Journal of Zoology: The year in review

Abstract

Journal of Zoology was formed in 1966 by the amalgamation of the Proceedings of the Zoological Society and Transactions of the Zoological Society, thereby continuing the proud history of the Zoological Society of London publishing novel contributions on research in zoology. The diversity of research disciplines that marked the earlier journals has continued in the Journal of Zoology, resulting in over 190 years of publishing on the broad disciplines underpinning zoology, including, to name a few, anatomy, behaviour, ecology, physiology, genetics, developmental biology, systematics, genomics, palaeontology and endocrinology. While the flavour of research varies across time, the contribution to zoology remains constant-and the journal has always proudly embraced a focus on empirical research, as well as a broad remit across zoological topics. It is on this foundation that the Journal of Zoology has built its reputation.The Journal of Zoology continues the traditional focus of the journal and its predecessors, and has built on the strong focus on innovation, thereby embracing both the past and the future. The concentration on high-quality, original, hypothesisdriven research across all animal taxa and zoological disciplines results in journal issues that are always diverse and interesting, helping to integrate new areas of research across different animal taxa, including more concentration in recent years on multidisciplinarity, which explores the connections between the zoological disciplines.Research innovation is led by people, and the Journal of Zoology has a wonderful team of Editors. In 2023, Professor Nigel Bennett ended his auspicious 15 years as Editor-in-Chief. Over those 15 years, Nigel ably blended the journal's traditions with new innovations, and thereby cemented the reputation of the Journal of Zoology. For example, Nigel introduced the Thomas Henry Huxley Review series, comprising invited reviews examining our current understanding of a zoological theme, including suggestions to inspire research into the future. These reviews have sparked debate and discussion, from the very first one on post-copulatory sexual selection (Birkhead, 2010) to this year's review on post-reproductive life stages (Monaghan & Ivimey-Cook, 2023). A highlight we look forward is the 'Paper of the Year' award, which since 2014