About the Series
Cultural Zoology is a peer-reviewed annual book series that explores human–animal relations through interdisciplinary perspectives in philosophy, cultural studies, biology, and other sciences. Each volume is thematically focused and based on the annual conference Days of animal STudies, yet the series functions as an independent, curated scholarly publication rather than a proceedings collection. The series follows the COPE Core Practices and adheres to their recommendations on peer review, authorship, and conflict of interest. The series is published in open access under a Creative Commons license, ensuring immediate and free availability of all content.
Aim and Scope
The Cultural Zoology book series is an annual, peer-reviewed scholarly publication that explores the complex and evolving relationships between humans and other animals across disciplines, cultures, and historical contexts. Each volume corresponds to the annual conference Days of animal STudies, yet the series is not a conventional collection of conference proceedings. Rather, it offers a carefully curated selection of original, double-blind reviewed papers that engage deeply with the central theme of each year’s conference – a single animal species – examined from diverse scientific, philosophical, and cultural perspectives. It may include papers that are not presented at the conference.
The series draws upon the broad field of Animal Studies, while also acknowledging its local intellectual roots in the pioneering work of Nikola Visković, who in the early 1990s formulated the concept of cultural zoology (originally named kulturna zoologija and kulturna animalistika) as a transdisciplinary approach to the study of animals within human societies, symbolic systems, and moral imagination. Building on this foundation, the series seeks to foster dialogue between the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, and to contribute to an integrated understanding of animal life as both biological and cultural reality.
By combining rigorous peer review with thematic focus, the Cultural Zoology volumes aim to advance interdisciplinary research, support emerging scholars, and provide a lasting academic record of innovative thought in the growing field of Animal Studies.
Publishers
University of Split, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences – Centre for Integrative Bioethics / Association “Petit Philosophy”
The publishers provide technical and administrative support but have no influence on editorial decisions.
ISSN
To be assigned.
Open Access Policy
All volumes of the Cultural Zoology book series will be published in open access. The full texts of all chapters will be freely available online immediately upon publication, without subscription or access restrictions. Authors retain copyright of their work and grant the publisher the right of first publication under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. No article processing charges (APCs) or submission fees are required. The series follows the principles of open scholarship and aims to make research in Animal Studies widely accessible to scholars, educators, and the public.
Archiving and Indexing Policy
All volumes of the Cultural Zoology series will be digitally archived in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Split institutional repository and assigned DOI identifiers for each individual chapter. Metadata will be registered with Crossref to ensure persistent access and citation tracking.
Editors-in-Chief
Bruno Ćurko & Josip Guć
Editorial Board
Bruno Ćurko
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Split, Croatia
Josip Guć
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Split, Croatia
Suzana Marjanić
Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies, Zagreb, Croatia
Csaba Mészáros
ELTE Research Centre for the Humanities, Institute of Ethnology, Budapest, Hungary
Tomislav Nedić
Faculty of Law, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Croatia
Catrinel Popa
Department of Literary Studies, University of Bucharest, Romania
Reingard Spannring
Institute for Educational Science, University of Innsbruck, Austria
Editorial Independence and Conflict of Interest Policy
The Cultural Zoology book series upholds the principles of editorial independence and academic integrity. All editorial decisions are made solely based on the scholarly merit of submissions, without influence from authors, sponsors, or institutional affiliations.
1. Editorial Independence
The Editorial Board operates autonomously in evaluating and selecting manuscripts. Editors and reviewers are expected to maintain impartiality and confidentiality throughout the review and publication process. No external organization, including the organizing body of the Days of animal STudies conference, may influence the editorial decision-making process.
2. Submissions by Editorial Board Members
Members of the Editorial Board are permitted to submit their own scholarly work to the series. Such submissions are subject to the same double-blind peer review procedure as all other manuscripts. To ensure impartiality, any submission authored (or co-authored) by an Editorial Board member is handled by another editor with no conflict of interest. Board members are excluded from all decision-making regarding their own submissions.
3. Review Process and Conflicts of Interest
All manuscripts undergo double-blind peer review by at least two independent reviewers. Editorial Board members may serve as reviewers when appropriate, provided there is no conflict of interest with the author(s) or their institution(s). Conflicts of interest include, but are not limited to, personal relationships, recent collaborations, or shared institutional affiliations within the past three years.
4. Transparency and Ethical Standards
The series adheres to the ethical standards recommended by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Any potential conflicts of interest, funding sources, or affiliations that may influence the research or its interpretation must be disclosed by authors during submission. If conflicts arise during the editorial process, they are resolved by assigning an alternative handling editor or external advisor.
5. Statement of Responsibility
The Cultural Zoology Editorial Board is collectively responsible for ensuring that the review and publication processes remain fair, unbiased, and transparent. The publisher and conference organizers respect the Board’s independence and do not interfere with editorial decisions.
Editorial and Peer Review Policy
The Cultural Zoology book series follows a transparent, multi-stage editorial and peer review process designed to ensure scholarly quality, ethical integrity, and thematic relevance of all published work.
1. Initial Editorial Screening
All submissions are first assessed by the Editors-in-Chief and the Editorial Board to determine: the thematic relevance of the manuscript to the volume’s focus and to the overall scope of the series, adherence to the Guidelines for Authors, including format, referencing style, and ethical standards, and basic standards of academic quality, originality, and clarity. Manuscripts that do not meet these criteria may be returned to the authors without external review.
2. Assignment to Reviewers
Manuscripts that pass the initial screening are sent for double-blind peer review. Reviewers are selected based on subject expertise and research experience, and are proposed by members of the Editorial Board. Each manuscript is reviewed by at least two independent reviewers, external to the author’s institution whenever possible. All reviewers are required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest before accepting a review assignment.
3. Editorial Evaluation of Reviews
Upon receiving the review reports, the Editors-in-Chief and relevant members of the Editorial Board evaluate: the consistency and validity of the reviewers’ comments, the need for clarification or mediation between differing opinions, and the overall scholarly contribution of the manuscript. Authors receive anonymized reviewer comments along with editorial guidance on how to address the feedback in their revisions.
4. Revision and Re-Review
Revised manuscripts are reassessed by the editors, and, if requested by the reviewers, sent again for re-evaluation. Authors are expected to provide a detailed response to reviewers outlining how each comment has been addressed. This stage continues until the editors are satisfied that the manuscript meets the required standards of the series in terms of content, structure, and academic integrity.
5. Final Editorial Decision
The final decision regarding acceptance, further revision, or rejection rests with the Editors-in-Chief in consultation with the Editorial Board. Decisions are made collectively and based solely on academic merit, reviewer feedback, and the manuscript’s alignment with the aims of the series and the specific annual theme. Accepted manuscripts are subject to standard editorial and linguistic review before publication.
6. Transparency and Record-Keeping
All editorial and peer review communications are documented and archived confidentially. The series ensures that each decision is traceable and supported by reviewer reports and editorial deliberations, in line with COPE and Scopus standards of editorial transparency.
7. Ethical Oversight
If any ethical concerns (e.g., plagiarism, duplicate submission, authorship disputes) arise during the editorial process, they are handled in accordance with the COPE Guidelines on Publication Ethics. In such cases, the editorial team may seek advice from external advisors or institutional ethics committees.
Author Guidelines
The Cultural Zoology book series welcomes original, unpublished manuscripts that address topics within the interdisciplinary field of Animal Studies and are relevant to the annual theme of the series.
Full papers should be 4,000–12,000 words long, while abstracts should be 100–250 words long and include 5–10 keywords. Main text should be divided into sections as appropriate. The required citation style for references is Chicago Author-Date.
All manuscripts undergo double-blind peer review by at least two independent reviewers. Authors may be asked to revise their papers in accordance with reviewer feedback. Manuscripts must be original, not under consideration elsewhere, and free of plagiarism. Authors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest.
The series is published in open access under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Authors retain copyright of their work.
Categorisation
All submissions must demonstrate scholarly rigor and relevance to the field of Animal Studies and undergo double-blind peer review. The Cultural Zoology book series accepts manuscripts in the following categories:
1. Original Research Article
Original papers presenting new empirical, theoretical, or methodological research that contributes substantially to knowledge in the field of Animal Studies.
2. Review Article
Comprehensive and critical evaluations of existing literature relevant to a specific topic within Animal Studies. These papers should identify trends, gaps, and future research directions, offering a coherent synthesis rather than a mere summary of sources.
3. Preliminary Report / Short Communication
Brief or longer reports of ongoing or early-stage research that provides significant new findings, innovative methods, or conceptual insights.
4. Professional or Theoretical Paper
Contributions that develop conceptual, theoretical, or practice-oriented analyses relevant to the field of Animal Studies. Such papers must be scholarly in nature, include appropriate references, and demonstrate critical engagement with existing research. All professional papers are subject to the same double-blind peer review as research articles.
Occasional editorials, interviews, or position papers may be published at the invitation of the editorial board. Such contributions are clearly marked and are not subject to peer review.
All manuscripts must be written in clear academic English and follow the author guidelines provided by the editorial board. Submissions that do not meet formal or ethical standards (plagiarism, duplicate submission, lack of referencing) will not be considered for review.
Submission and Contact
Manuscripts should be submitted in Word format (.docx). No submission or publication fees are charged. Submissions and correspondence should be sent to:
Josip Guć, Editor-in-Chief, Cultural Zoology book series
E-mail: jguc@ffst.hr (official address for submissions)