JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGICAL SYSTEMATICS AND EVOLUTIONARY RESEARCH

The Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research (JZSER) is a peer-reviewed, international forum for publication of high-quality research on systematic zoology and evolutionary biology. The aim of the journal is to provoke a synthesis of results from morphology, physiology, animal geography, ecology, ethology, evolutionary genetics, population genetics, developmental biology and molecular biology. Besides empirical papers, theoretical contributions and review articles are welcome. Purely taxonomic and predominantly cytogenetic manuscripts will not be accepted except in rare cases, and then only at the Editors-in-Chief's discretion. Only papers in English language are accepted. The following aspects are relevant for the editors´ decision whether a manuscript should be considered for publication in JZSER: Is the study of supra-regional relevance (in case of phylogeographic studies) and/or is it of broad systematic relevance? Does the study address a hot topic, is it cutting edge or controversial? Does it cover a taxonomic group comprehensively? Does the manuscript provide an example of a general biological principle and/or extends this principle or provides a new "twist" to it? Does the study use a modern set of methods to illuminate a biological problem and / or is the set of molecular genetic markers used sufficient to allow the conclusions drawn? Is the manuscript well written with an acceptable level of English and are figures and tables carefully prepared (also regarding readability) illustrating the relevant results in a clear and comprehensive way? Are the hypotheses well presented and the results discussed in an evolutionary sense? Not all of these criteria have to be fulfilled, but they help the editors to select papers that presumably will be of interest for a broad readership.