 279 | 3,650 |
| 2021 | 274 | 274 | 5,125 |
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
299 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 235 days – 390 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 44 days (101 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 348 days
- Sample
- 101 articles with submission and acceptance dates (514 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 10 weeksLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 36%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 36%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 84 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 84 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 297 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 26 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 10 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 | USD 2,240 / GBP 1,670 / EUR 1,900 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | USD 2,240 / EUR 1,900 / GBP 1,670 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 1,940 / GBP 1,450 / EUR 1,650 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 1,940 / GBP 1,450 / EUR 1,650 | — | — |
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
- Abstract
- ≤ 200 words
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 8,000 words
- Reference style
- Author–date
Article types accepted7, with length limits
- contributed paperContributed Paper. (3000-7000) words. Research papers describing original theoretical, empirical or synthetic research.Length not stated
- letterCSP publishes papers in six categories that vary in length and scope. Manuscripts transferred from sister journals Conservation Letters or Conservation Biology …main text ≤ 1,000 words
- perspectiveCSP publishes papers in six categories that vary in length and scope. Manuscripts transferred from sister journals Conservation Letters or Conservation Biology …Length not stated
- research noteResearch Note. (3000 words): Shorter contributions that report on small research projects or on preliminary findings and that can be represented in one or two t…Length not stated
- research paperCSP publishes papers in six categories that vary in length and scope. Manuscripts transferred from sister journals Conservation Letters or Conservation Biology …Length not stated
- reviewCSP publishes papers in six categories that vary in length and scope. Manuscripts transferred from sister journals Conservation Letters or Conservation Biology …Length not stated
- systematic reviewCSP publishes papers in six categories that vary in length and scope. Manuscripts transferred from sister journals Conservation Letters or Conservation Biology …Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websitePublication ethics, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- Publication ethics 3. EDITORIAL POLICIES AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
COPE member; uses iThenticate for plagiarism detection. Model summary
All authors, editors and reviewers in Science Conservation and Practice are expected to adhere to the Code of Ethics of the Society for Conservation Biology. In addition, there are some journal specific policies: Open access online publishing: CSP is published online only. To guarantee open access, authors are charged a publishing fee that, under particular circumstances, may be reduced or waived.…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access 8. AUTHOR LICENSING AND OPEN ACCESS FEES
Open Access Agreement CSP 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. If a paper is accepted for publication, the author identified as the formal corres…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Transfers following a review process
Double-anonymous peer review. Model summary
If you are transferring your manuscript from another journal after a review process, we strongly encourage you to revise it before uploading. The revision should (a) address the questions and recommendations of the reviewers and (b) tailor the manuscript to CSP. Please follow the instructions provided under preparing your revised manuscript.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints and preprint servers
Preprints allowed. Model summary
CSP 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
- WILEY
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2578-4854
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 8, Issue 9 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- 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 Science and Practice
What CAS zone is Conservation Science and Practice in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Conservation Science and Practice is in Zone 3 of Environmental Science & Ecology, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Biodiversity Conservation. 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 Science and Practice?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.83; CiteScore 5.6, h-index 55.
How long does peer review take at Conservation Science and Practice?
Based on the dates recorded on 101 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 299 days (interquartile range 235–390 days); authors report an average review time of about 10 weeks; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 36% (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 Science and Practice?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 200 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 8,000 words; Reference style: Author–date. 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 Science and Practice based?
Of the 78 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 4 (about 5%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (30), Canada (9) and United Kingdom (5). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Conservation Science and Practice?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Conservation Science and Practice is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Conservation Science and Practice open access, and what is the APC?
Conservation Science and Practice is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 2,240.
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: .