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Editors-in-Chief
Mariska E. Kret, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Brian D. Wisenden, Minnesota State University Moorhead, MN, USA

Honorary Editor
Frans B.M. de Waal (†)

Associate Editors
Carl D. Anthony, John Carroll University, University Heights, OH, USA
Marcela E. Benítez, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
Claudio Carere, University of Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy
Zhan-Qi Chen, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, China
Ethan Clotfelter, Amherst College, MA, USA
Gilles De Meester, University of Antwerp, Belgium
Mylene Dutour, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
Maud Ferrari, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
Pier Francesco Ferrari, University of Parma, Italy
Barbara Galletti Vernazzani, Cetacean Conservation Centre, Santiago, Chile
Daniel González Tokman, Instituto de Ecología, A.C, Xalapa, Ver, México
Yuko Hattori, Kyoto University, Japan
Jens Herberholz, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
Carri-Ann Hickerson, John Carroll University, University Heights, OH, USA
Rui Jia, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China
Igor Kaefer, Federal University of Amazonas, Manaus, Brazil
Clint Kelly, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada
Stefan Leitner, Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, Seewiesen, Germany
Lars Lewejohann, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
Sean Mahoney, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
Yoko Mitani, Kyoto University, Japan
Himani Nautiyal, Howard University, Washington, DC, USA
Elisabetta Palagi, University of Pisa, Italy
Adam Reddon, Liverpool John Moores University, UK
Matthew Reudink, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC, Canada
Tom S. Roth, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Anne Russon, Glendon College of York University, Toronto, ON, Canada
Tasmin Rymer, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
Iliana Samara, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Cecile Sarabian, Swansea University, UK
Bruce A. Schulte, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
Fadao Tai, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China
I-Min Tso, Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan
Max van Duijn, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Craig Willis, The University of Winnipeg, Canada
Alexander Wilson, University of Plymouth, UK

Reviews Editor
Mariska E. Kret, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Special Issue Ideas: We encourage you to send any ideas, focused on a particular subject, to Editor-in-Chief Brian Wisenden. Full information here.

2nd Special Issue dedicated to the legacy of Frans de Waal (1948–2024), which celebrates his enduring impact on the fields of ethology, primatology, and comparative psychology. Full details here

Special Issue on “Minds of the Deep: New Frontiers in Cephalopod Behavior Research”, guest edited by Tamar Gutnick, Michael J. Kuba, and Elisabetta Palagi. Full details here

Special Issue on “Emotions and Social Behaviour: Integrating Human, Animal, and Artificial Perspectives”, guest edited by Fabiola Diana. Full details here

Special Issue on “Maternal Behaviour, Mother-Young and Sibling Relations in the Felidae. Commonalities and Contrasts”, guest edited by Anastasia L. Antonevich, Robyn E. Hudson and Rodrigo Serra. Full details here
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Podcast (in Dutch) on the life and work of Frans de Waal, past Editor-in-Chief of Behaviour

 

Frans de Waal PhD Dissertation Prize Announcement (2026)

Winners of the Frans de Waal PhD Dissertation Prize

  • 2026 – Zoë Goldsborough, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
    PhD thesis: Cracking Capuchins: Investigating stone tool use by white-faced capuchin monkeys using camera traps
  • 2025 – Tom Roth, Utrecht University
    PhD thesis: Tinder for orang-utans

Speakers at the Frans de Waal Honorary Lecture

  • 2026 – Elisabetta Palagi, University of Pisa
  • 2025 – Zanna Clay, Durham University

The Behaviour agenda lists conferences, symposia, workshops, courses and other interesting events over the world.

 

2026  
1-4 September European Conference for Behavioural Biology (ECBB) 2026, Cambridge, UK

Behaviour

Editors-in-Chief:
Mariska E. Kret
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Brian Wisenden
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2024 Impact Factor: 1
5 Year Impact Factor: 1,3

Behaviour publishes all aspects of behavior, spanning ecology, psychology, (neuro)physiology, learning, cognition, and emotion. We welcome contributions on all animal species, including humans, as well as studies on artificial forms of behavior (AI, robotics) and plant signaling behavior. Behaviour has a long tradition of publishing systematic observations of spontaneous behavior, but also welcomes submissions describing well-controlled laboratory experiments or computational models of behavior or its evolution.

Evolutionary approaches, which focus on potential fitness benefits of behavior or cognitive capacities for organisms, are emphasized both at a theoretical level and in relation to specific behaviors. We welcome research articles, reviews, commentary/reflection/opinion, and reports on anecdotes and interesting new hypotheses focusing on behavior. We encourage, and provide editorial support for, authors who collaborate to create a special Issue that brings together multiple perspectives around a common theme to stimulate new research directions in emerging subfields.

Behaviour was founded by Nobel Prize winner Niko Tinbergen together with W. H. Thorpe, in 1948. In his classic 1963 paper—dedicated to the 60th birthday of that other animal behavior Nobelist, Konrad Lorenz—Tinbergen proposed that questions relating to why an animal behaves in a particular way can be viewed through four lenses. At the proximate level, there is 1) the causation of behavior (internal physiological and anatomical mechanisms, external abiotic and biotic stimuli) underlying motivation, cognition, and emotions), and 2) the behavior's ontogeny, such as how it develops or is acquired, including gene by environment interactions that shape behavioral phenotypes. At the ultimate level, there is 3) the behavior's survival value (habitat selection, acquisition of food, avoiding predators, finding a mate, caring for offspring), and 4) its evolution and phylogeny. Behaviour seeks to cover all four lenses equally.

The study of behavior remains vibrant and increasingly diverse with contributions from talented scientists from multiple disciplines reporting their findings in Behaviour to a wide range of researchers.

The editorial board of Behaviour wishes to state unequivocally that it is not our policy to influence the Impact Factor in any way that could be regarded unethical.
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