Best Animal Science and Zoology Journals (2026)
Paste your title and abstract to get 5 realistic matches from verified biomedical journals — every publisher, no predatory journals, and your abstract is never stored.
Type your field and pick it to see the top-ranked journals — every journal listed is indexed in PubMed, DOAJ, or a curated core source list.
Top Animal Science and Zoology journals
| # | Journal | h-index | Citations/paper (2 yr) | Tier | Access | Indexed in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology/Journal of animal science and biotechnology BioMed Central | 108 | 7.09 | Leading field journal | Open access · APC $2,590 | PubMed · DOAJ · Core |
| 2 | Meat Science Elsevier BV | 245 | 5.91 | Leading field journal | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 3 | animal Elsevier BV | 143 | 3.95 | Leading field journal | Open access · APC $1,810 | PubMed · DOAJ · Core |
| 4 | Poultry Science Elsevier BV | 229 | 3.89 | Leading field journal | Open access · APC $2,000 | PubMed · DOAJ · Core |
| 5 | Animals Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute | 136 | 3.11 | Solid specialist | Open access · APC $2,004 | PubMed · DOAJ · Core |
| 6 | Frontiers in Veterinary Science Frontiers Media | 122 | 2.69 | Solid specialist | Open access · APC $3,295 | PubMed · DOAJ · Core |
| 7 | World s Poultry Science Journal Taylor & Francis | 125 | 2.26 | Solid specialist | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 8 | Avian Pathology Taylor & Francis | 122 | 2.2 | Solid specialist | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 9 | Livestock Science Elsevier BV | 121 | 1.92 | Solid specialist | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 10 | The Journal of Applied Poultry Research Elsevier BV | 97 | 1.86 | Solid specialist | Open access · APC $2,000 | PubMed · DOAJ · Core |
| 11 | Research in Veterinary Science Elsevier BV | 129 | 1.78 | Solid specialist | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 12 | British Poultry Science Taylor & Francis | 139 | 1.74 | Accessible & legitimate | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 13 | Canadian Journal of Animal Science Canadian Science Publishing | 103 | 1.15 | Accessible & legitimate | Subscription | Core |
| 14 | Australian Veterinary Journal Wiley | 125 | 1.02 | Accessible & legitimate | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 15 | Avian Diseases American Association of Avian Pathologists | 126 | 0.93 | Accessible & legitimate | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 16 | Journal of Animal Science Oxford University Press | 269 | 0.85 | Leading field journal | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 17 | Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies | 105 | 0 | Accessible & legitimate | Open access · APC $370 | PubMed · DOAJ · Core |
Frequently asked questions
How does the journal finder work?+
You paste your title and abstract; an AI model classifies the paper into biomedical subfields and honestly assesses its scope, then ranks a shortlist of verified journals from our dataset of 2,600+ biomedical journals. Every metric shown comes from the dataset — the AI can never invent a journal or a number.
Is it free?+
Yes — free, no signup, no hidden trial. There's a fair-use limit of 15 matches per day. Browsing ranked journals by field is unlimited.
How is this different from JANE or the Elsevier Journal Finder?+
Publisher tools like Elsevier's, Springer's, or Wiley's finders only recommend their own journals. JANE is cross-publisher but hasn't changed since 2007 and can surface journals of unverified quality from PubMed. This finder is cross-publisher, only shows journals verified in trusted indexes, and calibrates recommendations to your paper's realistic tier.
How do you keep predatory journals out?+
By construction: every journal in our dataset must be indexed in DOAJ, PubMed, or a curated core source list, with a real citation record. Journals with no verified quality signals simply never appear — we don't maintain accusatory blacklists.
Is my abstract stored or used to train AI?+
No. Your abstract is processed to generate recommendations and is not stored, logged, or used for model training. We know unpublished work is sensitive.
Which fields are covered?+
All of biomedicine and the life sciences: 38 subfields from molecular biology, immunology, and oncology to public health, pharmacology, neuroscience, plant science, and veterinary medicine.
Why don't you show impact factors?+
The Journal Impact Factor is proprietary to Clarivate and requires a paid license. We show open, verifiable alternatives instead: h-index and 2-year citations per paper from OpenAlex, plus each journal's percentile within its own field — which is more informative for comparing journals in the same specialty.
Where does the data come from?+
From open, verifiable sources: OpenAlex (CC0) for citation metrics, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's PubMed journal list, and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Publishing in the wrong venue has real consequences — in 2019 a U.S. federal court ordered the publisher OMICS Group to pay $50.1 million for deceptive peer-review claims. When in doubt about any journal, use the Think. Check. Submit. checklist at thinkchecksubmit.org.
How do I find top-quartile journals in my field?+
Use the browse section: pick your subfield and the table ranks journals by 2-year citations per paper. Tier 1–2 journals roughly correspond to the top quartile of a field. Each row shows open-access status, publication fees (APC), and which trusted indexes list the journal.
See the actual papers these journals publish
Waffoo Search runs AI-powered literature discovery across 30+ biomedical databases — free.
Try Waffoo SearchData: OpenAlex (CC0) · U.S. National Library of Medicine · DOAJ. Quality signals are informational, refreshed periodically, and are not an endorsement or judgment about any journal; no endorsement by NLM/NIH is implied. Spotted an error? Contact us and we'll review it.