Published: 2026-11-01 | Publisher: Future Journals — the official publishing platform of The Future Association
Life sciences research rarely fits in one box. A field study of animal behaviour raises genetic questions, a molecular result changes how a whole organism is understood, and a bioscience method developed in one laboratory becomes useful in clinics, farms and conservation programmes elsewhere. Choosing where to publish means choosing which readers will meet that work first — and which conversation it will join.
Future Journals is an open-access publisher with 18 journals, editorial boards of more than 1,000 researchers and more than 100 disciplines, as stated on its main site. Four of its titles serve the life sciences directly. This spotlight explains what each one is for, how they differ, and how to choose between them honestly — including when a paper belongs in more than one conversation.
1. The Future of Biology — the broad home for biological research
The Future of Biology (ISSN 2572-3006 / 2572-3111) is the broadest life-sciences title in the group. It suits work whose main contribution is biological understanding itself: cell and molecular biology, physiology, microbiology, plant biology, ecology and evolution, and experimental studies that ask how living systems work.
Choose Biology when your readers are biologists across sub-fields and your finding would interest them even if they work on a different organism or system. A clear test is this: if you removed the applied setting — the crop, the patient, the commercial product — would the biological mechanism or pattern still be the point of the paper? If yes, Biology is likely the natural home.
Papers that are primarily about a method for bioscience practice, a population’s inherited variation, or animal diversity and behaviour may fit one of the more specific titles below better. Fit matters more than breadth: a specific journal puts your work in front of readers who can use it immediately.
2. The Future of Bioscience — where biology meets application
The Future of Bioscience (ISSN 2694-3131 / 2694-314X) serves the applied and interdisciplinary side of the life sciences. Bioscience work often connects laboratory biology with biotechnology, laboratory practice, bio-based processes and translational questions — research that moves from understanding a living system toward using that understanding responsibly.
Choose Bioscience when the contribution is the application, the platform, the process or the interdisciplinary bridge, rather than the underlying biological discovery alone. If your introduction spends most of its space on the practical problem the work addresses, and your discussion returns to how the method or finding can be used, tested or scaled, that framing usually signals Bioscience.
Be precise about claims. Applied papers invite readers to act, so state the conditions under which your results were obtained, the limits of the system you tested, and what still needs validation before wider use. That honesty strengthens, rather than weakens, an applied contribution.
3. The Future of Genetics — inheritance, variation and genomic evidence
The Future of Genetics (ISSN 2694-359X / 2694-3603) is for research where inherited variation is the central evidence: human, animal, plant and microbial genetics, genomics, gene expression, genetic association, breeding genetics and the ethical and interpretive questions that genomic data raise.
Choose Genetics when the paper’s conclusions depend on the genetic analysis itself — the variants identified, the inheritance pattern shown, the population structure described or the functional evidence linking a gene to a trait. A paper that merely uses a routine genetic marker as one tool among many, while its main claim is ecological or clinical, may belong in Biology, Zoology or a health title instead.
Genetics papers carry particular responsibilities. Report sample origins and consent or approvals where they apply, describe variant classification and statistical thresholds transparently, and make data availability clear. Readers in this field will look for those details first, because the reuse value of genetic data depends on them.
4. The Future of Zoology — animals, diversity and behaviour
The Future of Zoology (ISSN 2694-3417 / 2694-3425) serves research on animals: taxonomy and diversity, morphology, behaviour, ecology of animal populations, wildlife biology and conservation-relevant studies of animal species.
Choose Zoology when animals themselves — their identity, distribution, behaviour or populations — are the subject, not only a model system for a general biological question. A behaviour study designed to understand a species in its habitat fits Zoology; a study using an animal model mainly to test a molecular mechanism may fit Biology or Bioscience better, depending on where its main claim lies.
Good zoological writing names species precisely, with scientific names at first mention, describes location and observation or sampling methods in enough detail to be repeated, and distinguishes clearly between what was observed and what is inferred about a wider population.
5. Choosing among the four — and when to look wider
Start with one question: who must read this paper for it to have done its job?
- Biologists across fields, for a mechanism or general biological pattern: Biology
- Applied and interdisciplinary readers, for a usable method, process or bridge: Bioscience
- Geneticists and genomic researchers, where inherited variation is the evidence: Genetics
- Zoologists, ecologists and wildlife researchers, where animals are the subject: Zoology
If two answers feel equally true, look at your references and your discussion. The journal whose published conversation you cite most, and whose readers your conclusions address directly, is usually the right choice. Submit to one journal only — do not submit the same manuscript to two titles at once.
Some life-sciences work belongs elsewhere in the Future Journals list of 18. A crop-production study may fit The Future of Agriculture, a human-disease study may fit The Future of Medical Science or The Future of Public Health, and a genuinely cross-field paper may fit The Future of Applied Science (ISSN 2767-181X online / 2767-178X print). Browse all 18 titles at futurejournals.org before deciding.
6. How to submit to a Future Journals life-sciences title
The Future Journals submission portal provides a step-by-step guide and accepts Word (.doc/.docx) and PDF files. Before you submit, re-read your title and abstract against the finished results, confirm every author has approved the final version, and prepare honest statements on ethics approvals, funding, competing interests and data availability, as the author guidelines and ethics pages linked from the portal direct.
Read the pages linked from the portal for your chosen journal — including author guidelines, publication ethics, peer review and article processing charge information — directly, for current requirements. This post does not quote APC figures, indexing claims or turnaround times.
Submit once, to the single title whose readers need your work most, and keep a copy of exactly what you submitted, with the date.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Biology and Bioscience at Future Journals?
Biology is the broad home for biological understanding itself — mechanisms, patterns and experimental findings. Bioscience serves applied and interdisciplinary work, where the contribution is a method, process or practical bridge built on biological knowledge.
My paper covers both genetics and animal populations. Which title should I choose?
Choose by the central evidence. If the conclusions rest on inherited variation and genetic analysis, choose Genetics. If they rest on the animals, their behaviour or their populations, choose Zoology. Submit to one journal only.
Are these journals open access?
Yes. Future Journals is an open-access publisher, as stated on its main site, so published articles are freely available online to readers.
What file formats can I submit?
The submission portal accepts Word (.doc/.docx) and PDF, and provides a step-by-step submission guide. Follow the author guidelines linked from the portal for your chosen journal.
Where do I find article processing charge, ethics and peer review information?
On the pages linked from the submission portal for your chosen journal. Read those pages directly for current requirements; this spotlight does not quote APC prices or turnaround times.
Put your life-sciences work in front of the right readers
Whether your contribution is a biological mechanism, an applied bioscience method, a genetic finding or a zoological study, there is a distinct Future Journals title whose readers are waiting for exactly that conversation. Choose it deliberately, prepare the manuscript carefully, and submit with confidence.
Submit your manuscript here: https://home.futurejournals.org/future-journals/submission-portal/
Browse all 18 Future Journals titles: https://www.futurejournals.org
