About the Journal

History of the Journal, Reptiles & Amphibians

The journal has appeared in many forms over time, starting with Volume 1, number 1 in 1990 as the Iguana Times, the newsletter of the International Iguana Society. By 1995, (Volume 4) the Iguana Times had renamed itself as a “journal,” and in 2003 (Volume 10), it adopted the name Iguana. What had started as a few stapled and photocopied pages became a 24-page printed publication with color covers. With the demise of the International Iguana Society (IIS) in 2005 (Volume 12), publication of the journal was assumed by the International Reptile Conservation Foundation (IRCF) and it was renamed Iguana: Conservation, Natural History, and Husbandry of Reptiles to reflect its broader coverage of the reptilian world. Nurtured by the IRCF, the journal expanded to a 64-page full-color publication, which, in 2009 (Volume 16) took on its current name, Reptiles & Amphibians.

The journal in its printed format had always been part of a membership package, first with the IIS and later with the IRCF. Unfortunately, economic realities, manifesting themselves primarily as increased production costs, have taken R&A down a new path. Beginning in 2012 (Volume 19), Reptiles & Amphibians: Conservation and Natural History became a quarterly open-access online journal. Starting in 2023 (Volume 30) Reptiles & Amphibians moved to a rolling publication model.

Publication Frequency

As of 2023, Reptiles & Amphibians publishes manuscripts online on a rolling basis and has removed page numbers. Manuscripts will be published pending acceptance after peer-review and are usually available as a PDF on the journal website within 2–3 weeks of authors accepting the proofs sent by the editorial board. 

Copyright Notice

Copyright for articles in Reptiles & Amphibians is held by the authors. Articles in R&A are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. (CC-BY-NC 4.0) license.