About this journal
Aims and scope
Please note that Annals of Human Biology converted to a full Open Access journal from Volume 50 (2023). Previous volumes will continue to provide access through a Pay to Read model.
Annals of Human Biology is an international, open access peer-reviewed journal. The journal reports investigations on the nature, development and causes of human variation, embracing the disciplines of human growth and development, human genetics, physical and biological anthropology, demography, environmental physiology, ecology, epidemiology and global health and ageing research. The main audience for the Annals are human biologists, anthropologists and population geneticists but the journal also has a wide, international readership including epidemiologists, paediatricians, gerontologists, physiologists and public health workers.
We encourage research papers using approaches and methods that have been developed in human biology and that are of direct relevance to diagnosis, management, and treatement of diseases and disorders.
The journal welcomes submissions in the following sections:
Human Biology Research Methods includes the presentation and discussion of new or modified methods of research design, data collection and storage, statistical analysis, and illustration and presentation of data relating to all aspects of human biology.
Human Environmental Biology includes research on the origins, functions, relationships, interactions, and natural history of living human populations, communities, and ecosystems in relation to dynamic environmental processes.
Human Epidemiology includes research into the distribution and determinants of diseases and health-related outcomes in specified human populations, and the application of this study to the control of health problems relating to communities, societies, nations, and global populations.
Human Exercise Science focuses on an individual's response and adaptation to exercise and the underlying mechanisms that affect exercise such as age, sex or gender, race or ethnicity, health status or conditions, as well as factors such as training regimes.
Human Genetics including research on genomics, population genetics, gene expression and regulation, ancient DNA analyses and forensic genetics, DNA methylation and epigenetics, human evolutionary genetics, biogeographical ancestry, new bioinformatics tools for genomics and databases, variability of genes under selective pressures and human adaptation. Purely clinical papers, pharmacological trials, or even simple case-control analyses, without an evolutionary framework or environmental relationship will not be considered.
Human Growth & Development includes research relating to human growth and development from conception to adulthood; environmental/social factors affecting growth from fetal life to maturity; pubertal development; skeletal maturity; research methods pertaining to measurement and analysis of growth and development traits.
Human Infectious Diseases & Immunology includes research on the biology, prevention or control of infectious diseases in humans, immunology, molecular biology, virology, bacteriology, parasitology, and mycology.
Human Metabolism & Physiology includes research on human energetics, homeostasis, cellular respiration, ventilation, circulation, digestion, immune activity, stress response, and the physiological basis of adaptation to challenging environmental conditions.
Human Microbiome & Metabolome includes research on the gut microbe taxonomic structure and metabolic function.
Human Morphology includes research into the study of the structure of the human body in connection with its development and function through human anatomy, embryology, and histology.
Human Neuroscience includes research on the brain mechanisms supporting cognitive and social behaviour in both healthy and diseased states; the nervous system in all its aspects: how it is structured, how it works, how it develops, how it malfunctions, and how it can be changed.
Human Nutrition & Lifestyle embraces research relating to human nutrition from conception to old age. This includes principles of human nutrition, biomarkers of nutritional status, dietary assessment and diet quality, reference values, and contemporary issues in nutrition and lifestyle, such as breastfeeding, energy expenditure, socioecological determinants of nutritional status, nutritional needs according to lifestage (e.g., infancy, adolescence), eating behavior, global nutritional issues, the importance of nutritional intake for health and well-being, and the evolution of human diet.
Human Origins & Survival includes research relating to human evolution and adaptation, phylogeny, anatomical variation, paleoanthropological methods of identification and species assignation, age and maturity assessment from fossil remains, and fossil site use.
Human Population Biology is the study of living human beings as aggregate units. It is a transdisciplinary science and includes (among many other things) research on secular trends, geographical and spatial variation, seasonality and climate effects, ethnic and socio-cultural differences, and the consequences of war and displacement.
Peer Review Policy :All research articles in this journal have undergone rigorous peer review, based on initial editor screening and double anonymous peer review.
Please note, from 2023 the Print ISSN is not in active use as this journal is no longer published in print.
Journal metrics
Usage
- 120K annual downloads/views
Citation metrics
- 1.2 (2023) Impact Factor
- Q2 Impact Factor Best Quartile
- 1.8 (2023) 5 year IF
- 3.4 (2023) CiteScore (Scopus)
- Q2 CiteScore Best Quartile
- 0.647 (2023) SNIP
- 0.519 (2023) SJR
Speed/acceptance
- 44 days avg. from submission to first decision
- 66 days avg. from submission to first post-review decision
- 33 days avg. from acceptance to online publication
- 27% acceptance rate
Understanding and using journal metrics
Journal metrics can be a useful tool for readers, as well as for authors who are deciding where to submit their next manuscript for publication. However, any one metric only tells a part of the story of a journal’s quality and impact. Each metric has its limitations which means that it should never be considered in isolation, and metrics should be used to support and not replace qualitative review.
We strongly recommend that you always use a number of metrics, alongside other qualitative factors such as a journal’s aims & scope, its readership, and a review of past content published in the journal. In addition, a single article should always be assessed on its own merits and never based on the metrics of the journal it was published in.
For more details, please read the Author Services guide to understanding journal metrics.
Journal metrics in brief
Usage and acceptance rate data above are for the last full calendar year and are updated annually in February. Speed data is updated every six months, based on the prior six months. Citation metrics are updated annually mid-year. Please note that some journals do not display all of the following metrics (find out why).
- Usage: the total number of times articles in the journal were viewed by users of Taylor & Francis Online in the previous calendar year, rounded to the nearest thousand.
Citation Metrics
- Impact Factor*: the average number of citations received by articles published in the journal within a two-year window. Only journals in the Clarivate Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI) and the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) have an Impact Factor.
- Impact Factor Best Quartile*: the journal’s highest subject category ranking in the Journal Citation Reports. Q1 = 25% of journals with the highest Impact Factors.
- 5 Year Impact Factor*: the average number of citations received by articles in the journal within a five-year window.
- CiteScore (Scopus)†: the average number of citations received by articles in the journal over a four-year period.
- CiteScore Best Quartile†: the journal’s highest CiteScore ranking in a Scopus subject category. Q1 = 25% of journals with the highest CiteScores.
- SNIP (Source Normalized Impact per Paper): the number of citations per paper in the journal, divided by citation potential in the field.
- SJR (Scimago Journal Rank): Average number of (weighted) citations in one year, divided by the number of articles published in the journal in the previous three years.
Speed/acceptance
- From submission to first decision: the average (median) number of days for a manuscript submitted to the journal to receive a first decision. Based on manuscripts receiving a first decision in the last six months.
- From submission to first post-review decision: the average (median) number of days for a manuscript submitted to the journal to receive a first decision if it is sent out for peer review. Based on manuscripts receiving a post-review first decision in the last six months.
- From acceptance to online publication: the average (median) number of days from acceptance of a manuscript to online publication of the Version of Record. Based on articles published in the last six months.
- Acceptance rate: articles accepted for publication by the journal in the previous calendar year as percentage of all papers receiving a final decision.
For more details on the data above, please read the Author Services guide to understanding journal metrics.
*Copyright: Journal Citation Reports®, Clarivate Analytics
†Copyright: CiteScore™, Scopus
Editorial board
Editor-in-Chief:
Noël Cameron - School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, UK
Managing Editor:
Rachel Deevey - UK
Jump to section
Annals of Human Biology publishes across 14 areas of human biology. Each section is led by a Section Editor and is supported by an Editorial Board, as listed below.
- Human Biology Research Methods
- Human Environmental Biology
- Human Epidemiology
- Human Exercise Science
- Human Genetics
- Human Growth & Development
- Human Infectious Diseases & Immunology
- Human Metabolism & Physiology
- Human Microbiome & Metabolome
- Human Morphology
- Human Neuroscience
- Human Nutrition & Lifestyle
- Human Origins & Survival
- Human Population Biology
Human Biology Research Methods
Section Editor
Daniel Hoffman PhD, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, USA
Editorial Board
Tim Cole, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, UK
Veronica Lopez Teros, Universidad de Sonora, Mexico
Human Environmental Biology
Section Editor
Lawrence Schell PhD, School of Public Health, University at Albany, State University of New York, USA
Editorial Board
Stefan Czerwinski, Ohio State University, USA
Morgan Hoke, University of North Carolina, USA
Elizabeth Holdsworth, Ohio State University, USA
Bert B. Little, University of Louisville, USA
Barbara Piperata, The Ohio State University, USA
Janina Tutkuviene, Vilnius University, Lithuania
Human Epidemiology
Section Editor
Rebecca Hardy PhD, School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, UK
Editorial Board
Julia Goedecke, South African Medical Research Council, South Africa
Emily Petherick, Loughborough University, UK
Qian Song, University of Massachusetts, USA
Human Exercise Science
Section Editor
Sarah Moore PhD, School of Health and Human Performance, Dalhousie University, Canada
Editorial Board
Katherine Brooke-Wavell, Loughborough University, UK
Silvia Costa, Loughborough University, UK
Leigh Gabel, University of Calgary, Canada
Jonathan Mitchell, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, USA
Human Genetics (including Genomics, Gene Expression & Regulation)
Section Editor
Donata Luiselli PhD, Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Italy
Editorial Board
Eduardo Arroyo, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain
Rosario Calderon, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain
Elisabetta Cilli, University of Bologna, Italy
Bianca Maria Ciminelli, Università di Roma “Tor Vergata”, Italy
Esther Esteban, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain
Cristina Martinez-Labarga, Università di Roma “Tor Vergata”, Italy
Sarabjit Mastana, Loughborough University, UK
Claudio Ottoni, Università di Roma “Tor Vergata”, Italy
Olga Rickards, Università di Roma “Tor Vergata”, Italy
Gabriele Scorrano, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Chuanchao Wang, Xiamen University, China
Human Growth & Development
Section Editor
Ellen Demerath PhD, School of Public Health Directory, University of Minnesota, USA
Editorial Board
Tim Cole, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, UK
Nicola Hawley, Yale University, USA
Pablo Nepomnaschy, Simon Fraser University, Canada
Alejandra Núñez-de la Mora, Universidad Veracruzana, Mexico
Amanda Thompson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
Human Infectious Diseases & Immunology
Section Editor
Emily Rousham PhD, School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, UK
Editorial Board
Aaron Blackwell, Washington State University, USA
Tara Cepon-Robins, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, USA
Human Metabolism & Physiology
Section Editor
Samuel Urlacher PhD, Department of Anthropology, Baylor University, USA
Editorial Board
Annie Caldwell, University of Colorado
Theresa Gildner, Washington University in St Louis, USA
Danny Longman, Loughborough University, UK
Pablo Nepomnaschy, Simon Fraser University, Canada
Cara Ocobock, University of Notre Dame
Human Microbiome & Metabolome
Section Editor
Carla Tadei PhD, Department of Clinical Analyses and Toxicology, University of São Paulo, Brazil
Editorial Board
Ramon Cortez de Godoy, University of Calgary, Canada
Human Morphology
Section Editor
Adam Baxter-Jones PhD, College of Kinesiology, University of Saskatchewan, Canada
Editorial Board
Katherine Brooke-Wavell, Loughborough University, UK
Eduardo Guimaraes, University of Porto, Portugal
Helen Liversidge, Queen Mary University, UK
Patrick Mahoney, University of Kent, UK
Human Neuroscience
Section Editor
Marcello D'Amelio PhD, Molecular Neuroscience Lab, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation and University Campus Bio-Medico Di Roma, Italy
Editorial Board
Marco Feligioni, European Brain Research Institute, Italy
Paraskevi Krashia, Università Campus Bio-Medico of Rome, Italy
Emanuele Claudio Latagliata, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Italy
Roberto De Luca, BIDMC, Harvard Medical School, USA
Maria Teresa Viscomi, Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy
Giorgio Vivacqua, University of Cambridge, UK
Human Nutrition & Lifestyle
Section Editor
Babette Zemel PhD, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, USA
Editorial Board
Kaushik Bose, Vidyasagar University, India
Julia Goedecke, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa
Paula Griffiths, Loughborough University, UK
Nicola Hawley, Yale University, USA
Alejandra Núñez-de la Mora, Universidad Veracruzana, Mexico
Barbara Piperata, The Ohio State University, USA
Amanda Thompson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
Human Origins & Survival
Section Editor
Debra Bolter PhD, Behavioral & Social Science, Modesto Junior College, USA
Editorial Board
Julia Boughner, University of Saskatchewan, Canada
Angeline Leece, La Trobe University, Australia
Patrick Mahoney, University of Kent, UK
Keneiloe Molopyane, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa
Human Population Biology
Section Editor
Will Johnson PhD, School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, UK
Editorial Board
Rosario Calderon, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain
Esther Esteban, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain
Monika Krzyzanowska, University of Wrocław, Poland
Chris Kuzawa, Northwestern University, USA
Sarabjit Mastana, Loughborough University, UK
Updated: 20-04-2023
Abstracting and indexing
Annals of Human Biology is included in the following abstracting and indexing services:
Anthropological Index Online; BIOBASE/Current Awareness in Biological Sciences; BIOSIS; Current Contents: Life Sciences; DOAJ; Ergonomics Abstracts; GEO Abstracts/GEOBASE; Index Medicus/Medline; Research Alert; Scopus; Social Sciences Citation Index; Science Citation Index; Uncover.
Open access
Annals of Human Biology is an open access journal and only publishes open access articles. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership, and impact of your research.
Why choose open access?
- Increase the discoverability and readership of your article
- Make an impact and reach new readers, not just those with easy access to a research library
- Freely share your work with anyone, anywhere
- Comply with funding mandates and meet the requirements of your institution, employer or funder
- Rigorous peer review for every open access article
Article Publishing Charges (APC)
To publish open access in this journal you may be asked to pay an Article Publishing Charge (APC). You may be able to publish your article at no cost to yourself or with a reduced APC if your institution or research funder has an open access agreement or membership with Taylor & Francis. Discounts and waivers may also be available for researchers in selected countries when publishing in open access journals.
Use our APC finder to calculate your article publishing charge
Calls for papers
Society information
The Society for the Study of Human Biology (SSHB) is a learned society whose objectives are the general advancement and promotion of research in the biology of human populations in all its branches, including human variability and genetics, human adaptability and ecology, and human evolution. In particular, the Society holds meetings and symposia and arranges for the publication of symposia, of original research and other reports to advance its objectives. The Society for the Study of Human Biology is a full organisation member of the Royal Society of Biology – the leading professional body representing many of the learned societies and other organisations making up the diverse landscape of the biological sciences, as well as thousands of individuals.
Continuous publication
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