Journal profile · BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION
Tropical Conservation Science
ISSN 1940-0829 · Mongabay.com · UNITED STATES
Tropical Conservation Science: CAS Zone 4 · Environmental Science & Ecology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.75; fully open access; APC about USD 4,150; review about 176 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); community-reported acceptance: easy; 31 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Tropical Conservation Science is published by Mongabay.com and is in Zone 4 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, Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies and Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management, together about 40.4% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Aims and ScopeThe main objective of Tropical Conservation Science (TCS) is to bring to light research related to the conservation of tropical ecosystems. TCS is a peer-reviewed, online, open access journal that provides a forum for original state-of-the-art research of broad interest to tropical conservationists. Short turn-around time from submission to publication is an important feature of the journal. Tropical Conservation Science publishes diverse types of papers, including: Review Articles, Research Articles, Conservation in Action, Short Communications and Opinion Articles. TCS seeks submissions that investigate conservation problems involving, first and foremost, socio-economic, political and industrial drivers of tropical ecosystem loss and degradation. Equally important to the journal is its aim to stimulate the publication of research that maps, tracks, and assesses drivers of tropical/ecosystem conservation. TCS welcomes studies that examine how nature (e.g. natural resources/biodiversity/geodiversity) is impacted/managed/used/valued by people across the tropics. How can conservation science be positively applied to generate solutions, change behaviors and obtain better conservation outcomes? This can include local studies with broader conservation implications, global scale analysis and insights from comparisons including both tropical and temperate zones. TCS manuscripts typically report on a wide range of topics including taxonomy, ecology, evolution, behavior, parasitology, epidemiology, and population genetics, for both plant and animal communities, as they relate to tropical conservation. TCS also welcomes manuscripts reporting on social and economic issues related to tropical conservation, such as the impacts of and/or on indigenous people, poverty, population growth, ecological footprint, conservation policy, and pertinent scientific, technological, cultural and religious issues. The journal encourages interdisciplinary papers using a wide range of methods, including modeling, molecular biology, epidemiology, ecology and/or evolutionary theory, to analyze, assess and discuss vital tropical conservation issues. Manuscript Submission Submit your manuscript at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/trc Please refer to the Submission Guidelines for more information before submitting your manuscript. We encourage authors to include photographs and videos of the landscapes, flora and/or fauna they have studied. Photos can be arranged as mosaics that should be treated as figures and credits for the photographs should be provided in the figure legend.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION
Editor-in-chief Sophie CalméPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 2 in mainland China (about 4%); most named United States 15, Mexico 11, Brazil 5, Mainland China 2, United Kingdom 2 (47 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Wildlife Ecology and ConservationEnvironmental Science18.2%
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics StudiesEnvironmental Science11.9%
- Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource ManagementEnvironmental Science10.3%
- Species Distribution and Climate ChangeEnvironmental Science8.9%
- Plant and animal studiesAgricultural and Biological Sciences8%
- Primate Behavior and EcologyPsychology4.5%
- Wildlife-Road Interactions and ConservationEnvironmental Science4.1%
- Amphibian and Reptile BiologyEnvironmental Science3.4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Biodiversity Conservation | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Biodiversity Conservation | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Biodiversity Conservation | 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
- 1.75LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 1.8Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 2.2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.1LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.57LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.96LetPub ·
- h-index
- 21LetPub ·
- h-index
- 63OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 547OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.48OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 74.29%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 30LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 930 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 34 | 14 | 3 |
| 2025 | 31 | 18 | 40 |
| 2024 | 21 | 21 | 84 |
| 2023 | 21 | 21 | 104 |
| 2022 | 30 | 30 | 273 |
| 2021 | 42 | 42 | 485 |
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
176 dayssubmission to acceptance · community reports over 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)
- over 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 26.3%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 5 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 176 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 19 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Anonymous peer reviewLetPub
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 accessLetPub
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 4,150 / GBP 3,043 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 2,000 | 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)
What to prepare7 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 300 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 3
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 8,000 words
- Reference style
- APA
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
Article types accepted17, with length limits
- commentariesCommentaries (invitation-only)Length not stated
- commentaryTropical Conservation Science will publish the following types of papers: Research Articles Review Articles Systematic Reviews Conservation in Action Opinion Ar…Length not stated
- conservation in actionResearch Articles Review Articles Systematic Reviews Conservation in Action Opinion Articles Short Communications Commentaries (invitation-only) Perspectives (i…Length not stated
- opinionTropical Conservation Science will publish the following types of papers: Research Articles Review Articles Systematic Reviews Conservation in Action Opinion Ar…main text ≤ 4,000 words
- opinion articlesResearch Articles Review Articles Systematic Reviews Conservation in Action Opinion Articles Short Communications Commentaries (invitation-only) Perspectives (i…Length not stated
- perspectiveTropical Conservation Science will publish the following types of papers: Research Articles Review Articles Systematic Reviews Conservation in Action Opinion Ar…Length not stated
- perspectivesPerspectives (invitation-only)Length not stated
- regular research paperTropical Conservation Science will publish the following types of papers: Research Articles Review Articles Systematic Reviews Conservation in Action Opinion Ar…Length not stated
- research articleTropical Conservation Science will publish the following types of papers: Research Articles Review Articles Systematic Reviews Conservation in Action Opinion Ar…Length not stated
- research articlesResearch Articles Review Articles Systematic Reviews Conservation in Action Opinion Articles Short Communications Commentaries (invitation-only) Perspectives (i…Length not stated
- reviewTropical Conservation Science will publish the following types of papers: Research Articles Review Articles Systematic Reviews Conservation in Action Opinion Ar…Length not stated
- review articleTropical Conservation Science will publish the following types of papers: Research Articles Review Articles Systematic Reviews Conservation in Action Opinion Ar…Length not stated
- review articlesResearch Articles Review Articles Systematic Reviews Conservation in Action Opinion Articles Short Communications Commentaries (invitation-only) Perspectives (i…Length not stated
- short communicationTropical Conservation Science will publish the following types of papers: Research Articles Review Articles Systematic Reviews Conservation in Action Opinion Ar…Length not stated
- short communicationsResearch Articles Review Articles Systematic Reviews Conservation in Action Opinion Articles Short Communications Commentaries (invitation-only) Perspectives (i…Length not stated
- systematic reviewTropical Conservation Science will publish the following types of papers: Research Articles Review Articles Systematic Reviews Conservation in Action Opinion Ar…Length not stated
- systematic reviewsResearch Articles Review Articles Systematic Reviews Conservation in Action Opinion Articles Short Communications Commentaries (invitation-only) Perspectives (i…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 Ethical considerations
COPE member Model summary
Please include your ethics approval statements under this heading, even if you have already included ethics approval information in your methods section. If ethical approval was not required, you need to explicitly state this. All papers reporting studies involving human participants, human data or human tissue must state that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board approved th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Publishing fees and open access
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
- Mongabay.com
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1940-0829
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Tropical Conservation Science
What CAS zone is Tropical Conservation Science in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Tropical Conservation Science is in Zone 4 of Environmental Science & Ecology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Biodiversity Conservation. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 4 of Environmental Science & Ecology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Tropical Conservation Science?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.75; CiteScore 3.1, h-index 63.
How long does peer review take at Tropical Conservation Science?
The publisher reports about 176 days (submission to acceptance); authors report an average review time of over 12 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Easy”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 26.3%. 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 Tropical Conservation Science?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 300 words; Keywords: ≥ 3; Manuscript length: ≤ 8,000 words; Reference style: APA; Templates: LaTeX and Word; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Tropical Conservation Science based?
Of the 47 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 2 (about 4%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (15), Mexico (11) and Brazil (5). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Tropical Conservation Science?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Tropical Conservation Science is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is Tropical Conservation Science open access, and what is the APC?
Tropical Conservation Science is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 4,150.
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: .