Ethology is the naturalistic study of behavior from an evolutionary perspective and includes research studies on all animals, including humans, and even aspects of plant behavior and communication. Although rooted in natural history and early post-Darwinian biology as well as animal learning and laboratory studies stemming from comparative psychology, ethology now encompasses a broad range of topics, theory, and methodologies focused on understanding the mechanisms, processes, ecology, and evolution of behavior and their application in addressing issues of conservation, animal wellness, agriculture, and other global concerns. While animal behavior is recognized as an important component of research in many areas of biology and psychology, ethology is the major integrating field with behavior as the central focus.

Frontiers in Ethology is a new, peer-reviewed, gold open-access journal seeking to serve as a scientifically rigorous and reliable platform for all aspects of ethology. There are many methods now available to record and analyze behavior and associated physiological, genetic, spatial, movement, dietary, reproductive, and other data. The journal accepts papers from field and laboratory settings as well as those from zoo, aquarium, farm, sanctuary, and other captive sites. Rigorous experimental investigations are encouraged in all the specialty areas, as are conceptual, theoretical, review, and modeling studies. We also actively seek and promote papers that are primarily descriptive, ranging from those documenting novel behavior to monographic detailed reports, including those with a comparative focus. Such reports are too often unpublished or languish in obscure venues or gray literature, yet such reports are the bedrock on which the most useful and valid experimental research ultimately resides. This emphasis on the descriptive (ethogram), comparative, and experimental was the foundational innovation that the pioneering ethologists brought to the fore a century ago and which is now bearing its most important scientific fruit, enriching many scientific disciplines.

Frontiers in Ethology is international in scope and encourages contributions from all continents and countries. Researchers in all areas, and at any stage of their development, are welcome to both contribute their work as well as aid in editorial activities supporting the journal. We desire work that is carefully formulated, rigorously carried out, adequately presented, and discussed by referring to the relevant scholarly literature. Alternative interpretations of findings should be addressed. Wherever possible, blind testing should be incorporated and interobserver reliability should be assessed (which is readily accomplished with video and auditory recording) and multiple observers should be thoroughly trained to be accurate in recording observations. Such procedures are the best protection against the replication challenges facing many areas of science. Welfare guidelines for animals should be followed, including any institutional approvals. Where appropriate, sex, age, and geographical source population of subjects should be balanced or the conclusions reached appropriately limited.

The journal is organized into five specialty areas. If unsure which area is most appropriate for a given paper, please submit it and the Editorial Board will assist and determine the best placement. The journal accepts a broad range of article types and encourages the submission, but does not require, pre-registration study protocols.

adaptation and evolution
behavioral development and play
foraging and antipredator behavior
social behavior and communication
applied ethology and sentience

The journal supports and advances the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15: Life on Land, by promoting research that contributes to the protection and preservation of biodiversity and sustainable land use practices. By fostering a deeper understanding of animal behavior and its ecological significance, the journal seeks to inform conservation efforts and enhance our stewardship of the natural world.

Manuscripts relating to topics that do not align with the journal's focus on ethology, such as unrelated disciplines or non-behavioral studies, are not suitable for publication in this journal.

Frontiers’ journals require that manuscripts primarily comprising computational studies of public data, must include appropriate validation. Please refer to the Frontiers Standards for research methodology policy, for more information. Manuscripts not adhering to these standards will not be considered.

volumes

What behavior is important behavior? A systematic review of how wild and zoo-housed animals differ in their time-activity budgets