''The American Naturalist'' is the monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal of the

American Society of Naturalists The American Society of Naturalists was founded in 1883 and is one of the oldest professional societies dedicated to the biological sciences in North America. The purpose of the Society is "to advance and diffuse knowledge of organic evolution and o ...

, whose purpose is "to advance and to diffuse knowledge of organic evolution and other broad biological principles so as to enhance the conceptual unification of the biological sciences." It was established in 1867 and is published by the

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including ''The Chicago Manual of Style'', ...

. The journal covers research in

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...

evolutionary biology Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes ( natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life ...

, population, and integrative

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

. , the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

is Daniel I. Bolnick. According to the ''

Journal Citation Reports ''Journal Citation Reports'' (''JCR'') is an annual publicationby Clarivate Analytics (previously the intellectual property of Thomson Reuters). It has been integrated with the Web of Science and is accessed from the Web of Science-Core Collec ...

'', the journal had a 2020

impact factor The impact factor (IF) or journal impact factor (JIF) of an academic journal is a scientometric index calculated by Clarivate that reflects the yearly mean number of citations of articles published in the last two years in a given journal, as ...

of 3.926.

History

The journal was founded by Alpheus Hyatt,

Edward S. Morse Edward Sylvester Morse (June 18, 1838 – December 20, 1925) was an American zoologist, archaeologist, and oriental studies, orientalist. He is considered the "Father of Japanese archaeology." Early life Morse was born in Portland, Maine, ...

, Alpheus S. Packard Jr., and Frederick W. Putnam at the

Essex Institute The Essex Institute (1848–1992) in Salem, Massachusetts, was "a literary, historical and scientific society." It maintained a museum, library, historic houses; arranged educational programs; and issued numerous scholarly publications. In 1992 th ...

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...

. The first issue appeared in print dated March 1867."American Naturalist," in International Magazine Co., ''Periodicals,'' vol. 1, no. 1 (October-December 1917), pg. 5. 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 Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning ...

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

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:American Naturalist, The 1867 establishments Academic journals associated with learned and professional societies of the United States Biology journals Ecology journals English-language journals Monthly journals Publications established in 1867 University of Chicago Press academic journals