About the Journal

Aims and scope

Small Carnivore Conservation is the peer-reviewed journal of the IUCN SSC Small Carnivore Specialist Group.

The journal’s focus is about:

  • Ailuridae (red pandas)
  • Eupleridae (the Malagasy carnivores)
  • Herpestidae (mongooses, including the Meerkat)
  • Mephitidae (stink badgers and skunks)
  • Mustelidae (weasels, badgers, and their allies, except the otters – see below)
  • Nandiniidae (African Palm-civet)
  • Prionodontidae (linsangs)
  • Procyonidae (coatis, raccoons and their allies)
  • Viverridae (civets and genets, including the oyans or ‘African linsangs’)

It does not cover cats (Felidae), dogs (Canidae), or otters (Lutrinae, a subfamily of Mustelidae) as these taxa are covered by other IUCN SSC specialist groups and their journals. However, the journal does publish ‘by-catch’ data on these three taxa from camera-trapping, surveys and observations as part of a manuscript that is focused primarily on one (or more) of the nine small carnivore families listed above. 

The majority of small carnivores are very poorly known and researched; anything that has the potential to inform small carnivore conservation will be considered for publication. 

Peer-review process

Submissions are first inspected by the Editor-in-Chief. Submissions that fit the scope of the journal and meet the minimum required standard for review are assigned to reviewers or subject editors. Initial inspection by the Editor-in-Chief can take up to three weeks. Though the journal’s editors aim to complete the review process within six weeks, various circumstances may considerably prolong the manuscript’s evaluation. In addition, some submissions require multiple rounds of review and revision. The entire review and editorial process is run and managed by volunteers; please be patient.

Publication schedule

Manuscripts are published online as soon as they have been finalised. Any amendments made after this initial publication are made explicit on the later version.

Open access policy

Small Carnivore Conservation is published as an open access journal under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC 4.0 license. Authors retain full copyright. Small Carnivore Conservation is free for anybody to read and download, and to copy and disseminate for non-commercial purposes provided appropriate credit is given, a link is provided to the license, and any changes made are clearly indicated.