New and Improved Scopus CiteScore and Impact Factor for Vertebrate Zoology

The 2025 Scopus CiteScore for Vertebrate Zoology has been released, reporting an improved value of 5.7, up from 5.0 the previous year. The journal is ranked in Q1 for both of its indexed categories: Animal Science and Zoology, reaching the 92nd percentile, and Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, reaching the 85th percentile.

In addition, the journal's 2025 Journal Impact Factor has improved from 2.3 to 3.2, and is ranked in Q1 for Zoology (Web of Science).

Traditionally announced in June, the Scopus CiteScore is a dynamic academic metric that reflects the citation rate of the content published in a particular journal over a past period. A Scopus CiteScore is estimated for each journal indexed in Scopus, the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature.

The CiteScore is derived by dividing the number of citations received over the past four full calendar years by the number of peer-reviewed publications published in that same timeframe. Only citations originating from other Scopus-indexed sources are included in the calculation. The Scopus CiteScore 2025 reflects data from 2022 to 2025.

Complementing this annual metric, Scopus also maintains the CiteScoreTracker, which offers a monthly update based on the same formula but incorporates citation data from the ongoing year. For Vertebrate Zoology, the current CiteScoreTracker draws on content published from 2023 through the latest complete month of 2026, offering a more immediate view of the journal's citation dynamics.

Meanwhile, the 2025 Journal Impact Factor, a key metric released by Clarivate, reflects the number of times content published in a specific journal during 2023 and 2024 was cited in the subsequent 2025. This total citation count is then divided by the number of “citable” articles (i.e., research and review articles) to estimate the JIF.

The latest Scopus CiteScore, CiteScoreTracker, and Impact Factor are automatically displayed on the journal website's homepage and in its newsletter.