The American Naturalist is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1867. It is published by the University of Chicago Press on behalf of the American Society of Naturalists. The journal covers research in ecology, evolutionary biology, population, and integrative biology. As of 2013, the editor-in-chief is Judith L Bronstein. According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2011 impact factor of 4.736, ranking it 21st out of 131 journals in the category "Ecology" and 10th out of 45 journals in the category "Evolutionary Biology".
History
The journal was founded by Alpheus Hyatt, Edward S. Morse, Alpheus S. Packard Jr., and Frederick W. Putnam at the Essex Institute in Salem, Massachusetts; the first issue appeared in print in 1867. In 1878 the journal was for sale and Edward Cope bought half the rights. He moved the journal to Philadelphia and arranged to edit it jointly with Professor Alpheus S. Packard Jr. Cope became editor-in-chief in 1887 and continued in that capacity until his death in 1897. In 1897, a group of professors from M.I.T., Harvard, and Tufts bought the rights from the Cope estate and kept the journal in publication until 1907 when J. McKeen Cattell acquired control. Cattell's son Jacques became co-editor and publisher with his father in 1939. Although the ASN became increasingly involved in editing The American Naturalist through changes in 1941 and 1951, the journal remained with the Cattell family until 1968, when the University of Chicago Press took it over after Jacques Cattell's death.
References
External links
- Official website
- Archive Records of the American Society of Naturalists (1884) containing out of copyright issues of The American Naturalist and other records of the society
