Journal profile · Zoology
Laboratory Animals
ISSN 0023-6772 · eISSN 1758-1117 · SAGE Publications Ltd · ENGLAND · Quarterly · Founded 1967
Laboratory Animals: CAS Zone 4 · Agricultural & Forestry Sciences (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.22; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,400; review about 115 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); community-reported acceptance: easy; 66 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Laboratory Animals is published by SAGE Publications Ltd and is in Zone 4 of Agricultural & Forestry Sciences in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Animal testing and alternatives, Veterinary Pharmacology and Anesthesia and Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies, together about 36% of its articles. Its main subfields are Small Animals. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The international journal of laboratory animal science, technology, welfare and medicine, Laboratory Animals publishes peer-reviewed original papers and reviews on all aspects of the care of animals in research. The journal is published on behalf of Laboratory Animals Ltd (http://www.lal.org.uk/) by Sage Ltd. . View full journal description This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Zoology
Editor-in-chief R Frías FPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Animal testing and alternativesVeterinary16%
- Veterinary Pharmacology and AnesthesiaVeterinary12.3%
- Animal Behavior and Welfare StudiesVeterinary7.7%
- Human auditory perception and evaluationEngineering6.2%
- Anesthesia and Sedative AgentsMedicine4.1%
- Animal Nutrition and PhysiologyAgricultural and Biological Sciences3.9%
- Rabbits: Nutrition, Reproduction, HealthAgricultural and Biological Sciences3.5%
- Psychotherapy Techniques and ApplicationsPsychology3.4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Agricultural & Forestry Sciences Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Agricultural & Forestry Sciences | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Veterinary Sciences | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Zoology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Agricultural & Forestry Sciences Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Agricultural & Forestry Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Veterinary Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Zoology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Agricultural & Forestry Sciences Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Agricultural & Forestry Sciences | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Veterinary Sciences | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Zoology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
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
- 1.22LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 1.3Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 1.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 2.9LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.39LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.79LetPub ·
- h-index
- 55LetPub ·
- h-index
- 107OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,732OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.3OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 15.4%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 21.79%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 53LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 4,019 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 53 | 22 | 10 |
| 2025 | 66 | 33 | 91 |
| 2024 | 84 | 36 | 163 |
| 2023 | 70 | 54 | 277 |
| 2022 | 71 | 20 | 352 |
| 2021 | 79 | 29 | 505 |
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
Publisher-reported review time from the journal's website
115 dayssubmission to acceptance · community reports 6–12 weeks
The publisher's own definition applies; dates from this journal's articles in the last 24 months are not available yet, so the publisher's figure is used.
Figures by source
- Average review time (community reports)
- 6–12 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 27.1%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 6 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 115 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 82 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer reviewPublisher website
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
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 3,400 / GBP 2,493 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
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 prepare8 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 1
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 5,500 words
- Reference style
- Vancouver
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
Article types accepted6
- literature reviewPlease note that LAJ prioritizes original research over other types of articles. Please visit the Sage Journal Author Gateway for guidance on producing visual a…Length not stated
- original researchPlease note that LAJ prioritizes original research over other types of articles. Please visit the Sage Journal Author Gateway for guidance on producing visual a…Length not stated
- original research articlePlease note that LAJ prioritizes original research over other types of articles. Please visit the Sage Journal Author Gateway for guidance on producing visual a…Length not stated
- protocolPlease note that LAJ prioritizes original research over other types of articles. Please visit the Sage Journal Author Gateway for guidance on producing visual a…Length not stated
- reviewPlease note that LAJ prioritizes original research over other types of articles. Please visit the Sage Journal Author Gateway for guidance on producing visual a…Length not stated
- review articlePlease note that LAJ prioritizes original research over other types of articles. Please visit the Sage Journal Author Gateway for guidance on producing visual a…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Data availability, Publication ethics, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Preprints, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- Authorship Authorship
Please view our authorship policies, which includes information on criteria for authorship, who should be the corresponding author and more. Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability
The Journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages. Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to: Share your research data in a relevant public data repository Include a data ava…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Animal Ethical Considerations
Papers will only be published if the experimental procedures employed conform with the accepted principles of how animals are used in biomedical science. Usually, the principles applied will be those specified in the European Convention for the Protection of Vertebrate Animals used for Experimental and Other Scientific Purposes and its appendices, the National Research Council Guide for the Care a…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Publishing fees and open access
No submission or publication fees; optional OA via Sage Choice Model summary
There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this journal. Optional open access publishing is available for a fee via the Sage Choice program, and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. Open Access agreement …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review policy
Single anonymized peer review Model summary
The following summary describes the peer review process for this journal: Identity transparency: Single-anonymized Reviewer interacts with: Editor Review information published: None Your manuscript will undergo an initial evaluation. If it does not conform to the requirements laid out in these guidelines, it will be returned to you for amendments prior to peer review. Manuscripts may be desk rejec…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism Plagiarism
The journal and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. Please read Sage's complete policy on plagiarism and the actions we may take.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
The journal will consider submissions of manuscripts that have been posted on preprint servers. Please enter the preprint DOI in the designated field when submitting your manuscript. We advise that you inform the Journal Editorial office about your posted preprint at submission. Note that you should not post an updated version of your manuscript on a preprint server while it is being peer reviewed…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Trial registration / reporting guidelines Clinical trial registration
The journal conforms to the ICMJE requirement that clinical trials are registered in a WHO-approved public trials registry at or before the time of first participant enrollment as a condition of consideration for publication. The trial registry name and URL, and registration number must be included at the end of the abstract.
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
- SAGE Publications Ltd
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Quarterly
- Founded
- 1967
- ISSN
- 0023-6772
- Electronic ISSN
- 1758-1117
- Society / sponsor
- Laboratory Animals Ltd
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Laboratory Animals
What CAS zone is Laboratory Animals in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Laboratory Animals is in Zone 4 of Agricultural & Forestry Sciences, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Veterinary Sciences / Zoology. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Agricultural & Forestry Sciences. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Laboratory Animals?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.22; CiteScore 2.9, h-index 107.
How long does peer review take at Laboratory Animals?
The publisher reports about 115 days (submission to acceptance); authors report an average review time of 6–12 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Easy”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 27.1%. 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 Laboratory Animals?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Keywords: ≥ 1; Manuscript length: ≤ 5,500 words; Reference style: Vancouver; Templates: LaTeX and Word; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Optional; Graphical abstract: Optional. 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.
Which databases index Laboratory Animals?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Laboratory Animals is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is Laboratory Animals open access, and what is the APC?
Laboratory Animals is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,400.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex; 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: .