Journal of Experimental Biology is the leading journal in comparative animal physiology and biomechanics. We cover a broad range of integrative, comparative, ecological and evolutionary physiology and biomechanics research in animals at all levels of biological organisation, from the molecular to the integrated whole animal.
Our authors and readers reflect a broad interdisciplinary group of scientists who study comparative biomechanics and molecular, cellular and organismal physiology in an evolutionary and environmental context.
SPECIAL ISSUE – Developmental Plasticity: From Mechanisms to Evolutionary Processes
This special issue aims to enlighten readers on many aspects of ‘developmental plasticity’ – i.e. how environmental conditions experienced during early life can shape how an animal grows and matures into an adult, with long-lasting impacts on form and function. The series of Review articles covers a rich diversity of taxa - from worms to dung beetles and lizards to mice - and raises pressing questions for further research in the areas of physiology and evolution. Read the Editorial by Guest Editors Pat Wright and Katie Gilmour
FREE online access to all articles.
Open Access publishing options
We recognise the benefits of Open Access publishing and, as one of the very first Transformative Journals, we offer several publishing options to all of our authors, whatever their funder or financial status.
Read more about the OA options we offer our authors.
The Forest of Biologists 
As part of a biodiversity initiative from The Company of Biologists, JEB plants a native tree in a UK forest for each published Research and Review article. We are also funding the restoration and preservation of ancient woodland and dedicating these trees to our peer reviewers. All of these trees are represented together in a virtual forest. Find out more about The Forest of Biologists.
Conversation
Extraordinary creatures: notothenioids and icefish
Christina Cheng and Kristin O'Brien tell us about the remarkable freeze tolerant nototheniods that live in the Southern Ocean and how icefish are the only adult vertebrates that survive without haemoglobin.
Find out more about the series on our Interviews page:
JEB@100
JEB celebrated 100 years of discovery in 2023 - hear the Editors' thoughts about the journal and the future of their fields.
In the field
JEB authors often go to the ends of the earth to answer the questions that intrigue them - read about their experiences in the field.
Early-career researchers
Read our interviews with early-career researchers and find out more about how JEB supports junior scientists
Featured articles
Editors' choice
Tiny Danionella cerebrum produce super-loud clicks by beating on their swim bladders with cartilage hammers; now, Antonia Groneberg and colleagues reveal how the hammers and drum system develops. In addition, even 6-week-old fish click at full speed, so they don't need to practice.
Reviews, Commentaries and Perspectives
Complexity in the timing of the first postnatal ecdysis in snakes by Harvey B. Lillywhite, Elliott R. Jacobson and Coleman M. Sheehy III
Organisms have gravity: taking an organism-centered approach in experimental biology by Molly C. Womack, Sarah McKay Strobel, Jackson R. Phillips... and Marvalee H. Wake
Ice in the intertidal: patterns and processes of freeze tolerance in intertidal invertebrates by Lauren T. Gill, Jessica R. Kennedy, Isaiah C. H. Box and Katie E. Marshall
100 years of discovery
Centenary activities
2023 marked the 100th anniversary of JEB.
See our Centenary webpage and the links below for information on how we marked this historic milestone.
- New funding initiatives to support junior faculty staff
- 100 Years of Discovery subject collection
- Commentary: Journey through the history of Journal of Experimental Biology: a timeline
- Commentary: Through the looking glass: attempting to predict future opportunities and challenges in experimental biology
- Centenary Articles: Commentaries, Reviews and Perspectives documenting the past, present and future of experimental biology
- Special issue: A Century of Comparative Biomechanics: Emerging and Historical Perspectives on an Interdisciplinary Field
- ECR Spotlight interviews
