American Fern Journal

The American Fern Journal is a peer-reviewed journal focused on the biology of ferns and lycophytes. It has an impact factor of 0.857. Recent issues (2001 or Vol. 91—present) are available on BioOne. Older issues can be found on JSTOR. Subscription agents can find bibliographic and payment details here.

Journal Access for Society Members

Online access to the American Fern Journal is included with all individual society memberships (membership options are described here). Members can access the journal by following these steps:

  1. Visit the Membership Management Portal (CiviCRM)

  2. Select the third bullet from the bottom, “Access American Fern Journal”

  3. You will be asked to log in, and then you will be offered a link to the journal at BioOne.

  4. One you have reached the BioOne page, you should see a box in the lower righthand corner that says “Access provided by The American Fern Society”, at which point you can access all journal content.

Information For Authors

Authors are encouraged to submit manuscripts pertinent to the biology of ferns for publication in the American Fern Journal. Manuscripts should be submitted electronically through the following website: http://www.editorialmanager.com/afj/default.aspx. For questions about submission or other aspects of the American Fern Journal, contact the editor.

The American Fern Journal (AFJ) publishes original research on ferns and other seed-free vascular plants (e.g., horsetails, lycopsids). Although the organism must be the centerpiece of all acceptable manuscripts, novel research results may be obtained through a range of methods and emphases (e.g., anatomy, conservation, development, diversity, ecology, ethnobotany, evolution, genetics, paleontology, phylogeny, physiology, systematics). Authors should clearly state the purpose of their research, should strive to integrate new research findings with past work, and should discuss the implications of their discoveries for understanding the biology of the focal organisms. Manuscripts concerned primarily with natural products obtained from seed-free vascular plants or whose concentration is on situations or processes where the organisms are secondary players are typically not considered appropriate for publication in the AFJ, and will be returned to the authors without review. 

Acceptance of papers for publication depends on merit as judged by two or more referees. Authors are encouraged to contribute toward publishing costs; however, the payment or non-payment of page charges will affect neither the acceptability of manuscripts nor the date of publication.

Checklist for Formatting Manuscripts for the American Fern Journal (revised Aug. 2023)

Submit a paper to the American Fern Journal

List of current and past editors of the American Fern Journal

Banner image (Sadleria cyatheoides) by Tom Ballinger.